UN Chronicle | UNESCO takes action to protect the cultural heritage of Iraq

UNESCO takes action to protect the cultural heritage of Iraq
By Consuelo Remmert for the Chronicle

Web Article

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is taking urgent steps to preserve the rich cultural heritage of Iraq.UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, emphasized on 15 April the organization's commitment after the looting of museums and libraries in Baghdad.

"The safeguarding of all aspects of cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, plays a key role in strengthening the sense of national identity and is therefore a central part of our action," Mr. Matsuura said. "UNESCO is duty bound to assist the Iraqi people in protecting its memory and building its future". He also said that UNESCO had taken preventive measures before the start of the war. The Organization had provided maps of Iraqi archeological sites and museums to the UN Secretary-General and to the United States State Department. Furthermore, UNESCO has raised awareness of the terms of its Conventions about the protection of cultural property.

UNESCO has scheduled a meeting in Paris to address post-war projects of cultural rehabilitation in Iraq and plans to establish an intersectoral mission to catalogue the country's cultural heritage and to estimate the damage.

"Libraries, archives and manuscripts must be preserved as essential parts of the rich heritage of Iraq. Libraries are the essence of knowledge societies," Mr. Matsuura said. "Nearly twenty centuries of written history of mankind are in danger; everything must be done to protect them from looting and destruction." The UNESCO mandate involves the international legal protection of cultural heritage and it manages various Conventions on the protection of cultural property. The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict adopted in 1954, which stipulates the protection of objects of artistic, historical, archeological or scientific significance. Another is the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, adopted in 1970, which demands the protection of cultural heritage against theft, illicit export and wrongful alienation.

Links

UNESCO Sector for Culture: Legal Protection for Cultural Heritage

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