UNESCO and the ALIPH Foundation announced today the signing of a new cooperation agreement to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage threatened by conflicts, disasters, and emerging vulnerabilities, including those linked to climate change and technological developments. This renewed partnership builds on the results achieved in recent years and responds to the rapidly evolving risks facing heritage around the world.

The new agreement, which covers 2026 to 2029,  builds on a previous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2019, and reaffirms the complementarity of the two organizations’ mandates and capacities. It aims to strengthen operational coordination, facilitate the implementation of joint projects and develop innovative responses to emerging challenges, including the combined impacts of conflict, climate change, and natural disasters.

“UNESCO and ALIPH embark on a renewed and strengthened commitment to protecting heritage. Over the past decade, UNESCO has significantly expanded its action in crisis‑affected contexts, combining heritage protection with education initiatives and tools for social recovery, including through the Heritage Emergency Fund. Building on ten years of achievements, this new partnership with ALIPH opens a new chapter in our cooperation — one that will allow us to deliver more effectively for communities and the people we serve,” said Khaled El-Enany, UNESCO Director General.

“ALIPH was notably created to enable rapid and effective action for heritage under threat. This renewed agreement with UNESCO reflects our shared commitment to practical cooperation, complementarity, and impact. Together we have a collaborative advantage to better support countries and institutions facing increasingly complex risks, from conflict to climate change,” said Bariza Khiari, President of the Foundation Board of ALIPH. “The signing of this agreement is especially symbolic as we prepare to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of ALIPH in 2017. We look forward to having UNESCO’s Director General join us in Abu Dhabi for our anniversary celebration next year, when we can look back together at lessons learned over the past decade and determine new avenues of collaboration for the protection of cultural heritage at risk,” she added.

Within this new partnership, UNESCO will provide enhanced access to its global network of institutions, including UNESCO’s field offices and diverse networks around the globe—such as UNESCO Category II Centres, UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks, as well as academic, research and heritage institutions, and local and international non-governmental organizations—for capacity building and data collection needs.

Cooperation will also be expanded on forward-looking analysis and innovation, including on the impact of conflict and climate change on heritage and on the use of Artificial Intelligence and new technologies to support protection, documentation and emergency response. This cooperation will be grounded in an integrated approach linking both tangible and intangible heritage.

The parties agreed to join forces to fight illicit trafficking of cultural property in Gaza and continue Phase 2 of the project to rehabilitate damaged architectural heritage in the Cliffs of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons) World Heritage property in Mali.

UNESCO and ALIPH have developed a trusted and strategic partnership over time. To date, they have collaborated on nine joint projects, representing more than USD 5.6 million, including in Iraq, through the ‘Revive the Spirit of Mosul’ initiative; in Burundi, in support of the National Museum of Gitega; as well as in Libya, through coordinated interventions that contributed to the removal of the Old Town of Ghadamès from the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2025.

Source, UNESCOPRESSE