– The United Arab Emirates has been awarded permanent membership with an observer status on the Council of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). The unanimous decision was made yesterday by ICCROM’s Council 93^rd session in Rome, in recognition of the UAE’s support and contributions to the organisation, including hosting the only regional ICCROM Centre for the Arab region in Sharjah, UAE.

With this membership, the UAE becomes one of two countries with permanent status after Italy, where ICCROM’s headquarters are situated. The UAE has been granted the right to actively participate in the Working Groups of the Council.

Her Excellency Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development thanked the ICCROM Member States for nominating the UAE as a permanent member of the Council:

“Safeguarding culture is a key mission of the United Arab Emirates, both locally and abroad. We have worked extensively in the preservation of cultural heritage and the protection of culturally significant sites across the world. The UAE has worked closely in collaboration with UNESCO to restore historic monuments in the city of Mosul. In partnership with the Sheikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Center for Culture and Research, we also recently renovated and reopened Nuzul Al Salam, a heritage house in Muharraq, Bahrain, the ISESCO Capital of Islamic Culture. Culture and heritage play an important role in promoting our national identity and we want to ensure that modern artifacts are also valued; today’s buildings and sites could be tomorrow’s heritage.”

“Since it opened its doors in 2012, ICCROM-ATHAR Centre in the UAE has become an important vigor for cultural heritage advocacy, providing substantive logistical and operational support to protect the cultural heritage of the Arab region, to raise cultural awareness,  provide access and better understanding of our history.”

“We are proud to have been elected as a permanent member of ICCROM’s new council where we will be able to create and facilitate opportunities between countries for a wider set of conservation efforts. The UAE values the place of heritage and culture today and its relevance is rising. On behalf of my country, I am proud to reiterate that we will continue to focus on the exploration of our history and heritage with the world, in order to tell our own story but also to demonstrate the shared story that brings all nations together. For that reason, we will exert the same energy to preserve and protect our cultural heritage and work with ICCROM and other nations to safeguard our global human heritage.” She continued.

Dr. Zaki Aslan, Director of ICCROM-ATHAR, Sharjah, said, “The UAE’s gracious and continued support of ICCROM and its Sharjah-based regional office stems from a belief of the UAE in the unique and noble mission of ICCROM, since its inception by UNESCO in 1959. This mission aims to safeguard and protect cultural heritage for humanity and future generations. It resonates in a vision that promotes cultural dialogue, investing in people through education, and ensuring that culture is at the heart of sustainable development goals. The UAE and ICCROM have always seen eye-to-eye in protecting culture and promoting diversity as a shared global responsibility, and it is with great pride that we see the UAE has been granted a permanent seat on ICCROM’s Council. ICCROM is grateful to the UAE as it hosts its second and only office outside the headquarters in Rome since 2014, particularly serving the Arab region in a global and inter-regional perspective.”

ICCROM-ATHAR (Architectural and Archaeological Tangible Heritage in the Arab Region) is the regional conservation centre founded by ICCROM and the Government of the Emirate of Sharjah in 2012. ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Conservation Centre in Sharjah is a continuation of ICCROM’s ATHAR programme, which has dedicated its activities since it was launched in 2004, to the protection of cultural heritage in the Arab region and to broadening access, appreciation and understanding of its rich history. Basing its philosophy, goals and activities on its wide knowledge and experience in the field of cultural heritage in the Arab region, ICCROM-ATHAR today works to enhance the capacity of official heritage institutions to manage heritage sites, historic monuments and museum collections on a sustainable basis.

The 31st General Assembly marks sixty years of ICCROM’s activities.  For decades, ICCROM has partnered with its Member States to support them in safeguarding heritage within their borders and beyond. Working at the international and governmental levels, and with institutions and professionals on the ground, the organization engages and informs new generations of professionals and the general public on the current and future needs of the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage.