February 2011

Rissho Kosei-kai Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace Announces Grants for Fiscal 2011

In February the executive committee of Rissho Kosei-kai's Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace, chaired by Rev. Yuji Numata, director of the organization's Dharma Missions Bureau, announced its grants for fiscal 2011. A total of 318,644,000 Japanese yen, collected through the organization's annual Donate-a-Meal Movement, will be appropriated for various peace projects and programs in Japan and other countries. The committee administers the fund in the spirit of the movement, which is based on the Buddhist teachings of compassion, prayer, and donation. Grants are allocated for the following nine categories: (1) poverty reduction, (2) refugee assistance, (3) education, (4) emergencies, (5) environmental protection, (6) social welfare, (7) administrative expenses, (8) miscellaneous expenditures, and (9) the reserve fund.

Under the same theme as that of the previous fiscal year, "Respect for Life," the fund gave priority to poverty reduction, environmental protection, and refugee assistance in fiscal 2011.

For poverty reduction, 137,806,000 yen will be allocated for six projects and programs, including the Niwano Peace Foundation's South Asia Program, which promotes the self-reliance and welfare of the region's poor, and a project for advanced medical treatment of HIV/AIDS patients in Africa by the Community of Sant'Egidio, an Italian Catholic lay organization, which received the 16th Niwano Peace Prize in 1999.

For environmental protection, 10,010,000 yen is to be allocated for various projects and programs, including an afforestation project in Ethiopia that contributes to the development of a region exhausted by civil war and severe drought.

For assistance to refugees, 70,684,000 yen is to be allocated for five projects and programs, including Rissho Kosei-kai's Dream Bag Project, support for asylum seekers in Japan, and programs in collaboration with the United Nations and a Japanese NGO.

For education, 24,918,000 yen is to be allocated for four projects and programs, including the project for the preservation of Cambodia's Buddhist heritage, which aims to recover Buddhist traditions and the Khmer culture, which were destroyed during the civil war.

Besides the above, the fund also plans to allocate grants for various promotions of the Donate-a-Meal Movement and for emergency support for large-scale natural disasters at any time.

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