Promoting the protection of cultural heritage in conflict-affected areas

Challenge

Armed conflict endangers the world’s cultural heritage, as past experiences such as in Syria or Mali have shown. In addition to the more generalised damage caused by conflict, parties to a conflict also often target cultural heritage to demoralise the community and illustrate their supremacy. Conversely, preserving and restoring cultural heritage can be a factor in reconciliation and peacebuilding. However, international attention, collaboration and resources to protect cultural heritage in areas of conflict and crisis needed to be strengthened.

Approach

Italy pursued a dual approach of international advocacy and action.

• Italy has seized opportunities for high-level advocacy. It did so as host of Expo 2015, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 2017 and through its presidency of the G7 where it organised the first G7 meeting of ministers of culture on the need to ensure the protection of cultural heritage in crises. As a strong advocate for the protection of cultural heritage within UNESCO, Italy supported UNESCO’s Unite4Heritage Campaign and actively promoted the adoption of a UNESCO General Conference statement on “Protecting Culture and Promoting Cultural Pluralism: The Key to Lasting Peace”.

• To support international action, Italy has drawn on its comparative advantage. The Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage) combines military, policing and cultural expertise and has been deployed in Kosovo1 and Iraq. Italy provides financial support for protecting cultural heritage and creative industries in Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Cuba and elsewhere. It also hosts the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). Italy has signed a memorandum of understanding with UNESCO on establishing an Italian Unite4Heritage Task Force and a specialised training centre in Turin.

Results

By placing the issue on the international agenda, Italy in conjunction with other states has secured commitments and international support in key fora. At Expo 2015, Italy facilitated a joint declaration of ministers of culture and representatives of 83 countries condemning the use of violence against cultural heritage. Italy co-drafted, along with France, the first Security Council resolution dedicated to this issue. It was also the sponsor of a UNESCO resolution on a cultural component in peacekeeping missions. These efforts are bearing fruit: the first report to the Security Council (2017) illustrates that many states have launched initiatives to protect cultural heritage in conflict situations.

Through ICCROM, Italy has promoted an integrated and multi-hazard risk management approach to heritage. This has also led to a greater understanding of the direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on cultural heritage. Guidance is available in five languages, together with videos on protecting heritage from COVID-19 outbreaks and secondary hazards, and on how to support heritage-based livelihoods during the pandemic.