Nour Allah MUNAWAR
(University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland)
Keywords: Cultural Heritage, Preservation, Conflict, Syria
Abstract:
In the last century many cultural heritage sites have been fallen victim of conflicts, which have caused huge damages to these sites and their perimeter. Also, the archaeological artifacts have been looted and illegally excavated due to the lack of security of the sites. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has spent many efforts to preserve and protect the cultural heritage all over the world. The first initiative was when the UNESCO has issued The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict in 1954, which has motivated many states to sign it later. The implementation of this convention and its attached protocols was disappointing, because of the ineffectiveness of the convention itself.
Since March 2011, the archaeological sites in Syria have suffered from the escalated violence of the recent armed conflict. Many sites have been damaged in different ways, such as looting, bombing, illegal excavations, terrorism actions and illicit trade. The armed conflict did not avoid the museums, as many museums all over Syria have been looted or bombed. Moreover, the monumental buildings such as citadels and castles have been used as military bases which have threaten the sites with being under the fire of bombs and artillery mortars.
In this presentation, the author will present a new model for assessing damaged cultural heritage, and planning for reconstruction, involving stakeholders in the preservation of cultural heritage sites.