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UNESCO
UNESCO

Revive the Spirit of Mosul

The city of Mosul, meaning “the linking point" in Arabic, is one of the oldest cities in the world. For millennia, it has been a strategic crossing and a bridge between north and south, east and west.

The city of Mosul, which means "the linking point" in Arabic, is one of the oldest cities in the world. For millennia, it has been a strategic location due to its crossroads and bridge between north and south, east and west. This has made it home to a large number of people with different origins, ethnicities and religious beliefs, but this in turn made it a target for ISIL/Daesh. In 2014, a three-year occupation (2014-2017) was carried out that ended with devastating results and these years passed before the shackles of violent extremism could be broken. Mosul was devastated and the city was left in ruins. Therefore, in February 2018, UNESCO launched the flagship initiative “Revive the Spirit of Mosul” as a response to the recovery of one of Iraq's iconic cities.

UNESCO

“Revive the Spirit of Mosul”:

A global initiative based on three pillars
Heritage
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Cultural life
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Education
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Meet our experts & architects
Revive the Spirit of Mosul is one of the most ambitious reconstruction campaigns recently launched. It is particularly complex because of the unique heritage value of the sites and monuments that UNESCO is rebuilding. Site engineers, architects, site managers, workers... our experts on the ground in Mosul share their views with us.

Watch these videos and find out what they have to say.

News and Stories

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Mosul _ excavations around the Al-Hadba Minaret
“Reconstruction will succeed and Iraq will regain its influence only if the human dimension is given priority; education and culture are the key elements. They are forces of unity and reconciliation.”
UNESCO Director-General
Audrey Azoulay Director-General of UNESCO

Key facts and figures

80%
of the Old city of Mosul destroyed during IS occupation
2018
launch of the initiative “Revive the Spirit of Mosul”
30%
Of the Iraqi engineers employed by UNESCO are women
Access to all our Facts & Figures
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Press kit - Revive the Spirit of Mosul

Press Kit

Download our press kit to learn more about our work.

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Revive the Spirit of Mosul Press Kit
Mosul story Al-Nouri 01
UNESCO

Action spotlight: Donors of the Initiative

15 partners have joined the UNESCO initiative, making it possible to mobilize over 105.5M$:
50,4M$
from the United Arab Emirates
38.5M$
from the European Union
16.6M$+
from other countries and UNESCO funds, including:
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Canada, Croatia, France, Government of Flanders, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, South Korea, Netherlands, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and UNESCO’s Heritage Emergency Fund.