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Within the framework of “The Afghanistan Heritage & Extractive Industries Initiative” and in the presence of Mr. Jean-Michel Marlaud – Ambassador of France in Afghanistan, Mr. Paolo Fontani – Director and Representative of UNESCO Office in Kabul – and Mr. Julio Bendezu Sarmiento – Director of DAFA (Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan) signed an agreement for the implementation of archaeological screening of two mining sites located in different provinces.

“The Afghanistan Heritage & Extractive Industries Initiative”, funded by the World Bank and in support of both the Ministry of Mines & Petroleum and the Ministry of Information & Culture, is designed to create long-term institutional capacity for the protection of cultural heritage within the country’s current development strategy.

As part of this programme, the partnership between UNESCO and DAFA will allow the deposits under review to be properly investigated, thus assessing character and significance of cultural assets possibly present within the concession areas. This surveying phase will form the basis of further evaluation and proposals for the conservation and management of cultural properties, in terms of both assessing the impact of proposed changes and estimating the resources necessary to achieve the general objective of heritage protection.

This phase of work will include a capacity-building programme, addressed to enhance technical skills of Afghan professionals in the field of archaeological survey, assessment, field conservation and long-term management. The programme will aim at facilitating the implementation of preventive archaeology, as effective tool to appropriately incorporate the protection of cultural assets into development plans.