Fighting the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property: Impact-assessment meeting on 7 years of cooperation in South-East Europe
Article published on 20-10-2020
In recent years, the protection of cultural heritage emerged as a global issue that transcends the boundaries of the cultural sphere, becoming a sustainable development and international security requirement, as recognized by the Agenda 2030 and UN Security Council Resolutions adopted in 2015 and 2017.
In Europe, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Venice developed several training and awareness raising activities, in cooperation with the Italian Carabinieri for Cultural Heritage Protection (Carabinieri TPC), including workshops at country level, with special focus on strengthening coordination among relevant institutional stakeholders, including police forces, ministries of culture, customs agencies and the judiciary.
Within this framework and in the context of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the 25th anniversary of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, in cooperation with Carabinieri TPC, organizes between 20 – 21 October a sub-regional impact-assessment meeting on the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property. Experts in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia will present assessments of their institutions’ activity, lessons learnt, challenges and proposals. Romania is represented at this meeting by experts from the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, the Mobile and Intangible Heritage Service of the Ministry of Culture, “Al.I.Cuza” Police Academy, Faculty of Police, and the National Commission of Romania for UNESCO.
The development of professional and institutional capacities covers issues such as: preventive measures and risk mitigation, provenance search, traceability and exercise of due diligence, preparation and updating of national inventories, education, awareness raising and sensitization of scholars, academics, experts and public at large, return and restitution of cultural objects.
The workshop’s speakers and trainers include senior representatives from international organizations such as UNESCO, UNIDROIT, INTERPOL, UNODC, ICOM, as well as from the Carabinieri TPC.
Details about this workshop are available
here.