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Cambodia

International Programme for the Preservation of Angkor

Cambodia
  • Devoda © N. Matsukura

Throughout the period from 1907 to 1970 when it was the responsibility of the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), the archaeological site of Angkor benefited from major maintenance and restoration work, notably anastylosis.

The abandonment of the site as the result of war and other upheavals led to extensive and serious damage. Shortly after the establishment of the Japanese Trust Fund in UNESCO, the Government of Japan decided to support, as a first project, the organization of the First Technical Round Table of Experts on the Preservation of the Angkor Monuments in June 1990 in Bangkok , proposed by UNESCO within the framework of its Plan of Action for the Conservation of the Angkor Monuments. This first technical meeting on Angkor, bringing together some 30 experts, Cambodian specialists and representatives of various international institutions and governmental and non-governmental organizations, adopted a series of recommendations for future action.

With the return of peace, and following an appeal by the Director-General of UNESCO in 1991, the international community awoke to the need to safeguard Angkor. In view of the exceptional value and universal significance of this immense site (approximately 401 km2) with its numerous historical monuments, the World Heritage Committee decided in December 1992 to include Angkor in the World Heritage List. And in order to strengthen the action undertaken to preserve this cultural treasure, it declared the site a danger zone.

In October 1993, the Government of Japan hosted the Intergovernmental Conference on the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor. Bringing together some 30 government representatives, notably representatives of Cambodia, and those of international organizations, financial institutions and NGOs, the Conference adopted the "Tokyo Declaration " which decided to establish in Phnom Penh the International Co-ordinating Committee on the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), to support the Cambodian Authorities ( APSARA, the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap, created by Royal Decree in February 1995) . ICC has convened regularly since December 1993 under the co-chairmanship of Japan and France and with the assistance of UNESCO as permanent secretary.

Major projects: