Japan's Contribution to the Rehabilitation of Iraq in the field of Culture and Education in Cooperation with UNESCO

April 23, 2003

Based on the statement at the Experts Meeting on Iraqi Cultural Heritage, held in the UNESCO headquarters on 17 April 2003, Japan intends to make positive contribution, in cooperation with UNESCO, to the restoration and preservation of the cultural properties and sites in Iraq. The heavily damaged cultural properties, such as the Iraqi national museum and other cultural heritages, are the main targets.

(1)	A Japanese expert, Prof. Ken MATSUMOTO, Director of the Institute for Cultural Studies of Ancient Iraq of Kokushikan University, will participate in the fact-finding mission of UNESCO, which will be dispatched to Iraq in the near future in order to survey the damages on the cultural heritages of the country.
(2)	The Government of Japan decided to contribute 1 million US$ to the UNESCO/Japan Trust Fund for Preservation of the World Cultural Heritage for the restoration and preservation of the cultural objects of the Iraqi National Museum and other cultural properties in Iraq.

UNESCO, in addition to the restoration and preservation of the cultural heritages, attaches great importance to the education for the next generation, who will play the main roll in the nation-building, as one of the pillars of the rehabilitation of Iraq. Japan, therefore, decided to earmark 1 million US$ of the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for the Capacity-Building of Human Resources established in UNESCO for education projects in Iraq.

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