The protection of cultural heritage worldwide is a growing challenge amid increasing conflicts and climate change

The ALIPH 2023 Forum was hosted in Abu Dhabi, organised by the International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH) and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi).

More than 200 professionals from over 30 countries met in Abu Dhabi on 6-7 March to address the growing, critical need to protect cultural heritage in conflict and post-conflict areas, against the backdrop of the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

The forum was opened by the representatives of ALIPH’s co-founding countries; H.E. Mohamed Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi and Vice-Chair of the ALIPH Foundation Board representing the UAE, and Bariza Khiari, Vice-Chair and representative of France to the same board. The event was closed by H.E. Salem Al Qassimi, the newly appointed Minister of Culture and Youth of the United Arab Emirates and Chairman of the ALIPH Foundation Board, Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan.

Two key themes emerged from the Forum. Firstly, the pressing need to protect cultural heritage in conflict and post-conflict areas is not behind us but still ahead, as most recently demonstrated in crises in places such as Ukraine and the Caucasus. Secondly, that beyond conflicts, the deleterious impact of climate change and natural disasters on cultural heritage should be better addressed.

In this context, emphasis was placed on the need to develop concrete projects that promote sustainable development, on-the-job training, community engagement, traditional materials and know-how, and environmentally friendly practices, and strengthening preventive measures (such as inventories of collections, 3D digitisation, etc.) as well as rapid response mechanisms during a crisis. All these elements will be reinforced in ALIPH's roadmap for the coming years.

HE Mohamed Al Mubarak, said: “The UAE’s commitment to protect cultural heritage for future generations is a vision shared with our family of partners, donors and key players who support ALIPH’s capability and responsiveness to tackle heritage emergencies and bring reconciliation post-crisis. Six years after we began our mission in the UAE, we are proud to convene our partners for the first ALIPH forum to review our journey of supporting positive change and look ahead to the future.”

The ALIPH 2023 Forum marked the first time that the Foundation’s partners have assembled. The cross-section of attendees is testament to the deep and extensive network of heritage professionals and supporters that ALIPH has amassed in just six years: museums, libraries and cultural institutions from five continents; international organization such as UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS, ICOM, Europa Nostra; NGOs  such as World Monuments Fund, Turquoise Mountain, Oeuvre d’Orient and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture; and local operators working in countries including Afghanistan, Mali, Iraq, Niger, Ukraine and Yemen, among others. Together, this diverse group of conservators, architects, archeologists, project managers, and other experts – all engaged in the common mission to protect cultural heritage – congregated in Abu Dhabi, to share good practices and address new challenges.

Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan, Chairman of the ALIPH Foundation Board, said: “ALIPH came onto the international stage in 2017 to provide a rapid, agile, and impact-driven response to the targeted destruction of heritage. Since then, sadly, protecting our common cultural inheritance has become even more of an imperative in light of the troubling resurgence in conflicts around the world and the significant increase in natural disasters hitting vulnerable regions. What this Forum signifies — and has beautifully reaffirmed — is that ALIPH not only has the means, but more importantly, an actual army of dedicated and courageous partners to help safeguard cultural heritage everywhere.”

Co-founded by the UAE and France, ALIPH was established in 2017 in Geneva, following the 2016 Abu Dhabi Conference on “Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas Since then, the Foundation has financed about 180 concrete projects to protect cultural heritage in conflict and post-conflict areas, as well as an additional approximately 100 projects to help professionals in vulnerable countries to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, and 160 initiatives to safeguard cultural heritage in Ukraine this past year.

The ALIPH 2023 Forum was held at the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi – a modern heritage landmark of Abu Dhabi that supports cross-cultural understanding and cultural diplomacy.