Japan-Syria Relations

The conference aims to secure continuous support by the international community toward the Syrian people and the neighboring counties/regions, and reaffirm the support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis led by the United Nations, at a time when deteriorating humanitarian situation causes enormous harm to the citizens.
The Conference is the seventh donor conference on support to Syria, following the conference held in Kuwait from 2013 to 2015, in London in 2016 and Brussels in 2017 and 2018. Before the Ministerial Conference, dialogue events with civil society representatives from Syria and the region were held on 12-13 March.

• (1) The conference brought together 78 delegations comprising 56 countries, 11 regional organizations and international financial institutions (IFIs), and 11 UN agencies. (List of the participants) (PDF)
• (2) The conference was attended by; H.E. Mr. Saad al-Hariri, Prime Minister of the Lebanese Republic, at the Prime Minister level, among others. At the Ministerial level, France, Germany, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other countries dispatched Foreign Ministers among others. From the United States, the Special Representative for Syria Engagement, and from the Russian Federation, the Deputy Foreign Minister attended; From international and regional organizations, Mr. Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, Ms. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and security policy as well as others attended the conference.
• (3) In the Conference, participants reviewed progress in the commitments made by the participants at the Brussels II Conference in 2018, and announced new commitments for this year or as multi-year pledges. The total of the new pledges was approximately USD 7 billion for 2019, and approximately USD 2.4 billion for multi-year pledges after 2020. In addition, IFIs and donors announced a total of USD 2.1 billion for loans.
• (4) Mr. Shigeru Endo, Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs stated in his speech that in response to the crisis, Japan has provided approximately USD 2.7 billion of humanitarian assistance for Syria and its neighboring countries and that Japan will support the political process backed by the United Nations and contribute an additional USD 187 million for this year.
• (5) Japan's new commitment for 2019 was ranked 8th after the European Commission (USD 2,280 million), Germany (USD 1,540 million), UK (USD 530 million), USA (USD 400 million, Norway (USD 280 million), France (USD 270 million), and the Netherlands (USD 200 million). (List of new pledges) (PDF)

• (1) In the conference, many participants pointed out the necessity of continuous support for the neighboring countries which bear continuous heavy burdens by hosting Syrian refugees. From the Syrian participants living within Syria, it was requested to strengthen support inside the country. It was pointed out repeatedly that as eight years have passed since the crisis broke out, support for the education sector has become a major issue both in Syria, where the country fell into ruin, and in the neighboring countries, where second generation Syrian refugees have begun to be born and are growing.
• (2) Many countries stressed the necessity of safe and voluntary repatriation of refugees.
• (3) Each country expressed its support and expectation for Mr. Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria. The importance of a political solution for the crisis pursuant to the relevant UN resolutions including the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 was also re-emphasized. In particular, participants reaffirmed the importance of the Intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva mediated by the United Nations and expressed support for the dialogue.