Italy and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are set to sign an agreement to establish a task force for the conservation of cultural heritage sites affected by crisis.
The Unite for Heritage coalition is in accordance with a strategy adopted by Member States at UNESCO’s General Conference in November. It will see the establishment of a task force of cultural heritage.
This development follows recent attacks on cultural heritage sites.
In 2001, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, decreed that two ancient giant Buddha statues in the valley in Bamiyan province were un-Islamic and ordered their destruction. They were blown up with dynamite the next month.
Under the agreement, UNESCO will be able to ask the Italian government to make experts available for deployment for the conservation of cultural heritage affected by crises.
UNESCO hopes that this will trickle down to other countries, all with the hope of reinforcing the international community’s ability to respond to the growing threats facing cultural heritage in different parts of the world.
