Cultural Heritage & Armed Conflicts
Culture, being on the front lines of conflicts, is too often a victim of hostilities. The destruction of heritage fuels violence, hatred and vengeance among people and weakens the very foundations of peace, hindering reconciliation when the dust of war settles.
For this very reason, protecting culture and combatting the crimes against ithave been at the core of UNESCO’s mission since its foundation.
In this spirit and on the promise of preservation of heritage for future generations, the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols (1954 and 1999)have been adopted under the auspices of UNESCO. Paving the way for the birth of numerous international instruments in the field of culture, the 1954 Hague Convention is a fundamental international instrument for conflict prevention, post-conflict recovery and building the defenses of peace.
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"...any damage to cultural property, irrespective of the people it belongs to, is a damage to the cultural heritage of all humanity, because every people contributes to the world's culture..." – Preamble of the 1954 Hague Convention
