Emergency actions
"Cultural heritage sites around the world are increasingly becoming the collateral victims of both natural disasters and armed conflicts," Press release of 25 May 2012
During armed conflict or natural disasters, UNESCO develops emergency measures for the protection of cultural heritage by mobilizing the international community. In this context, missions to assess damage are dispatched as soon as possible in order to establish plans of action for the preservation and reconstruction of cultural heritage.
UNESCO acts primarily through its cultural conventions:
- Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, 1954
- Fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property, 1970
- Protection of cultural and natural heritage, 1972