In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japan International Cooperation Agency has committed to increasing its budget allocation for activities pertaining to “human security.”
Matsumoto Shigeyuki, group director for water resources in the global environment department at JICA, told Devex its budget will increase by approximately 20% in the next five years to expand activities in sectors such as WASH, disaster risk reduction, and urban environment.
JICA also plans to double resource allocation to the health sector, Shigeyuki explained. “This is a direct result [of] COVID-19 and a response from JICA to this pandemic,” he said, adding that there’ll be a focus on the most vulnerable.