Project
Building Disaster Resilience at Angkor
Angkor, Cambodia, is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia and it joined the World Heritage List in 1992. With impressive monuments, several different ancient urban plans and large water reservoirs, the site is a unique concentration of features testifying to an exceptional civilization, which thrived between the 9-15 century. The site has thus welcomed nearly 2.6 million international visitors before the pandemic, generating more than $100 million in revenue.
Angkor World Heritage site also requires urgent action to safeguard its Outstanding Universal Value of world significance from various threats, including the risk to physical monuments and the integrity of the site; the risk to the cultural and economic activity in and around the site, and the risk to the well-being of local people and communities in and around the Angkor World Heritage site due to natural hazards and human-induced disasters.
With the financial support of World Bank, UNESCO is working closely with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the APSARA National Authority to strengthen the disaster risk preparedness and management at the Angkor UNESCO World Heritage site in Cambodia, including through the development of a Disaster Risk Management Plan (DRMP) for the Angkor World Heritage site, and to facilitate policy dialogues on disaster risk management and resilience building for cultural heritage sites in Cambodia.
Read more about its recent consultation meeting .
Why is Disaster Risk Reduction important?
Natural hazards are naturally-occurring physical phenomena caused by either the rapid or slow onset of events having atmospheric, geologic and hydrologic origins.
Disasters often follow natural hazards and they are a result of the combination of hazards, the conditions of vulnerability and of the insufficient capacity or measures to reduce the potentially negative consequences of the hazard.
Disaster risk reduction is the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyse and reduce the causal factors of disasters.
UNESCO is acting across the board, in advocating for risk awareness, prevention, and preparedness and build back better, in fostering learning and in building capacity, including in UNESCO designated sites. UNESCO seeks to strengthen the resilience of societies - through capacity building, knowledge sharing and networking, early warning and policy advice, working with governments, civil society, research institutions, and all key actors.
Read more about UNESCO’s work globally in Disaster Risk Reduction.
