Foreign Minister’s Commendations for FY 2022 awarded to Ms. BABA Shigeko and Handover of facilities of special support center for disabled children

Foreign Minister’s Commendation for FY 2022 was presented to Ms. BABA Shigeko, Director of NGO Surangani Voluntary Service by H.E. Mr. MIZUKOSHI Hideaki, Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka on 4th November 2022 at Little Tree Special Needs Children Centre in Buttala. On this occasion, Ambassador MIZUKOSHI handed over this center which was upgraded through the Grassroots Grant Project funded by the Government of Japan.

Minister of Foreign Affairs in Japan presents the commendation to individuals and organizations that have made particularly outstanding contributions to the promotion of friendly relations between Japan and other countries and to the promotion of international economic and technical cooperation.

Ms. BABA Shigeko served in Sri Lanka for three and a half years from 1987 as a member of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) Early Childhood Education Corps, and in 1992, she established an NGO (Surangani) to improve the learning environment for children in Sri Lanka. For more than 30 years, the NGO has provided early childhood education, education for children with disabilities, learning environment for poor children, and training for kindergarten teachers. In addition, in 2011, she built and started operating "Little Tree Special Needs Children Centre", an educational facility for children with disabilities, in a rural area with many poor families, and has been making efforts to contribute to society by providing medical care and livelihood support, including for the children's parents. She received this commendation in recognition of these achievements.

 

We sincerely congratulate Ms. BABA Shigeko on receiving the Foreign Minister's Commendation on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka, and hope that mutual understanding and friendly relations between the two countries will continue to grow and develop.