Heritage Emergency Fund

The Heritage Emergency Fund, a multi-donor and non-earmarked funding mechanism, was established by UNESCO in 2015, to enable the Organization to respond quickly and effectively to crises resulting from armed conflicts and disasters caused by natural and human-made hazards all over the world. UNESCO works to achieve this objective by strengthening the ability of Member States to prevent, mitigate and recover the loss of cultural heritage and diversity in emergencies and by advocating for the incorporation of the protection of culture into humanitarian action, security strategies and peace-building processes, including by harnessing the potential of culture to strengthen resilience and support recovery.

The Fund finances activities in the area of emergency preparedness and response within the domains of the UNESCO Culture Conventions. This includes immovable cultural and natural heritage, movable cultural heritage, cultural repositories, underwater cultural heritage, intangible cultural heritage and the diversity of cultural goods, services and expressions.