Home > CULTURE - The safekeeping and return of Afghan cultural property - Updated: 03-07-2002 11:25 am

UNESCO’s policy on the protective safekeeping of cultural property is straight forward.    

Where there is a serious danger to the survival of heritage, and at the request of the recognized government of the country concerned, UNESCO will arrange with NGOs the safe custody of objects donated to it and their return to that country when the situation allows.

UNESCO supports non-profit organizations working to take cultural objects into safe custody. It will not itself purchase objects that are being illicitly trafficked.

In the case of Afghanistan, and consequent to the destruction of heritage by the Taliban, UNESCO has created a special programme to assist in the rescue of cultural heritage of Afghan origin.

UNESCO, in partnership with the Foundation for Cultural Heritage in Japan, the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage (SPACH) based in Islamabad, Pakistan, and the Swiss Afghanistan Museum in Bubendorf, is currently taking Afghan cultural property found on the international art market into protective custody, particularly objects stolen from museums or discovered during illicit excavations.

These objects, once found and categorized, will be returned to Afghanistan when peace has returned to the country.

---