Japanese ICMIF members, Kokumin Kyosai Co-op and JCIF (Japan CO-OP Insurance Consumers’ Co-operative Federation), have donated 13,200 blue tarpaulins to the National Governors’ Association in Japan on 17 August 2020.
Large-scale typhoons frequently strike the Japanese Archipelago every year, especially during September and October. Those typhoons cause great damage to the materials used for household exteriors such as roofs and walls which are mainly made of wood. Blue tarpaulins, heavy plastic cloths large enough to cover affected parts of houses are very practical tools as immediate measures for the victims to prevent rain entering the properties and possibly causing further damage to the houses.
The supply of these tarpaulins was not sufficient among the disaster victims in some areas last year. Building on that experience, the two cooperative insurers decided to support the association of prefectural governors through a donation of a number of tarpaulins on which their brand logos were printed, to help local residents protect their houses from disaster destruction.
Kokumin Kyosai Co-op and JCIF are both cooperatives that provide insurance products based on mutual aid, and they work closely together to solve various social problems in local communities and to create a more affluent and secure society. For example, in their daily business operations, Kokumin Kyosai Co-op provides its members with fire and natural disaster insurance, and JCIF also offers the same product through its own channels nationwide on consignment from Kokumin Kyosai Co-op.
Kokumin Kyosai Co-op and JCIF are committed to their “Co-creation activities”, joint projects to solve social issues, as cooperative entities whose substantial aims are to serve their members and local communities, said the spokespersons of both organisations.
Photo shows (from left to right):
Masami Hirota, President, Kokumin Kyosai Co-op; Yuji Kuroiwa,Chair of theSpecial Committee for Risk Management / Disaster Control of National Governors’ Association, and Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture; and Toshiaki Wada, President, JCIF
