Japan, Jordan , France , Germany , and UNESCO organized the Cultural Heritage Training Course for Iraqi experts in Jordan

Fourteen Iraqi experts will acquire practical skills in excavation search and preservation of the heritage sites through the course taken place in Umm Qais for two months. 

The Opening Ceremony of ‏‏“Cultural Heritage Training Course” for the Iraqis was held in Amman by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan  on August 1, 2005 , as one of the Japanese programs on the reconstruction assistance to Iraq in cooperation with Germany , France , and UNESCO.

The Ceremony was attended by H.E. Mr. Koichi Obata, Ambassador of Japan, H.E. Dr. Fawwaz Al-Khraysheh, Director General of Department of Antiquitie, Dr. Jean-Francious Salles, Director of French Institute of the Near East in Amman, Mr. Hisatoshi Okubo, Representative of Iraq unit of JICA Jordan Office, and officials from Embassy of Germany and UNESCO.

‏‏ “Cultural Heritage Training Course” is organized by the Government of Japan through JICA, in cooperation with the Governments of France, Germany, and UNESCO and the Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for the Iraqi experts (in total 14). The course will be conducted in Umm Qais for approximately two months, from August 1, 2005 to the beginning of October. The purpose of the course is to introduce practical skills in excavation search and preservation of the cultural heritage sites through training and theoretical lectures.

The Government of Japan organized the training course “Comprehensive Preservation and Management Skill for Cultural Heritage” from February 15 to March 23 this year in cooperation with the Governments of Jordan, France and Germany , and UNESCO. Therefore, the course started today is a second step of their joint efforts to assist the reconstruction of Iraq in the field of Cultural Heritage.

The Japanese Government has implemented various training courses in the fields of Electricity, Statistics, Solid Waste Management, Water Resources Management and Education as well as Cultural Heritage for the reconstruction of war-torn Iraq , under which 300 people from Iraq have taken part in the training courses.