19 July 2017-Twenty officials of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq completed a training course on “Introduction to Preventive Conservation of Museums Collections". The course took place from 9 to 16 July 2017 in Amman, Jordan, within the framework of the project for "Preventive Conservation of Iraq's Museum Collections and Cultural Heritage Sites at Imminent Risk", funded by the Government of Japan.

The training course was organized by the UNESCO Office for Iraq in partnership with the ICCROM-ATHAR Center in Sharjah, with the aim of mitigating risks that face museum collections, and ensuring a sound environment for the display and storage of artefacts.

Participants comprised curators and personnel from various museums in Iraq. The training course programme aimed at introducing the main concepts and tools of preventive conservation for museum collections, providing an approach to assess the various potential threats to collections, and devising plans of action. The training programme activities comprised theoretical approaches, active discussion, practical exercises, and presentations by the participants. The programme also included a visit to The Jordan Museum, providing an opportunity for the participants to learn from its experience in the display and presentation of objects, as well as the functions of its various facilities, such as those related to the documentation, conservation, and storage of objects.

Participant Ghaidaa Al-Janabi said: “The training course provided us with new insights on how to preserve the rich cultural heritage through a well-structured training programme”.

“The training course helped open new horizons and provided a new approach in the preventive conservation of museum collections, with the objective of protecting and conserving the rich cultural heritage", said Muhaned Abdel Razzaq, Director of the Museum of the Palace of King Ghazi in Diwaniyah.

The project "Preventive Conservation of Iraq's Museum Collections and Cultural Heritage Sites at Imminent Risk" aims at contributing to the protection of the Iraq's cultural heritage, through the provision of technical assistance and capacity building to the State Board of Antiquities for the reinforcement of its monitoring and protection measures for sites and museum collections.