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International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property
This International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property aims at strengthening advocacy concerning the impact of illicit trafficking of cultural property on the memory, identity and future of peoples. Of particular concern in regions affected by armed conflict, political instability and disasters, illicit trafficking jeopardizes the very foundations of our societies, disrupts the transmission of knowledge and undermines the enjoyment of cultural rights.
In 2022, the unanimously adopted MONDIACULT Declaration (Mexico, September 2022), gave renewed impetus to UNESCO鈥檚 efforts in supporting Member States in the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property and its return and restitution. Since then, the Organisation has scaled up its response to this phenomenon and is actively working on developing essential tools and raising awareness worldwide, setting the path for a strengthened response in close cooperation with UNESCO鈥檚 key technical partners, including , the (WCO), , the (ICOM), and the (UNODC), as well as the art market.
91麻豆国产精品自拍 reinforced national capacities among law enforcement, customs, heritage and museum professionals yielding tangible results in different regions, including Central and Eastern Africa - over 70 law enforcement and cultural heritage specialists were trained in December 2022 thanks to the support of the government of Sweden. In October 2023, more than 80 professionals from 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa participated in a capacity building workshop hosted by the government of Brazil. The Organization also monitors closely the situation of movable cultural heritage in emergency situations all over the world 鈥 and deploys its efforts to build capacities and alert the international community about the risks of illicit trafficking. With a view to strengthening national legislations, UNESCO is elaborating draft Model Provisions on the prevention and fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property.
For over 50 years, the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property has been an essential tool for protecting cultural property worldwide against theft, clandestine excavations and illegal exports, while assisting in its return and restitution. The 1970 Convention, which has been ratified by 143 States, is the cornerstone of international cooperation in this field.
The art market has an important role to play in the fight against the illicit trafficking, yet it also remains vulnerable to its threats. UNESCO is pursuing its active engagement to define and strengthen the ethical principles that should govern the art market and determine the obligations of professionals in terms of provenance research. It is in this spirit that UNESCO organized two consultation meetings in 2022 with the art market in the context of the revision of and a workshop on provenance research, in cooperation with Drouot Patrimoine.
The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration also underlined the importance of the engagement of all stakeholders, including the public at large, in the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property. In this regard, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 launched the creation of the , to be inaugurated in 2025 - the first immersive reality museum of stolen cultural objects of a global scale and a significant tool for education, research and public awareness of the scale of cultural property theft and the importance of protecting tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Over the last year, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 also promoted an open and inclusive dialogue on the return and restitution of cultural property, and organized, on 27 June, a first round table to share and highlight new forms of agreements and cooperation in this field, and promote recent and innovative examples of partnerships. UNESCO will continue to organize further dialogues in the coming months and promote the efforts of its States Parties that are reflected in concrete cases, such as the of Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory of Australia or the last October.
The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration also called on UNESCO to produce a Global Report on Cultural Policies, on a quadrennial basis, building on information and data provided by its Member States, starting with the first edition in 2025. The Global Report is conceived as a monitoring tool to support governments and other stakeholders in the development and implementation of inclusive and informed cultural policies. In this regard, the regional studies on the implementation of the 1970 Convention, the , in the context of the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa 2022-2029 and its Flagship Programme 3 "Fostering cultural heritage and capacity building", followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (in early 2024), will help nurture the analysis of the Global Report with a view to informing the development of policies and measures to prevent the illicit trafficking of cultural property.
On this International day, UNESCO would like to highlight and commend the efforts undertaken by States Parties to the 1970 Convention to ensure its effective implementation, which are reflected in the national reports submitted in the framework of the of the Convention, and encourage the Member States that are not yet signatories to join its ranks.
Let us join our forces and work more closely together to combat the scourge and protect our common heritage for future generations.
