Who we are
Migrants’ Neighbor Network & Action, MINNA – Health Project is a consortium of organizations and individuals specializing in migration and health in Japan. It works with migrant communities in Japan to improve access to information, support, and services particularly on health, and to develop partnerships across sectors and countries.
MINNA’s main activities
- Develop models of disseminating information to those in need
- Enhance health care access by linking foreigner consultations with health services
- Explore approaches to address social determinants of health
- Create synergies between initiatives for migrants and other vulnerable populations in Japan and across countries
Our organizations
MINNA is a network comprised of members from the following 4 organizations; the Bureau of International Health Cooperation, National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM), Services for Health in Asian & African Regions (SHARE), Our SDGs Task Force for Foreigners, and the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO). MINNA or みんなmeans “everyone” in Japanese and the four organizations share the same vision to enable equal access to health and social support for all. We collaborate in research, seminars, and information dissemination on topics related to health of migrants in Japan and across the world in accordance to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Bureau of International Health Cooperation is a department of the National Center of Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo, Japan and provides various kinds of support in order to improve healthcare in low and middle-income countries. The Bureau aims for a world where all people, without disparity, live healthy lives, under the tag-line of “Care, Commitment and Communication for a Healthier World”, promoting high-quality international cooperation that combines strategy and field implementation.
The Bureau has been assisting many countries in the fields of maternal and child health, infectious disease control, and health system strengthening in order to protect the people from life-threatening diseases. Since founding in 1986, the Bureau has worked as a leading international cooperation agency in the health sector in cooperation with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). They dispatch experts to technical cooperation projects in low and middle-income countries, train health personnel domestically and abroad, and conduct health research. In addition, we send medical relief teams to many parts of the world in response to natural disasters and epidemics of communicable diseases.
SHARE is a non-profit citizen sector organization (NGO) founded in 1983 by physicians, nurses, and students with a wish to support, at the grassroots level, people around the world in improving their health. It aims to realize a world in which all people can live a healthy life both in the mind and in the body. It carries out healthcare service programs in Thailand, Cambodia, East Timor, South Africa, and Japan to develop human resources and assist people and their communities in protecting their health.
Our SDGs Task Force for Foreigners is a subgroup of Our SDGs focusing on the health of migrants. Our SDGs was launched to increase interest in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Japan among academics, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and official development assistance organizations, taking over from Beyond MDGs Japan. It holds seminars in Japan to disseminate information related to the SDGs. Our SDGs Task Force for Foreigners was established in 2020 in response to the increasing needs of support for migrants amid COVID-19 pandemic.