The humanitarian situations observed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Masashi Tsudaka, former Human Rights, Development and Social Justice Masters student, is currently working as the Program Coordinator for the Japanese International Volunteer Centre (JVC) in Jerusalem.

The JVC is currently running educational, nutritional and cultural programs within the Occupied Palestinian Territory for children, operating a mobile clinic for communities affected by the division of the separation wall, facilitating medical check-ups for children and nutritional support for infants and children dependant on food assistance in the blockaded Gaza strip.

JVC employees see the daily deterioration of individual lives in the fragmented Palestinian Territories in Gaza where continuing sanctions and closures of its borders create economic dependence on external assistance; in the segregated communities in the West Bank and Jerusalem where the separation wall denies access to adequate educational facilities and medical assistance. In response, the JVC practices a sustainable development approach for delivering supports to communities affected by the apartheid, advocates for these communities by transmitting its documentation of the deteriorating situation, and promotes peace building dialogues between Jewish and Arab women living in Jerusalem.

After graduation, Masashi went on to work for the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan before beginning work at the JVC. He has formerly worked as a paralegal, and participated in Harvard University training ‘the International Humanitarian Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory’ (2009) and SPHERE training ‘Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response’ (2010). Currently, Masashi is devoted to his work in Palestine and will give a short lunchtime presentation on his perspective of the humanitarian crises in Palestine and the work of the JVC.

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For further information: http://www.ngo-jvc.net/en/