UN cultural agency moves to protect Ukraine’s heritage sites
- The United Nations’ cultural agency (UNESCO) has bolstered protective measures to preserve Ukraine’s endangered cultural heritage in light of Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
- To avoid deliberate or accidental damages, the agency is marking cultural sites and monuments in Ukraine with the distinctive “Blue Shield” emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
1954 Hague Convention
- It is for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
- It was adopted in 1954 under the auspices of UNESCO.
- Aim: To protect cultural property such as monuments of architecture, art or history, archaeological sites, works of art, manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological interest, as well as scientific collections of any kind regardless of their origin or ownership.
- India is a party to this convention.
Significance of Convention
- It is the first and the most comprehensive multilateral treaty dedicated exclusively to the protection of cultural heritage in times of peace as well as during an armed conflict.
Blue Shield
- It was founded in 1996.
- It is an independent, neutral, non-governmental, non-profit, international organisation
- It strives to protect heritage during armed conflicts and disasters across the world.
- This includes all forms of cultural property including museums, monuments, archaeological sites, archives, libraries and audiovisual material, and significant natural areas, as well as intangible heritage.
- The 1954 Hague Convention designates an emblem for a cultural property that should be protected, and for identification of those working to protect it.
- The Blue Shield organisation took up the emblem of the Convention as a symbol of their protective work, set in a blue circular background.