November 2009
Niwano Peace Foundation Announces Grants for Second Half of Fiscal 2009
The Niwano Peace Foundation announced in November that it had allocated five million Japanese yen in activity grants to nine organizations for the second half of fiscal 2009.
The goal of the grants program is, while promoting mutual understanding and cooperation among different religions, to encourage people to build social harmony and solidarity in the light of religious faith. The grants are made to contribute to social and peace activities based on religious faith and regional empowerment.
The selection criteria are (1) practical activities directly contributing to peace, (2) inspiring and creating activities with other organizations promoting peace, (3) groups in need with small budgets.
On October 1, the foundation chose nine recipients from 62 applications received during the application period (July 1 to August 13). The Rissho Kosei-kai Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace entrusts the foundation with the administration of its grant aid activities. The recipients and grants are as follows:
1. NGO Association for Support of Literacy Education for Language Minority Groups in Nepal (Japan): 400,000 yen to support minority-language groups in Nepal
2. Material Pavilion of War and Peace, Aichi (Japan): 700,000 yen to organize a network of people to share their memories of the Second World War
3. Doumia-Sakinah, The Pluralistic Spiritual Center (Israel): 600,000 yen for interfaith study of the path to political justice in Israel
4. Say-Peace Project (Japan): 500,000 yen for a campaign to rid Northeast Asia of nuclear weapons
5. Christian Coalition for Refugee and Migrant Workers (Japan): 600,000 yen for administration of a national network for interviewing refugees and detainees at immigration centers in Japan and for Japanese-language schools for refugees in Japan
6. Shapla Neer, Citizens' Committee in Japan for Overseas Support (Japan): 700,000 yen for efforts to improve the living standard of underprivileged women in the Nawalparasi District of Nepal
7. Suan Nguen Mee Ma Social Enterprise (Thailand): 500,000 yen for the promotion of concepts of Gross National Happiness and socially engaged Buddhism
8. Nonviolent Peaceforce Japan (Japan): 500,000 yen for a workshops on peace and human rights issues in Sri Lanka
9. Asian Resource Foundation (Thailand): 500,000 yen to train young people in the work of nongovernmental organizations in Asia and to hold interfaith consultations on climate change.
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