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Tuesday, 14 June 2016
“The destruction of heritage is inseparable from the persecution of people. This is why we consider the protection of cultural heritage today as far more than a cultural issue. This has become a humanitarian imperative, and a security issue,” stated UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova today in The Hague during the Europe Lecture 2016, organised by the European Lecture Foundation in ...
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Monday, 13 June 2016
At its 40th session to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 10 to 20 July 2016, the World Heritage Committee will examine the state of conservation of a number of World Heritage properties.  The full reports on 152 properties are now publicly available through the World Heritage Centre’ State of conservation Information System at the following Web address: https://whc.unesco.org/en/soc As part ...
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Monday, 13 June 2016
Following South Sudan’s ratification of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in January 2016, UNESCO organized a technical workshop from 8 to 13 June 2016 in Juba to support the process of preparing South Sudan’s World Heritage Tentative List. Over ten representatives from ministries responsible for natural and cultural heritage, NGOs, and Juba University participated in the workshop, which ...
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Saturday, 11 June 2016
UNESCO’s Director-General condemns the Destruction of Nabu Temple in Nimrud “The recent destruction of Nabu Temple is a new deliberate attack against the Iraqi people and against the shared values of humanity” said the Director General of UNESCO. “I condemn in the strongest manner this new crime and reiterate UNESCO’s determination to do whatever is needed to support the national responsible ...
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Wednesday, 8 June 2016
We are living in a time of unprecedented change. As we celebrate our marine treasures this World Oceans Day, we at UNESCO are also reflecting on the work needed to sustain them as sea levels rise, and the water grows warmer and more acidic. This year, the effects of climate change have been multiplied by a strong El Niño that has brought record-breaking temperatures to much of the Pacific ...
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Monday, 6 June 2016
Experts from nearly 40 countries, including 12 outside the Africa region, gathered in Arusha (Tanzania) for the international conference "Safeguarding African World Heritage as a Driver of Sustainable Development" co-organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the United Republic of Tanzania and the People's Republic of China, from 31 May to 3 June 2016. In his opening statement, the ...
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Monday, 6 June 2016
Policy makers and advisors from the Federal Government of Somalia and national heritage experts met on 6 June 2016 in Mogadishu to consider the benefits of ratifying the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. During a technical workshop organised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education together with the Italian NGO CISP as part of the European-Union funded project ‘Reviving ...
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Sunday, 5 June 2016
Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the World Environment Day, 5 June 2016 Go Wild for Life! Wildlife is an integral part of our biosphere. It is not only essential for healthy ecosystems but also key to peace and sustainable development. Many communities depend on wildlife trade, and tourism related to wildlife, for their livelihoods. An estimated ...
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Saturday, 4 June 2016
Some 230 Syrian and international experts joined forces in a two-day meeting to assess damage to cultural heritage sites in Syria, develop methodologies and define priority emergency safeguarding measures for the country’s heritage. The expert meeting, held in Berlin from 2 to 4 June, was organized by UNESCO and Germany. It was opened by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and Maria ...
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Thursday, 2 June 2016
UNESCO Director-General opened the Expert meeting on the safeguarding of syria's heritage, with Maria Böhmer, Minister of State to the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany. "Berlin embodies the power of culture to bring people together”, said Irina Bokova. More than 230 Syrian and international experts from all sides are joining forces to develop a common damage assessment ...
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Tuesday, 31 May 2016
From 25 to 27 May, an international conference entitled “Cultural Heritage and Development Initiatives: a Challenge or a Contribution to Sustainability?” was held at the Palazzo Barnerini in Rome.  Organized by the UNESCO Office in Kabul together with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the World Bank, in cooperation with the Government of Italy, it focused on the relationship between ...
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Friday, 27 May 2016
“Keeping History Alive” a UNESCO publication on safeguarding cultural heritage in post-conflict Afghanistan was launched in Kabul’s Babur Garden H.E. Chief Executive of Afghanistan Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. “Safeguarding heritage and diversity is more than a cultural issue. It is an issue of citizenship, bringing people together around shared values. To ...
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Thursday, 26 May 2016
Climate change is fast becoming one of the most significant risks for World Heritage sites, according to the report “World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate” released today by UNESCO, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). “Globally, we need to better understand, monitor and address climate change threats to World Heritage sites,” ...
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Friday, 20 May 2016
"The 2016 International Day for Biological Diversity is dedicated to the theme of ‘Mainstreaming Biodiversity, Sustaining People and their Livelihoods.’ This echoes powerfully the vision set forth in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Change Agreement. I see this as a single agenda to chart a new course for people, peace and the planet for the next 15 years. ...
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Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Over the last several months, the World Heritage Centre has received numerous messages, through the NGO Platform Save the Tua, from individuals expressing their concern regarding the Foz Tua dam project, located inside the buffer zone, but outside the World Heritage property “Alto Douro Wine Region” limit. Those messages drew attention to the adverse impact it may have on the landscape, ...
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Tuesday, 17 May 2016
The Director-General of UNESCO strongly condemned the severe damage caused by an air-strike to the Church of Saint Simeon, part of the UNESCO World Heritage property of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria. The byzantine Church was built in the year 490 AD on Mount Simeon and used to be a popular destination for worshippers and tourists alike. The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Irina ...
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Friday, 13 May 2016
Key UNESCO partners joined with the Organization to approve a new action plan to address emergency and short term interventions for the safeguarding of Libya’s cultural heritage following a three-day international expert meeting in the Tunisian capital this week. Organized with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Libya and in close cooperation with the Department of Antiquities of Libya and ...
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Thursday, 12 May 2016
In preparation for the UNESCO experts’ meeting in Berlin (2-4 June 2016) on the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Syria, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova and UNESCO teams are pursuing consultations with representatives from Member States and experts across the board to assess the situation and the way forward. These actions are in line with the unanimous decision of the 199th session ...
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Tuesday, 10 May 2016
With the slogan “ … and when the skies fall silent?",  the World Migratory Bird Day 2016  on 10 May aims to highlight the incredible numbers of migratory birds being threatened and lost each year . This is often linked to illicit activities are various and the toll that they are taking is disastrous – millions of birds are being killed each year.  Such numbers are totally unsustainable and ...
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Monday, 9 May 2016
[in French only] Une quarantaine de personnes s'est réunie le 3 mai dernier à Niamey pour le lancement du projet de « Gestion communautaire de la conservation des aires protégées » (COMPACT en anglais) au Parc du W au Niger, bien inscrit sur la Liste du patrimoine mondial depuis 20 ans. Ce projet, qui bénéficie d’un financement du gouvernement espagnol et du Programme de micro financement du ...