The General Conference Authorizes the Director-General (a) to implement the corresponding plan of action in order to: (i) enhance protection of cultural property through the conservation of collections and endangered movable cultural property; (ii) advance heritage conservation practices and museum policy development through the publication of the journal MUSEUM International; (b) to allocate for this purpose an amount of $1,568,000 for programme costs and $14,900 for indirect programme costs at Headquarters. Strategic approaches. This subprogramme will complement the work on the preservation of monuments and sites, as well as that on the promotion of sustainable cultural tourism and the generation of culturebased employment opportunities. It will focus on capacity-building through training for the management of museums and site interpretation centres. Collections of ancient artefacts, ethnographic objects and contemporary creations –that illuminate the cultural diversity of societies – will be safeguarded through strengthening the role of museums in community life. Special attention will be given to gearing the educational content of museums in such a manner that they contribute to mutual understanding, appreciation and dialogue, particularly in multicultural contexts. Action will aim to enhance complementarity of the state and local governments in the management of cultural resources and to foster partnerships with the private sector, educational and research institutions and other actors of civil society. Pilot projects will be carried out for museums in developing countries, in particular LDCs, and will seek to build partnerships for recording, documentation and conservation of endangered cultural properties, as well as improvement in display, interpretation and community outreach activities of museums. International cooperation will be fostered through brokering multi-bilateral joint planning and through small-scale museum-tomuseum partnerships promoting the transfer of knowledge and skills. Networking of professionals and database development on endangered cultural property will be encouraged, as will be a broad range of partnerships [MLA 1]. Over the past few years, MUSEUM International has been recast as a main vehicle in communicating issues pertaining to cultural heritage preservation. It has enjoyed increased circulation, visibility and pro. tability. The journal editorial strategy fosters exchanges of expertise in the context of interdisciplinary research, presentation of best practices for the safeguarding and protection of the cultural heritage, and input for decision-making in a changing cultural environment. The editorial focus will be on heritage policies and promotion of international exchanges of professional knowledge. It will seek to link operational experiences with the development of policies and concepts. The application of ICTs to the protection and circulation of museum collections will be explored, including through intersectoral action with MP V. The journal will also have a regional focus with a view to encouraging pluralism of practice and strengthening international solidarity. A project on the History of Heritage and Museum Programmes since the creation of UNESCO will be initiated as will efforts to produce an Arabic version of the MUSEUM Digital Archives [MLA 2]. The proposed reinforcement of this subprogramme will target improvements in the display of, and increased community participation in, the protection of movable cultural property in a larger number of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Main line of action 1. Enhancing protection of movable cultural property Expected results at the end of the biennium Capacities for protection of movable cultural property strengthened. Performance indicators: – Training for museum management and site interpretation centre; – museum–to-museum partnership projects, especially in LDCs: Benchmark: at least 10; – national inventories prepared: Benchmark: at least 10. Museum development enhanced Performance indicators: – educational content and material for museums; – international cooperation frameworks for museum development: Benchmark: in at least 4 countries. Networking between museums strengthened. Performance indicators: – development of digital databases; – Museums with on-line presence, especially in LDCs: Benchmark: 30 museums. Main line of action 2. Advancing heritage conservation practices and museum policy development Expected results at the end of the biennium MUSEUM International consolidated as leading international journal on heritage conservation issues. Performance indicators: – publication of journal and circulation in English and French: Benchmark: 4 issues annually; – subscriptions: Benchmark: at least 10% annual increase; – website consultations: Benchmark: 10% annual increase. Museum development improved in developing countries and particularly LDCs. Performance indicators: – best practices documented; – protection of museum collections through ICT approaches; – quality articles by authors from developing and least developed countries: Benchmark: + 10% increase (baseline: 30 articles in 2004/2005); – re-prints of MUSEUM International articles; – History of Heritage and Museum Programmes; – MUSEUM Digital Archives in Arabic.