At a glance: Japan

UNICEF Tokyo office

© UNICEF Japan/2006

On a visit to Aceh province, Indonesia, Goodwill Ambassador Tetsuko Kuroyanagi spends time with children who survived the tsunami.

UNICEF maintains a Headquarters office in Tokyo, Japan. (UNICEF also has Headquarters offices in several other locations around the world.) The UNICEF Tokyo office coordinates the organization’s policy dialogue, resource mobilization, advocacy and communication/public information functions with respect to policy makers in Japan. UNICEF Tokyo works to maintain good donor relations with the Government of Japan, the third largest contributor among donor governments in 2004. The Government of Japan was the top donor in 2004 for emergency assistance. 

UNICEF Tokyo also seeks to broaden and strengthen partnerships with the Parliamentary League for UNICEF, academia, research institutions, the media, private sector organizations, non-governmental and other civil society organizations, in order to raise the profile of children’s rights on Japan’s development agenda. The office organizes workshops and seminars to promote UNICEF’s policy concerns in development and humanitarian assistance.

© UNICEF Japan/2006

Japan’s Vice-Senior Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki visits UNICEF project sites in Sudan.

With the support of UNICEF field offices, UNICEF Tokyo organizes field visits of Goodwill Ambassador Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, senior government officials and members of the Parliamentary League for UNICEF for advocacy purposes.

UNICEF Tokyo works closely with the Japan Committee for UNICEF, which deals primarily with fundraising and communication activities with respect to the Japanese public.

Beginning in 2006, the office has assumed responsibility for donor relations with the Government of the Republic of Korea and expects to work closely with the Korean Committee for UNICEF.