UNESCO`s activity for the protection of cultural heritage in war zones.

Belgorod 2016

It is necessary to ingeminate about culture in every way if somewhere else there is a stock of nuclear weapons.

N. K. Roerich

The cultural heritage reflects the life of the community, its history and its identity. Its preservation helps to rebuild broken communities, re-establish their identities, and link their past with their present and future.

In the 19th century the question of restoration of historical monuments and their protection from the destruction caused by the war, became the subject of discussion at the World exhibitions and international conferences.

The next stage was about international organizations` activities on the problems of cultural heritage`s protection. It lasted until the late 1930s - mid. 1940s.

Then they were reorganized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific the and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It was established on the 16th of November in 1945.

Protection of cultural property during armed conflict is based on the principle that damage to cultural property of any people is, in the formulation of the 1954 Hague Convention, "damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind."

The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict adopted at The Hague (Netherlands) in 1954, as a consequence to the massive destruction of the cultural heritage in the Second World War, is the first international treaty of a world-wide vocation dedicated exclusively to the protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict.

The Convention was adopted together with a Protocol in order to prevent the export of cultural property from occupied territory, requiring the return of such property to the territory of the State from which it was removed.

According to the 1954 Hague Convention, each State should try to protect their cultural property against armed attacks. For example, to remove remarkable pieces of art or don`t place military bases near them.

Parties of an armed conflict don`t have the right to direct hostilities against cultural property. They must not to cause accidental damage to such places and use cultural property for military purposes.

First of all, The United Nations was created to free the world from the scourge of warfare. However, disasters of inhuman conflicts continue to maim many people.

Warfare is also destroying opportunities for education on a scale that is insufficiently recognized. The facts are telling. Over 40% of out-of-school children live in conflict-affected countries. These same countries have some of the largest gender inequalities and lowest literacy levels in the world.

One important challenge that will put southern Sudan on track towards achieving EFA objectives during the current civil war is the need for political decision with support from international agencies to make primary education free.During the early stage of post-war reconstruction in southern Sudan, the future regional government should put the agenda of education into the new constitutional development.

UNESCO made efforts for the protection of culture during an armed conflict and in the transition period in Yemen, Iraq, Libya and Syria.

At UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (15 and 16 July 2015) was a meeting. It held Experts on the protection of cultural heritage of Yemen, who prepared a comprehensive action plan and created a network of international partners to support its implementation.

As for Iraq, in 2015, UNESCO started implementation of "preventive project conservation of museum collections and cultural heritage of Iraq, under the immediate threat of destruction ", while continuing to monitor the situation in closely cooperation with the authorities and specialized departments of the country.

From April to June 2015 there was a studying session in Tunisia, where 22 Libyan experts from various cultural inspections were acquainted with the methods of documents acceleration, evaluation and monitoring of Libya's cultural heritage, as well as preventive measures of protection the cultural heritage.

Nowadays all of us are witnesses of the war in Syria and Iraq. We can notice there is a great risk of destruction of cultural objects. But there are some significant statements encouraging for better activities.

Irina Bokova , Director-General of UNESCO , said that «there can be no purely military solution to this crisis. To fight fanaticism, we also need to reinforce education, a defence against hatred, and protect heritage, which helps forge collective identity.»

Also Ban Ki-Moon in his message to the Conference said “the protection of cultural heritage is a security imperative.”

In conclusion we want to say that cultural heritage can be seen as a guarantor of stability in the world.