Cooperation with International Organizations (UNESCO,UNU)
Japan’s Contributions to UNESCO
February 4, 2026
- The objective of the voluntary contribution of Japan to UNESCO is to promote projects in line with the original purpose of UNESCO, by strategically implementing projects in various specialized areas under UNESCO’s mandate, such as education, natural sciences, humanities and social sciences, culture and communication and information, in such a way as to provide Japan’s expertise in the form of technologies and knowledge.
- Since its establishment in 2018, the total amount of Japan’s contribution to UNESCO as of January 2026 is approximately 24.17 million USD. (the exact amount is 24,169,258 USD), or approximately 3 billion JPY (the exact amount is 2,963,896 thousand JPY).
Ongoing Projects
| Name of the project | Country / Region / Place | Period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Safeguarding of Bayon Temple of Angkor Thom, Phase VII | Cambodia | September 2025 – |
| 2 | Preservation of "Archaeological Ruins of Mohenjodaro" World Heritage site (Pakistan) and reinforcing the Disaster Risk Reduction mechanism | Pakistan | June 2025 – |
| 3 | Bridging Japanese and UNESCO-IOC expertise on geohazard Early Warning Systems to support Pacific and Caribbean SIDS | SIDS in the South Pacific and the Caribbean | February 2025 – |
| 4 | UNESCO’s multi-hazards and multi-sectoral disaster response for build back better | Global | February 2025 – |
| 5 | Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in basic education in Botswana, Malawi and Zambia | Botswana, Malawi, Zambia | January 2025 – |
| 6 | Advancing preservation and accessibility of African documentary heritage at risk | Ghana, Mali | January 2025 – |
| 7 | Approach to the Concept and Practice of Heritage Authenticity in Africa | States Parties to the World Heritage Convention in the African Region (47 countries) | December 2024 – |
| 8 | Emergency measures to strengthen the protection of Gorée Island against coastal erosion | Senegal | December 2024 |
| 9 | Building capacities for safeguarding living heritage and preparing nominations to the Lists of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Africa | Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Eritrea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Eswatini, South Sudan, Comoros, Kenya, Senegal | March 2024 – |
| 10 | Glass Plate Photography Collections at Risk in Asia: Preservation and Digitization of Archaeological and Ethnographic Collections | Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Vietnam | March 2024 – |
| 11 | Building a culture of resilience in Africa and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) through innovation | Ethiopia, Djibouti, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati | March 2024 – |
| 12 | Cultural Heritage - A Driver of Climate Action for Resilient World Heritage Cities & Towns in Asia and the Pacific | World Heritage cities in Asia and Pacific region (42 areas in 17 countries) | March 2024 – |
| 13 | Rehabilitation of the Majestic Cinema theatre in Stone Town for socio-economic development in Zanzibar | Tanzania | October 2022 – |
| 14 | International Coordinating Committee for the safeguarding and development of the historic sites of Angkor and Sambor Prei Kuk
(Note: It has started under the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for the Safeguarding of Tangible Cultural Heritage.) |
Cambodia | 1993 – |
Completed Projects
| Name of the projects | Country / Region / Place | Period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Capacity Building for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in emergencies in Small Island Developing States in the Pacific and the Caribbean
(Note: It has started under the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.) |
Bahamas, Belize, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu | January 2022 – December 2025 |
| 2 | Towards disaster-resilient communities – supporting local indigenous communities in East Rennell, the only natural World Heritage site in the Pacific on the list of World Heritage in Danger | Solomon Islands | October 2022 – December 2025 |
| 3 | Safeguarding of Bayon Temple of Angkor Thom, Phase VI
(Note: It has started under the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for Safeguarding of Tangible Cultural Heritage.) |
Cambodia | April 2022 – December 2025 |
| 4 | Post COVID-19 World Heritage Site Management: Integration of Conservation, Tourism and Local Livelihood Strategies at World Heritage Sites | Viet Nam, Tunisia, Cabo Verde, Honduras | June 2021 – November 2025 |
| 5 | Capacity-building Programme for the Nomination of World Heritage Sites in the Africa Region | Burundi, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan | June 2021 – June 2025 |
| 6 | Conservation of Wall Paintings of the Royal Tomb of Amenophis III, Egpyt (Phase 3) | Egypt | April 2023 – February 2025 |
| 7 | Supporting Africa and SIDS to benefit from AI technologies while addressing ethical risks | South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Gabon, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe, Maldives, Timor-Leste, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Cuba | February 2022 – February 2025 |
| 8 | Preservation and Accessibility of Ancient Manuscripts in the Sahel | Mali, Sudan | January 2022 – December 2024 |
| 9 | Strengthening local and community capacities in face of natural disasters in the Caribbean SIDs | Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti | January 2022 – December 2024 |
| 10 | Strengthening the conservation and Management of Lumbini, the Birthplace of Lord Buddha, World Heritage Property, Phase IV | Nepal | November 2021 – November 2024 |
| 11 | Support Silk Roads World Heritage Nomination(s) Process, Phase III | Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Turkmenistan | November 2021 – November 2024 |
| 12 | Hooked on Peace | Bangladesh, Asia-Pacific | March 2022 – May 2024 |
| 13 | Emergency assistance to Gaza（Mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in the field of education for learners） | Palestine | March 2024 |
| 14 | Capacity building for DRR in the built environment | Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, Haiti | May 2020 – December 2023 |
| 15 | ResiliArt Accelerator: Woman’s Creative Entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | October 2021 – September 2023 |
| 16 | UNESCO / Keizo OBUCHI Research Fellowship Programme (Phase VII)
(Note: It has started under the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for the Capacity Building.) |
Developing countries | June 2018 – August 2023 |
| 17 | Building Capacity for Monitoring and preservation of Documentary Heritage at risk in Southeast Asia | ASEAN countries, Timor-Leste | July 2020 – June 2023 |
| 18 | SHS Neuroscience meeting | UNESCO Headquarters | June 2023 |
| 19 | Strengthening the role of judicial actors in Africa on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists | Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Mozambique, Senegal | October 2020 – December 2022 |
| 20 | Building Capacity and Raising Awareness for Underwater Cultural Heritage Research in Africa | Kenya, Angola, Benin, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania | June 2019 – December 2022 |
| 21 | Technical and financial assistance for the reconstruction of Muzibu-Azaala-Mpanga, architectural masterpiece of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, Uganda, World Heritage Property in Danger
(Note: It has started under the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for the Safeguarding of Tangible Cultural Heritage.) |
Uganda | March 2013 – December 2022 |
| 22 | Advancing professional opportunities for young women filmmakers from Africa | South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, | December 2019 –November 2022 |
| 23 | Strengthening capacities for the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention of the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Lebanon
(Note: It has started under the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.) |
Lebanon | July 2018 – September 2022 |
| 24 | SIDS Capacity Building Project: Safeguarding Heritage in the Caribbean through Developing Sustainable Tourism Strategies (Phase II) | Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago | September 2019 – September 2022 |
| 25 | Mobilizing film professionals for regional cooperation in Asia | Indonesia, Thailand, Viet Nam | August 2019 – August 2022 |
| 26 | Media and Information Literacy for Youth Civic Engagement | Burundi, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Namibia, Gabon, Ethiopia, Japan | July 2020 – July 2022 |
| 27 | Support to monitor damage to cultural properties (including World Heritage Properties, sites on the World Tentative list, monuments, museums, cultural institutions) through satellite imagery | Ukraine | April 2022 |
| 28 | Support to urgent needs of media professionals in Ukraine | Ukraine | March 2022 |
| 29 | 2005 Convention – 2021 Africa Week | UNESCO Headquarters | November 2021 |
| 30 | Expenses for Organizing the Ad Hoc Subcommittee Meetings for Monitoring and Supervision of the Implementation of the 1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention | UNESCO Headquarters | June 2021 |
| 31 | Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts related to a draft Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence | UNESCO Headquarters | April 2021 |
| 32 | Global Media Defense Fund (Multi-Partner Trust Fund) | Global | April 2021 |
| 33 | AI ethics Background document | UNESCO Headquarters | December 2019 |
| 34 | Together for Peace (T4P): A Shared Commitment to building a peaceful and sustainable Future in Asia-Pacific | Asia-Pacific | June 2019 – January 2022 |
| 35 | International Year of Indigenous Languages | Global | April 2019 – December 2021 |
| 36 | Capacities of Member States strengthened through the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society | UNESCO Headquarters | February 2019 |