From January 1991, when severe ethnic conflicts and other internal disturbances broke out in the former Yugoslavia, until the present, Rissho Kosei-kai has undertaken various relief activities for the refugees and other victims there. One of these efforts, aimed at the children, is now called the Little Bags of Dreams Campaign. Another major contribution is Rissho Kosei-kai's active involvement with the activities promoted by JEN (formerly Japan Emergency NGOs). It was the first Japanese multiorganizational NGO in which ordinary Japanese citizens were a visible presence in the international arena to engage in relief activities. It was the first example of a Japanese NGO's on-site cooperation in relief projects, with each member providing their special skills, and the experiment was a success.

The origins of JEN go back to January of 1994 when it started relief activities for Somali refugees in Djibouti and civil war victims throughout Somalia under the name of the Japanese NGO Joint Relief Team for Somali Refugees. The Japanese NGOs that organized the team were the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA), the African Education Fund (AEF), Borderless Volunteers affiliated with the Japan Junior Chamber, Inc., and Rissho Kosei-kai.

In 1994, the team now renamed Japan Emergency NGOs (abbreviated as JEN) began relief activities for refugees and displaced persons in the former Yugoslavia. JEN's support activities then expanded into such categories as counseling for refugees and displaced persons (the "social service project"), setting up sewing schools as a mental health service, sponsoring theatricals for refugee children, promoting psychological rehabilitation, providing counseling to the elderly (the "home visit project"), and distributing Little Bags of Dreams containing small toys and stationery items donated by Japanese well-wishers to children in various part of the former Yugoslavia.

JEN recently undertook assistance projects for the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck India in February 2001.

Chartered as a nonprofit organization by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as of 2001, it is now known only as JEN. Current member organizations of JEN are the Japan Team of Young Human Power (JHP), the Japan International Relief Action Committee (JIRAC), and Rissho Kosei-kai. More detailed information can be obtained from the official web site of JEN at the following URL: http://www.jen-npo.org/