Mr Mufid al-Jazairi particularly stressed the priority that Iraq accords to culture in this phase of return to democracy, and after thanking UNESCO for its “irreplaceable and continuous” support for Iraq in the safeguarding and reconstruction of the country’s cultural institutions, he declared that “Democracy and culture are indissociable: without culture there can be no democracy”.

The Director-General welcomed the fact that the Iraqi authorities were treating culture as a priority, and said: “For UNESCO this priority is patently obvious, and we are working relentlessly to get everyone to accept it. Culture is an essential underpinning of democracy and national identity, which is why it must be incorporated into emergency plans set up by the international community for the benefit of countries in post-conflict situations, in the same way as security, education or health measures”. The Director-General then spoke to the Minister about the initiatives and efforts undertaken by UNESCO to ensure that “this cultural dimension of emergency assistance is taken into account, at a time when plans for the reconstruction of Iraq are being drawn up in Dubai and Madrid”.

After the Iraqi Minister of Culture had stressed the urgent need “to take concrete measures for the reopening of the main Iraqi cultural institutions and the safeguarding of the archaeological heritage, seriously threatened by looting and several decades of war and dictatorship”, Koïchiro Matsuura assured him that UNESCO would continue to provide assistance to Iraq, whether for the rehabilitation of the Baghdad Museum, for regional museums, for archaeological sites or for libraries, “either directly or by continuing the Organization’s efforts to mobilize donors”.

Mr Matsuura also highlighted “the need for continued international cooperation between Iraq, neighbouring countries, and the major markets of the art trade, in order both to end the illicit export of Iraqi cultural property and to ensure its recovery and rapid return”.