Unesco at 80: culture under fire in global conflicts

Unesco at 80: culture under siege

Eight decades after its creation, the UN's cultural arm fights to protect global heritage as conflict rises and identity erasure becomes a weapon of war.

Why culture matters in conflict

Preserving cultural heritage ensures histories and identities are not erased in conflicts such as those in Palestine, Sudan and Yemen, says Unesco's Krista Pikkat.

Culture as a weapon

Deliberate destruction of cultural heritage for its symbolic, religious and historical value has become increasingly common since the 1990s wars in former Yugoslavia.

Destruction as ethnic cleansing

Researcher Helen Walasek said destruction was inextricable from ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian War and constituted one of the main objectives of those waging conflict.

“destruction was an inextricable part of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian War and constituted one of the main objectives”

A century of cultural destruction

Afghanistan's Buddhas of Bamiyan were blown up by the Taliban in 2001. Iraq's National Museum was looted in 2003. Timbuktu's Sufi mausoleums were destroyed in 2012.

Striking at the heart of identity

Irina Bokova, then Unesco director-general, said attackers know where to strike: at the very heart of people's identities, destroying shared heritage dating back a thousand years.

“Those who attacked the mausoleums of Timbuktu know exactly where to strike: at the very heart of people's identities”

Recent destruction across regions

Islamic State attacked Palmyra in Syria in 2015. Russia has targeted hundreds of sites in Ukraine since February 2022. Gaza has seen over seventy percent of heritage destroyed since 2023.

Lebanon and Iran under attack

Israeli strikes have hit Roman ruins at Baalbek and Tyre in Lebanon. Iran's Golestan Palace suffered significant damage from US and Israeli airstrikes in March.

Culture as human right and identity

Pikkat says targeted attacks on heritage are intended to intimidate communities, weaken social ties, erase presence on land, and attack cultural diversity at the heart of identity.

“They strike at the very heart of who we are, at the heart of our identity”

International law since 1946

Unesco's constitution came into force on four November nineteen forty-six. The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property was adopted in nineteen fifty-four. The World Heritage Convention followed in nineteen seventy-two.

Accountability gap remains

The Second Protocol to the Hague Convention stipulates aggressors may be prosecuted for war crimes, but no state has ever been tried for heritage destruction despite International Criminal Court mandate.