Press releases

The International Experts Meeting on Safeguarding Libyan Cultural Heritage ended today in Tunis. The three-day workshop sought to identify practical actions to engage civil society, customs and security services in protecting Libya’s numerous cultural heritage sites and in combating illicit trafficking through projects designed to safeguard the country’s shared cultural assets.

The Libyan Department of Antiquities in partnership with international experts, and the Rome-based International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), will meet in Tunis from 9-11 May.

Dr Stefano De Caro, ICCROM’s Director-General, participated in the eighth Global Colloquium of University Presidents, hosted by Yale University and President Peter Salovey on 12-13 April 2016. He also took part in the Culture in Crisis satellite event convened on 11 April.

On 14 March 2016, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (NRICP) and ICCROM, at the ICCROM offices in Rome, Italy.

On 26 November, Dr Stefano De Caro, Director-General of ICCROM, received the Honourable Dario Franceschini, Italy’s minister of cultural heritage and tourism (Ministro dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo, or MiBACT).

Delegates from 134 Member states will meet in Rome at the 29th General Assembly of ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) on 18 – 20 November 2015, to discuss the organization’s future directions. The 29th General Assembly opens at a moment when conflict and natural disasters have increasingly hit heritage and communities. ICCROM, created 60 years ago by UNESCO, shares methodologies and practices for the protection of cultural heritage, an essential element for peace and development.

On 27 October 2015, ICCROM and the Government of the United Arab Emirates signed a Headquarters Agreement which lays the foundation for the establishment and operation of the ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Conservation Centre in Sharjah, UAE.

On 11 October, H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah met with ICCROM Director-General, Dr. Stefano De Caro in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

On 27 September 2015, the initiative “Protecting Cultural Heritage – An Imperative for Humanity” was presented to the UN by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Italy and Jordan, with the support of UNESCO, INTERPOL, UNODC, and various other Member State ministers.

The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) today expressed outrage at the reported destruction by the militant group ISIS of the 1st century Temple of Bel, one of the finest and best preserved monuments of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Palmyra.