34 Lebanese Cultural Properties placed under enhanced UNESCO Protection

At the request of the Lebanese authorities, UNESCO convened an extraordinary session of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. It resulted in the provisional inclusion of 34 Lebanese cultural properties on the International List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection, including the World Heritage sites of Baalbek and Tyre, near to which strikes have recently been recorded.

These 34 cultural properties now benefit from the highest level of immunity against attack and use for military purposes. Non-compliance with these clauses would constitute ‘serious violations’ of the 1954 Hague Convention and would constitute potential grounds for prosecution.

The sites placed under enhanced protection will receive technical and financial assistance from UNESCO to reinforce their legal protections, improve risk anticipation and management measures, and provide further training for site managers in this area. Enhanced protection also helps send a signal to the entire international community of the urgent need to protect these sites.

This emergency initiative falls within the framework of the 1954 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property and its Second Protocol drawn up in 1999. It complements the actions already undertaken by UNESCO in recent weeks to protect Lebanon's cultural heritage.

Since the outbreak of hostilities, UNESCO has been in close contact with site managers, cultural professionals and national authorities. The Organization has offered its support in identifying emergency measures, inventorying museum collections, and moving works that can be moved to safe locations elsewhere in Lebanon.

UNESCO is also carrying out satellite monitoring of historical and heritage sites, in order to assess their state of conservation and any damage they have incurred, in partnership with UNOSAT, the United Nations Satellite Centre.

UNESCO has also set up an emergency programme for Lebanon covering the culture, education, information and communication sectors. The Organization is calling on its Member States to support the implementation of this programme with financial contributions.