UNESCO Cairo efforts to ensure the preservation of national mail industrial and documentary heritage

At the meeting, Dr. Nuria Sanz, Head of UNESCO Cairo a.i acknowledged the key role of Egypt’s Post in commemorating UNESCO's International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia by releasing an official postage stamp showing the relocation of 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. Furthermore, Dr. Sanz thanked the initiative proposed by Mr. Farouk to organize a joint exhibition in partnership with the League of Arab States to showcase the richness of the Intangible Heritage of the Arab Region by issuing postage stamps that visually embodies the inscribe elements of the Arab States.

Dr. Sherif Farouk, Chairman of Egypt’s Post Authority welcomed the idea of preparing an integral plan for cataloguing and management of built Post heritage. He stressed that Egypt’s post owns many Historic post offices across Egypt which recently reopened after completion of the conservation and restoration works that have been implemented with an innovative vision to preserve its original architectural design. 

Both parties discussed the valuable Archive collection and its importance to be documented and the importance to explore possible inscription as part of UNESCO programme namely Memory of the World to make these archives more widely available, facilitate preservation of the world's documentary heritage and enhance public awareness about the significant of documentary heritage of Egypt’s post archive among the wider public. Attention focuses particularly on material remains from the period in which the Government of Egypt in 1959 requested UNESCO support to call for a remarkable successful campaign (The Nubia Campaign) that put heritage preservation – and UNESCO – in the spotlight and laid the ground for UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention of 1972 and led to other landmark safeguarding campaigns namely in Italy, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Today it continues being a fundamental pillar and reference to inspire international multilateral cooperation.

Moreover, the meeting addressed several significant areas of mutual interest including enhancing postal museum national capacities on Conservation, Archiving and Collection management, establishing an inventory of Egypt’s Post devices and materials that form an industrial and contemporary wealth operated during the 19th century and in the world. 

To this end, a joint working groups between UNESCO Office in Cairo and Egypt’s post to work closely to successfully implement these initiatives and opportunities that will serve as part of the world’s collective history.