“I chose Iraq,” says Kishitani, a former Rotary World Peace Fellow. “I wanted to gain field experience so I could understand the domestic nature of conflict. I chose the most challenging area, which was northern Iraq.”Kishitani manages and coordinates reconstruction programs in Iraq focusing on education, social care, and health, water, and sanitation. From her base in Amman, Jordan, she runs two offices with a local staff of 80 and a budget of US$4 million.This wasn’t Kishitani’s first time in the war-torn country. From 2000 to 2003, she spent three years as the sole full-time Japanese worker in the Kurdish autonomous zone in northern Iraq. She coordinated and implemented relief efforts there as head of the Northern Iraq Mission for Peace Winds Japan.Last year, the Institute for International Policy Studies presented Kishitani with the Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro Award of Excellence. The award honors significant achievements in political, economic, cultural, and scientific and technological fields.
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It also seeks to promote peace and prosperity in areas of conflict.
The award was named after the former prime minister of Japan and the institute’s current chair, who presented the honor, along with a prize of ¥1 million (US$8,500), during a ceremony held in June. By recognizing Kishitani, who was only 25 years old when she first went to Iraq, the institute hopes to inspire other young workers in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to pursue humanitarian efforts in the field.
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