Portrait: Misa Maeda, joint-representative of the TICAD V Student Project & Fourth-year student, Faculty of Economics

As a second-year student, Misa was dispatched to Kenya by the NGO, ADEO Japan, for a 4-month internship at a Somali refugee camp and other areas. After that, she served as joint-representative of Development Japan, which was established on the occasion of the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group, and also as joint-representative of the Student Project of TICAD V (Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development), which was co-hosted by the Japanese Government. “International activities in Africa are now at a stage where we should work out solutions together with the local people, rather than just trying to give aid. Through my experience at the Somali refugee camp, I realized how difficult it is to commit to the region and solve issues, due to the entanglement of all kinds of ‘variables’ such as politics, religion, and regional culture, combined with mixed opinions. At the same time, I only felt more passionate about solving these difficult issues.” Upon graduation, Misa wants to explore ways to get involved in international development from a corporate strategic perspective.