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The Asian Women’s Fund has been the object of numerous criticisms since its establishment five years ago, on 19 July 1995. The path taken by the AWF has been strewn with many controversies, not limited to the simple question as to whether the state should pay compensation. In spite of numerous difficulties, the AWF has promoted a number of projects and has achieved some fundamental results, thanks to the encouragement of many donors and Japanese people from various walks of life, and thanks also to cooperation from officials in relevant ministries and agencies of the Japanese Government.
Projects of Atonement
To date, Asian Women’s Fund projects of atonement have provided support to 170 former comfort women in the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan. In addition, medical and welfare support projects, which are one aspect of the projects of atonement, have provided services to 77 former comfort women in the Netherlands. This makes a total of 247 recipients of support. The AWF is also supporting projects in Indonesia under a program called Promotion of Social Welfare Services for Elderly People.
Each recipient in the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan was given a letter of apology from the Prime Minister of Japan when receiving support under the projects of atonement. In his letter, the Prime Minister recognizes that “the issue of comfort women, which involved the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women,” and states that Japan is “painfully aware of its moral responsibility” with regard to all former comfort women “who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and mental wounds.” The letter, signed by the Prime Minister, expresses his “most sincere apologies and remorse” to all such women.
The AWF’s projects of atonement consist of three constituent parts. First of all, 2 million yen is given as “atonement money” to each former comfort woman. This money comes from donations from Japanese people who share feelings of apology and remorse. Donations received to date total about 448 million yen. Of this amount, 340 million yen has been provided as “atonement money” to 170 people in the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan, leaving a remainder of about 108 million yen.
Secondly, as an expression of its feelings of apology and remorse, the Japanese Government is using its own financial resources to implement, through the Asian Women’s Fund, medical and welfare support for each former comfort woman. The monetary amount of benefits takes into consideration the cost of living in each country or region, and is equivalent to 3 million yen per person in the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and the Netherlands, and 1.2 million yen per person in the Philippines. Project objectives include housing improvements, nursing services, and assistance for the provision of medical treatment and pharmaceuticals. The projects are designed to take into account the actual circumstances and wishes of each former comfort woman.
The above-mentioned letter of apology from the Prime Minister of Japan is given to each recipient as the third constituent part of the projects of atonement.
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