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Najat Aoun Saliba: push forward changes in health care policies and practices

Meeting with the Minister of Culture of the Lebanese Republic

Director-General denounces killing of Lebanese TV cameraman Ali Shaaban on the border with Syria

UNESCO commits to rehabilitate damaged schools and support the education sector in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion

August 11, 2020

UNESCO rallies international community to safeguard Beirut’s cultural life and heritage

August 13, 2020

Call for Proposals: Youth-led Psycho-social Support to the vulnerable people in Beirut neighborhoods

August 13, 2020

Statement of solidarity with Lebanon and support to recover the damaged cultural heritage in Beirut

We wish to express our solidarity with the Lebanese people for the tragedy that has struck the city of Beirut We are saddened by these events and we send our condolences for the loss of lives and our shared concern for the scale of material destruction As members and practitioners of the heritage protection community we have worked for decades alongside the Lebanese people to safeguard and preserve the nations unique cultural heritage We remain by your side to continue our collective work during these challenging times Damaged libraries museums and historic buildings will require cultural first aid and longerterm recovery interventions Their collections will need urgent protection and salvaging We pledge to do all that we can to contribute to the complete recovery of the heritage that has been damaged in Beirut by this blast In full solidarity Signatories Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage Bahrain ArcHerNet Germany Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities Bahrain BlueShield International British Council Managed UK Cultural Protection Fund United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Cité de larchitecture et du patrimoine Ecole de Chaillot France Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates EUROPA NOSTRA The European Voice of Civil Society committed to Cultural Heritage Fondation nationale des musées Morocco Global Heritage Fund United States of America Honor Frost Foundation United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Institut du Monde Arabe IMA Institut Français du Proche Orient IFPO Institut national du patrimoine France International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas ALIPH International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property ICCROM International Council of Museums ICOM Islamic World Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ICESCO Ministry of Culture of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg Musée des Civilisations de lEurope et de la Méditerranée MUCEM France Musée du Louvre France Musée national du Mali Mali National Museum of China China Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development the Netherlands Rempart France United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO World Monuments Fund United States of America

August 13, 2020

UNESCO's Director-General Audrey Azoulay visits Beirut to mobilize the international community and make education, culture and heritage the main pillars of reconstruction efforts in the wake of the devastating explosions

August 24, 2020

The Director-General launches from Beirut the "Li Beirut" initiative, putting education, culture and heritage at the heart of reconstruction efforts

August 27, 2020

Call for Application: legal, editorial, and landscape architect internships at UNESCO Beirut/ Culture Sector

August 31, 2020

UNESCO unites Lebanese and international partners to safeguard Beirut’s cultural heritage and cultural life

On 27 August 2020 UNESCO convened Lebanese stakeholders and international partners active in the safeguarding of culture for the second UNESCO Coordination Meeting for Emergency Response on Culture in Beirut Participants included Dr Sarkis Khoury DirectorGeneral of Antiquities Lebanon representatives and experts from the city of Beirut universities NGOs and civil society organizations as well as international partners ALIPH ARCWH Blue Shield ICCROM ICOM ICOMOS IFLA and WMF The meeting represented an opportunity to share the latest information on interventions being undertaken on the ground as well as priority needs identified by the different stakeholders Following the tragic explosions on 4 August the Directorate General of Antiquities has begun urgent stabilization work on 16 historic buildings that have been severely affected Another 40 buildings still need urgent interventions while the finalization of damage assessments and the structural stabilization of all concerned heritage buildings are still neededParticipants noted that legal arrangements need to be fully put in place to support the action on the ground Many of the participants stressed the impact of the explosions on the local creative economy museums galleries libraries and the work of artists artisans and intangible heritage bearers were also affected to various degrees and also need the support of the international community UNESCOs international partners shared the immediate response actions that they have started to undertake in cooperation with local partners including damage assessments of historic buildings museums and libraries provision of technical expertise training and financial assistance Many participants expressed the need to develop guidelines for conservation and rehabilitation works in the affected area establish a database on cultural and creative industries and provide assistance to museums galleries artists and artisans which were already suffering from the effects of COVID19 and the social and economic crisis Participants agreed that UNESCOs coordination both at national and international levels will be key for the successful implementation of response and recovery actions which should embrace the overall cultural ecosystem UNESCO is committed to working alongside the Lebanese people and our international partners to achieve our common objective which is to support the reconstruction and recovery of Beiruts cultural heritage and cultural life said Ernesto Ottone R Assistant DirectorGeneral for Culture of UNESCO In response to the priority needs identified by Lebanese experts on the ground UNESCO has launched the International Action Plan for Culture which consists of three axes Immediate operational interventions for the stabilization and safeguarding of the historic urban fabric and heritage sites of Beirut Support to artists cultural professionals and communities in order to revive the cultural life and creative economy of Beirut and Midterm initiatives to support the sustainable reconstruction and recovery of Beirut through culture As part of this effort UNESCO has launched an international fundraising appeal Li Beirut to support the rehabilitation of Beiruts schools historic buildings museums galleries and creative economy

September 2, 2020

Global Education Coalition members pledge to support emergency response in Beirut

September 7, 2020

Fact Sheet on Schools Rehabilitation in Beirut, September 5, 2020

Every two weeks UNESCO and the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education will publish a Fact Sheet on the progress to rehabilitate schools impacted by the blast in Beirut Stay connected and follow the progress See fact shteet from September 17 2020

September 8, 2020