Representatives of around 40 countries on Saturday (December 3rd) approved plans to establish a fund to protect heritage sites in war zones and a network of safe havens for endangered artworks, AFP reported.
A closing statement issued after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi did not specify the total amount pledged for the fund but French President Francois Hollande said a target of $100 million remained achievable.
The meeting, co-sponsored by France and the UAE, was spurred by the systematic destruction and looting of archaeological treasures in Iraq and Syria by the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), including in Palmyra and Nimrud.
"This is the first time that countries, organisations, experts and donors have come together to protect the property of humanity and to provide the means to achieve it," said Hollande.
Participants in the meeting, who also included representatives of international organisations and private institutions, pledged "to safeguard the endangered cultural heritage of all peoples, against its destruction and illicit trafficking".
The Geneva-based fund they set up will be charged with safeguarding cultural heritage endangered by conflict, financing preventive and emergency operations, combating the illicit trafficking of artefacts and helping restore damaged cultural property.
"The creation of this fund breaks new ground," UNESCO director Irina Bokova said. "I see this as the starting point of something... global."
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan urged all countries to "co-operate and co-ordinate to control the trafficking of cultural property.... especially in some Arab countries that have suffered from the dangers of violence and terrorism."
