Page 10 - CoESPU Magazine 2017-3

A further progress has been
made by UN on 24 March
2017, when the UN Security
Council, at its 7907th meeting,
unanimously adopted the
Resolution 2347 for the
protection of heritage. In this
event, UNESCO Director
General Irina Bokova
addressed the UN meeting on
the sensitive issue
“Maintenance of International
Peace and Security:
Destruction and Trafficking of
Cultural Heritage by Terrorist
Groups and in Situations of
Armed Conflict”, stressing the
concept that the deliberate
destruction of heritage is a war crime and it has become a tactic of war to tear societies over the
long term, in a strategy of cultural cleansing. In particular, Director General Irina Bokova stated that
“defending cultural heritage is more than a cultural issue, it is a security imperative, inseparable
from that of defending human lives”, as she spoke in support of the Resolution 2347, with
Executive Director of UNODC Youri Fedotov and Brigadier General Fabrizio Parrulli, Commander
of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Resolution 2347 represents a
really relevant milestone for the Security Council, reflecting the new global recognition of the
importance of heritage protection for peace and security worldwide.
Furthermore, adopting this strategic
Resolution the Council welcomed actions
by UNESCO to preserve cultural heritage
in peril and to protect and promote
cultural pluralism, encouraging Member
States to support them.
Considering that the protection of
cultural heritage comes before all from a
special cultural awareness and sensitivity,
it also seems necessary to focus the
global efforts on the need of specific
training.
Following this approach and transposing
the above mentioned UN resolution, also
CoESPU is now oriented to provide its
own qualified contribution in this
particular field, trough the forthcoming

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