Government of Flanders (Belgium) and UNESCO strengthen cooperation for cultural and natural heritage

On 14 April 2016 at UNESCO Headquarters, Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and Filip D’Havé, General Representative of the Government of Flanders, signed the renewal of a long-standing cooperation agreement in the fields of cultural and natural heritage.

“I wish to thank the Government of Flanders for this renewed cooperation, which is especially meaningful at a time when the destruction of culture and heritage is so much linked with extremism and the suffering of people – this is a strong symbol of our determination to respond, and harness the power of culture to heal and recover,” said Irina Bokova.

UNESCO and the Government of Flanders, together with the European Union, will organize a High Level Conference in Brussels, 9-10 June 2016, on the protection of culture under attack and the role of heritage as a resource for peace in the framework of the #Unite4Heritage campaign.

The Government of Flanders expressed its readiness to contribute to the activities that UNESCO will implement for the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Syria, and in particular in Palmyra.

Through this renewal of the Flanders-UNESCO Funds-in-Trust for five years, the parties reaffirmed their conviction that culture is a strong enabler and driver for sustainable development. “This Agreement is a token of the strong dynamic of our cooperation, and we are pleased to focus on cultural and natural heritage, also as an integral part of our efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development goals,” said Mr D’Havé, on behalf of the Minister-President of Flanders, Geert Bourgeois.

Over the last 15 years, UNESCO and Flanders have built a very strong cooperation, with the support of more than $37 million USD for UNESCO activities, notably in cultural and scientific fields. This has included experts from Flanders contributing to UNESCO’s work. Going forward, a special focus will be on activities in Africa, in particular in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region, as well as UNESCO’s action for the preservation and restoration of heritage in crises situations such as Syria.