NPO WELgee
With the cooperation of WELgee, Kyushu University, JR Kyushu and Fukuoka City, a meetup between Afghan refugees and local Kyushu companies will be held!
NPO WELgee (located in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; representative director: Kiyoka Watanabe Kankorongo) and Kyushu University (located in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture; representative: Tatsuro Ishibashi) are three companies including JR Kyushu. With the cooperation and support of Fukuoka City, Afghan refugees who want to escape the political turmoil in their home country and seek employment in Japan will meet up with local Kyushu companies on December 9 (Friday) at a co-working space directly managed by JR Kyushu. Held at Q. Provided 11 Afghan refugees with the opportunity to meet and interact with local businesses. [Image 1
Companies and organizations that cooperated with this event
Background of the event
It is said that more than 700 people have fled to Japan from Afghanistan due to various human rights violations by the Taliban regime, which was inaugurated in 2021. Currently, 22 Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban regime and their families, who were former exchange students at Kyushu University, are living in Kyushu with support from the university.
Originally, they graduated from Kyushu University Graduate School as international students, and after returning to Japan, they were active in jobs that made use of their expertise. The ex-international refugees who participate in this event generally have professional skills and work experience, and have a strong desire to rebuild their lives in Japan.
Purpose of the event
The purpose of this meetup is to create an opportunity for matching between Afghan refugees who want to find employment at local companies in Kyushu and local companies who want to invite new human resources to casually interact with each other.
State of the day
On the day of the event, five Afghan refugees from Kyushu University and six from Kumamoto University participated. In addition, six local companies from various industries, including general trading companies, real estate companies, and distribution companies, participated. A total of 48 people participated, including university and media personnel.
The first part began with a greeting from Kyushu University President Tatsuro Ishibashi, followed by WELgee, the host organization, explaining the background of the event and an overview of its activities.
[Image 2
Co-sponsor, President of Kyushu University, Mr. Tatsuro Ishibashi gave a greeting.
In the second part, the person in charge of the company gave a presentation on their company’s business outline and philosophy. [Image 3
Presentations were given by five companies: Takahashi Co., Ltd., Happy Care Life Co., Ltd., Sumitomo Corporation Kyushu Co., Ltd., Settle Co., Ltd., and Kyushu Railway Company.
In the third part, we were divided into small groups and held a meetup where both companies and refugees interacted casually.
[Image 4
Participants actively interacting with each other (Some images have been edited to protect privacy)
At the get-together, lively exchanges continued over pancakes made by Ippei Holdings.
[Image 5
Aluminum-free pancake mix “Kyushu Pancake”, which uses 100% wheat and grains from Kyushu, was served to the participants by Mr. Muraoka of Ippei Holdings.
Participant’s voice
“Even if the meeting here doesn’t lead to a job, I’m very happy that I was able to meet wonderful people (Afghan man in his 30s).”
“I received a lot of energy from interacting with the companies participating in the event.” (Afghan man in his 40s)
WELgee will provide long-term employment assistance to Afghan refugees who wish to work, based on our experience in working with over 300 refugees from 40 countries.
◎ Cooperating companies
Organizer: NPO WELgee
Co-organizer: National University Corporation Kyushu University Cooperation: Ippei Holdings Co., Ltd., CO&CO Co., Ltd., Kyushu Railway Company Support: Fukuoka City, Kyushu Economic Research Association
◎ What is WELgee, a specified non-profit organization?
We are developing a job program for refugees who have come to Japan to escape from conflicts and persecution, so that they can use their experience and expertise to rebuild their lives in Japan with hope. JobCopass, a recruitment service that utilizes the strengths of refugee human resources to promote diversity and create innovation in Japanese companies; We operate a “co-creation business” that creates new value by solving problems faced by various actors in Japanese society. Please check https://welgee.jp/ for details.
Details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000053.000032891.html
MAIL:cr@prtimes.co.jp
Specified non-profit organization WELgee A meetup between Afghan refugees and local Kyushu companies will be held in cooperation with WELgee, Kyushu University, JR Kyushu, and Fukuoka City!
