In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, and the 25th anniversary of the UNIDROIT 1995 Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, UNESCO organized a capacity building workshop for Comoros and Djibouti on 20 and 21 September 2021, aiming to equip participants with knowledge of international frameworks and other resources available to protect cultural property and combat illicit trafficking in cultural objects.
This workshop followed the UNESCO online regional conference on 26 and 27 April 2021 to strengthen the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property in Africa, which identified priorities, challenges and opportunities for the protection of cultural property in the Africa region, as well as the global online debate entitled “The fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property: for a strengthened global dialogue” organized by UNESCO in partnership with the European Union on 14 September 2021.
Both Comoros and Djibouti are newer State Parties to the UNESCO 1970 Convention, which Comoros ratified in 2021 and Djibouti in 2018; and both countries had requested support from UNESCO in strengthening national capacities to implement the guidance and international standards of the Convention. In response, UNESCO mobilized some of its main technical partners including: the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) to share information on their programmes and resources with over 60 participants mobilized by the Direction General of Arts and Culture in Comoros and the Direction of Culture in Djibouti.
The hybrid meeting, which included online presentations by UNESCO and its partners, with physical participation of over 30 participants at the Hotel Retaj in Comoros and over 30 participants at the Peoples Palace in Djibouti, addressed both countries on 20 September, but then split into two separate sessions on 21 September in order to focus on individual country contexts and needs. The workshop resulted in a list of priorities for both countries together with Action Plans to guide the development of legislation, policies and measures to strengthen the protection of cultural property as well as synergies for national and regional cooperation.
The workshop was opened by Prof. Hubert Gijzen, Director and Representative of UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, who encouraged both countries to consider ratifying the complementary UNIDROIT 1995 Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, which works together with the UNESCO 1970 Convention to offer a comprehensive focus on the protection of both public and private objects and collections.
The 1970 Convention provides a common framework for State Parties on the measures to be taken to prohibit and prevent the import, export and transfer of cultural property. Such measures could range from raising capacities through workshops such as this one to developing national legislation and policies, elaborating inventories, issuing export certificates or launching national awareness-raising campaigns.
In their respective opening remarks, representatives of H.E. Dr. (Mr.) Takiddine Youssouf, Minister of Youth, Employment, Labor, Sports, Arts and Culture in Comoros, and H.E. Dr. (Ms.) Hibo Moumin Assoweh, Minister of Youth and Culture of Djibouti, both thanked UNESCO for its continuous support in building national capacities on the protection of cultural property, and stressed the importance of developing action plans to guide measures for the protection of cultural property.
It is important to accelerate the process of restitution of cultural property to the communities who are the true owners of this property and whose cultural survival is closely linked to it. For my country, the implementation of this [1970] Convention benefits from all of our reflections today, and strengthens the tools available for the protection and the development of our cultural heritage. [Fighting illicit trafficking of cultural property] is at the heart of our concerns as it constitutes an important bulwark against barbarism and the destruction of cultural property.
During the workshop, Ms. Karalyn Monteil, Programme Specialist for Culture at UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, introduced the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property together with its guidance for preventive measures, restitution provisions, and international cooperation. Ms. Marina Schneider, Principal Legal Officer & Treaty Depositary at UNIDROIT introduced the benefits of ratification of the UNIDROIT 1995 Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, and guided both countries through various resources and procedures for the return and restitution of cultural property. Mr. Paolo Pellegrino from the Works of Art Unit at INTERPOL introduced the ID-Art Mobile App, which helps to identify stolen cultural property, reduce illicit trafficking, and increase the chances of recovering stolen items. Publicly available, the App is linked to INTERPOL’s Stolen Works of Art database, which contains more than 52,000 objects from 134 member countries. Ms. Valérie Magar presented ICCROM's support for the preservation of cultural heritage in Africa through training, information, research, cooperation and awareness programs-including their Re-Org and Youth.Heritage.Africa programmes; and Ms. Sophie Delepierre presented the ICOM’s programme, resources and network--including information on the Object ID checklist, ICOM Red Lists Database, and the ICOM International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods, a collaborative platform designed to provide information and resources to all concerned parties.
The workshop was closed by H.E. Dr. Takiddine Youssouf, Minister of Youth, Employment, Labor, Sports, Arts and Culture of Comoros; as well as by the representative of of H.E. Dr. Hibo Moumin Assoweh, Minister of Youth and Culture of Djibouti.
The Comorian government is committed to protecting Comorian cultural heritage inside and outside of our territory…. This national workshop, which brought together the different stakeholders of the 1970 Convention, allowed the participants to acquire basic knowledge, mechanisms, issues and opportunities related to the protection of cultural property.
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