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UNESCO calls on international community to help revive Iraq鈥檚 cultural heritage in the wake of massive destruction

A two-day International Coordination Conference on the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage in Liberated Areas of Iraq ended at UNESCO鈥檚 Headquarters on Friday, laying the ground for an emergency, medium and long term action plan to preserve the country鈥檚 rich, diverse millennial archaeological sites, its museums, religious heritage, and historic cities.
The Iraqi government officials and some 80 heritage experts from all over the world at the meeting agreed to appoint a joint UNESCO-Iraqi Steering Committee to coordinate and advocate the many national and international initiatives to rehabilitate the cultural heritage of Iraq.
Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, said that damage was even greater than had been feared and she described today鈥檚 meeting as the start of a long heritage rehabilitation process which is likely to require decades of work. 鈥淭his is a turning point for the Iraqi people and for the world鈥檚 understanding of the role of heritage for societies in conflict situations.鈥 Less than three months after sending emergency missions to Nineveh and Nimrud, and, more recently, a damage assessment mission to the World Heritage site of Ashur, Ms Bokova said that 鈥淯NESCO is already mobilizing on the ground to support Iraq in protecting heritage and objects most at risk, and to fence off and guard sites.鈥
According to Qais Rasheed, Iraq鈥檚 Vice-Minister of Culture for Antiquities and Tourism Affairs, violent extremists have wreaked severe damage to archaeological sites of world importance, destroying up to 70% of Nineveh and 80% of Nimrud. They systematically dug tunnels in Mosul and other heritage sites in search for antiquities to sell on the Internet and black market. Mohammad Iqbal Omar, Iraq鈥檚 Minister of Education, stressed that 鈥渨e must stop the trade in Iraqi antiquities, adhere to UN Security Council Resolution 2199 [banning all cultural trade from Iraq and Syria], and dry up Daesh鈥檚 money flow.鈥
鈥淎s we reclaim our country,鈥 said Fryad Rawandouzi, Minister of Culture, 鈥淲e need help from UNESCO, the UN and others to rehabilitate museums, cities and sites, and return stolen objects. We need a plan with a timeline, as well as technical and financial support.鈥
The meeting also included an information session for representatives of UNESCO鈥檚 195 Member States, crucial to raise funds for strategic safeguarding priorities identified during the meeting: archaeological sites; museums and museum collections; World Heritage sites and those on the 鈥溾 [slated to apply for World Heritage status in the future]; historical manuscripts; historical buildings and urban heritage; as well as religious heritage.
Many of the actions identified, were qualified as urgent, notably the need to conduct thorough damage assessment and protection measures such as the fencing off of exposed sites.
鈥淒aesh tried, but will never erase our culture, identity, diversity, history and the pillars of civilization. I call on the world to help us,鈥 declared Mohammad Iqbal Omar, the Education Minister of Iraq.
The meeting was organized by UNESCO and the Iraqi Ministry for Culture, with financial support by the Government of Japan in the framework of the project Preventive Conservation of Iraq鈥檚 Museum Collections and Cultural Heritage at Imminent Risk, carried out by the UNESCO Iraq Office in Baghdad.
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Media Contact: George Papagiannis, +33 1 45 68 17 06; g.papagiannis@unesco.org