Qatar donates $10 million to UNESCO
Qatar will donate $10m to World Heritage fund, the Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani announced yesterday.
“This will be the first contribution by a country to the emergency fund Unesco is setting up to preserve world heritage and assist in its protection, particularly in areas affected by natural disasters or armed conflict,” the Prime Minister said as he opened the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee at Qatar National Convention Centre.
He called upon states which are members of the committee to work hard to protect and preserve historical heritage sites in the Arab world, particularly in areas experiencing armed conflict.
H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of the 38th session, said, “Qatar is willing to undertake a major step in safeguarding heritage in danger of being lost forever through catastrophes, conflicts and neglect. This is the main purpose of creating a fund dedicated to Unesco’s heritage preparedness and response programme.”
Stressing that financial support is a main challenge, Sheikha Al Mayassa urged all member states to support the fund.
“In my capacity as chairperson, I call upon the goodwill of all the states of the big world heritage family to support Qatar in this endeavour by contributing to this newly created fund,” she said.
The Prime Minister underscored that Qatar has long paid attention to its heritage.
“This arises from our conviction that heritage is an essential pillar to civilisation of a nation. It is also a very important part of its cultural identity.
“The present is a bridge connecting the past with the future, without our past we have no future. Heritage has been handed down to us by our fathers and it is our responsibility to transmit it to our children.”
Sheikha Al Mayassa echoed the same sentiment on Qatar’s active involvement “in the promotion of culture, notably in the promotion and conservation of heritage,” and assured the committee of Qatar’s highest support in implementation of the World Heritage Convention.
“This wholehearted involvement of my country in the promotion of heritage covers the full extent of the role of culture in people’s identity, knowledge of their history and control of their destiny.”
She highlighted the importance of preserving culture and urged topics to be discussed in the 10-day session be taken seriously.
“It is great to be able to inscribe more and more sites for the world to protect but it is equally important to protect sites in danger and establish means to protect them.”
She also called for credibility and transparency in the process of implementation of the convention.
The Peninsula
