UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION. Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura

Transcription

1 DG/2003/086 Original: English UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the occasion of the First Plenary Session of the ICC (International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding of Afghanistan s Cultural Heritage) UNESCO, 16 June 2003

2 1 Mr Minister, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to see that so many cultural heritage experts and representatives from Member States interested in the rehabilitation of Afghanistan s cultural heritage have made a point of being present at this First Plenary Session of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding of Afghanistan s Cultural Heritage. I welcome each and all of you very warmly. Your presence today confirms the importance of this meeting and the high interest you have in its work. It is to be regretted that we are unable to hold this meeting in Kabul, as originally planned, not least because of President Karzai s absence. He would have been present if it were being held in Kabul. His interest in and support for the Committee s work have been vital. Let me take this opportunity to praise President Karzai s efforts towards reconstruction and reconciliation in Afghanistan. In the face of many difficult conditions, he is working extremely hard for his country and, in these efforts, he can rely upon UNESCO s full support. In turn, we are most grateful for the support and encouragement he gives to UNESCO s activities to help Afghanistan in all its fields of competence. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mr Makhdoum Raheen, Minister of Information and Culture of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan. UNESCO greatly appreciates the open and cordial relationship we have with Minister Raheen, who has visited Headquarters on several occasions and attended the important International Symposium on Afghan Culture held in Japan last year. With his mastery of two crucial portfolios, culture and information, he has a clear understanding of how these supposedly soft issues are vital for long-term development that is oriented towards peace and human well-being as well as economic growth and prosperity. I would like to extend my particular thanks to him for agreeing to act as chairperson of the Committee. Mr Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a cliché that we live in a fast-changing world, but often it is the brevity of attention-spans that encourages this impression. Today, the spotlight has moved to Iraq but this does not mean that Afghanistan has been forgotten. It is UNESCO s duty to be where we are needed, and I firmly believe that we are needed in Afghanistan, not only for immediate assistance but also for long-term processes of reconstruction, development and reconciliation.

3 2 Ever since UNESCO was entrusted by the Afghan Government with the overall coordination of international efforts in the field of the Afghan cultural heritage, the Organization has undertaken this responsibility most conscientiously. One manifestation of this was the major seminar on the rehabilitation of Afghanistan s cultural heritage, attended by 107 Afghan and international experts, that took place in Kabul in May Many of you were present at this first international cultural seminar after the installation of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan. As a result of the meeting of May 2002 in Kabul, several urgent measures were proposed and have since been implemented. The overall site management and restoration plan for the Minaret of Jam will be decided upon by the Afghan authorities. You will recall that in June 2002, the World Heritage Committee decided to inscribe the Minaret of Jam as the first Afghan property on the World Heritage List and on the World Heritage List in Danger. This monument has long been a focus of concern for UNESCO and, as you well know, I sent several expert missions to the Minaret of Jam even during the Taliban regime to make sure that this unique monument was safe. In order to ensure the monument s stability, an expert mission will be undertaken by Professor Andrea Bruno and Professor Giorgio Macchi in August this year, which will be aided by the project house at the site, recently constructed by UNESCO in order to facilitate the implementation of projects at this remote location. In addition, since illicit excavations are a major problem at the site, the Organization is presently taking action to prevent these by fencing off the area and employing security guards, as well as by reinforcing existing laws and drafting new legislation. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to the Government of Italy and the Government of Switzerland for their financial support of projects at this site. Another very important site in Afghanistan, even though it is not on the World Heritage List, is Herat. Because of the danger of collapse of one of the five minarets, UNESCO has sent a specialist in structural engineering to this prestigious city, which is also well known for its architecture and the importance of its distinctive urban fabric. In two weeks time, at the next session of the World Heritage Committee, the proposal to include the Bamiyan site on the World Heritage List will be considered. In this regard, I would like to thank the Government of Japan for the generous contribution it has made to the safeguarding of the Bamiyan site. A recent expert mission to the site emphasized the urgent need for action to consolidate the fragile cliffs and niches where the statues of the Buddha were

4 3 situated. The mural paintings in the caves at the site also need to be conserved and a master plan for the site drawn-up. Due to the difficult security situation in the region in the spring of this year, the implementation of these activities has encountered some delays; I am pleased to report that work is being initiated this month and will continue in July. Despite a number of local constraints, UNESCO, in cooperation with ICOMOS, has employed guards to protect the site, and it has constructed housing for them. Finally, I would like to mention the Kabul Museum, which once housed many of the country s outstanding examples of Graeco-Buddhist sculpture, ivories, metal work and exceptional mural paintings and which has suffered enormously over the past two decades. Taking into account its symbolic value, the Afghan authorities have given high priority to the Museum s rapid repair and reconstruction. In December 2002, drawing upon decentralised carry-over funds, the UNESCO Office in Kabul implemented a project for emergency protective work at the Museum, including fitting windows in the building and re-establishing its electricity supply. The Government of Greece also began to plan emergency consolidation work at the Museum in January 2003, and this will soon be implemented. It is clear in retrospect that the May 2002 seminar in Kabul and the Tokyo Seminar held in July 2002 on The Culture of Afghanistan, where I had the pleasure to officially give Minister Raheen the certificate of inscription of the Minaret of Jam on the World Heritage List, were watershed events. Following those meetings, various Member States and organizations have pledged important contributions for the safeguarding of Afghanistan s cultural heritage and have implemented bilateral projects already showing excellent results. In this context, I would like to express my gratitude to the Government of Germany, the Government of France, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the British Museum. Furthermore, Expert Working Groups on the preservation of the Bamiyan Site and the rehabilitation of the sites of Jam and Herat were jointly organized by the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture and UNESCO in November 2002 and January The first concrete activities have been begun to implement the recommendations of these meetings. I wish to assure you, Mr Minister, that my colleagues and I will make every effort to further develop and strengthen our cooperation with your Ministry in this regard, in order to produce sustainable results. Despite these positive developments, let me assure you that I do not underestimate the difficulties involved. After 22 years of warfare, the country

5 4 faces a critical shortage of infrastructure and trained personnel. This is why capacity-building is such a crucial task. Another serious difficulty is practical and logistical in character. The essential materials needed for the work of rehabilitation, such as special scaffolding and instrumentation for measuring soil content do not exist inside the country and it is both difficult and expensive to bring them from other countries. The absence of such equipment sometimes impedes the effective operation of on-site rehabilitation activities. Mr Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, Today s meeting of the International Coordination Committee is an essential step towards establishing the planned institutional framework to reinforce international cooperation in the safeguarding of Afghanistan s cultural heritage. Over recent years, UNESCO has acquired a great deal of experience as coordinator of the often complex operations involved in the safeguarding of heritage threatened by conflict and post-conflict situations. Such operations have brought into play many different public and private sector partners. We have seen how central is the role of cultural heritage in peace-building and peacekeeping after situations of armed conflict. Unfortunately, in such situations, heritage can all too often become a target, owing to its value as a vector of the cultural identity of a nation or of an ethnic group. However, it can also become a rallying point for former adversaries, enabling them to re-build ties, re-open channels of dialogue and re-design a common identity and future together. UNESCO s strategy in such situations is to help re-establish linkages between the populations concerned and their cultural history. It is also important that a sense of shared ownership of the tangible and intangible heritage existing in the country be developed, through which the different parts of a society can find common ground. Where better than in Afghanistan could such a strengthening of intercommunity ties around a common heritage make more sense? Afghanistan s heritage is the living testimony of thousands of years of history, reflecting the contributions of different peoples, cultures and beliefs. The Afghan population is a mosaic of these diverse influences, and it is important to raise awareness of the fact that it is that very diversity which makes Afghans what and who they are today: one single identity made up of countless different parts.

6 5 In order to fulfil the important task of assisting Afghanistan in safeguarding and rehabilitating its cultural heritage, I proposed the establishment of this International Coordination Committee to assist me in drawing up a set of measures to improve and reinforce international cooperation for this purpose. The Executive Board fully endorsed this proposal. The measures you shall recommend, which may be quite varied in character and both long-term and short-term, may include the following: defining a suitable cultural policy framework; monitoring ongoing and prospective activities with a view to avoiding duplication; facilitating information exchange; identifying available funds; and providing technical assistance in the area of legislation. Once I receive the Committee s recommendations, I will then propose these measures to the Afghan authorities, with the hope that they will be welcomed and implemented. I requested your participation as members of this Committee because of the many commendable qualities and capacities you would bring to the task of helping Afghanistan to rehabilitate its cultural heritage. UNESCO will not impose the terms of reference for the actions selected to bring about this rehabilitation; rather, it will play a coordinating role in the processes aimed at defining priorities, avoiding duplication and ensuring that the best international conservation standards are employed for the rehabilitation of Afghanistan s heritage. It is our common objective to assist the Afghan people in facing these challenges, and I am sincerely grateful for your willingness to share your expertise and experience in this endeavour. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, When I visited Kabul in January 2002, I was deeply shocked to see the scale of destruction in the city, including the area around the Kabul Museum. The Museum itself was still standing but it was more or less an empty shell its interior was a scene of utter disarray and devastation. But then I saw, over the entrance of the Museum, a message that was like a brilliant ray of sunshine: A nation stays alive when its culture stays alive. It is a message that symbolizes Afghanistan s deep attachment to its cultural memory and heritage, and it should be a source of inspiration to all of us. It shows that cultural heritage is not just a priceless value per se, but that it is also a key factor in development and reconciliation. We are thus faced with a great challenge and a monumental task. However, in view of the efforts that you have already made over the years to preserve Afghanistan s cultural heritage and your commitment to this cause, I am confident that we will succeed together in producing sustainable results and

7 6 in creating the conditions necessary for the revitalization of Afghanistan s rich cultural heritage. Thank you.