UNESCO Cultural Conventions: Mechanisms and Procedures
From 5-6 April 2020, ARC-WH, in collaboration with the Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies, held a two-day online workshop entitled UNESCO Cultural Conventions: Mechanism and Procedures. A total of 40 employees from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain attended the two-day online workshop and received extensive lectures from resource persons from various fields of culture and diplomacy such as UNESCO staff, archaeology, conservation architects, legal experts and a former Assistant Director-General at UNESCO.
The esteemed speakers and heritage professionals provided in-depth presentations on the mechanisms and main concepts of the following UNESCO-related Conventions: the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005), The Convention on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003), The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001), the Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972), The Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property (1970) and the UNIDROIT CONVENTION ON STOLEN OR ILLEGALLY EXPORTED CULTURAL OBJECTS (1995), the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) and its two protocols.
This workshop’s main goal was to introduce and familiarize the aspiring cultural diplomats and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain with cultural conventions to prepare them for future elections to the committees and Governing Bodies of UNESCO Cultural-related Conventions. The workshop also aimed at promoting cultural development and achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through a better understanding of Culture normative instruments fostering further synergies between UNESCO programmes.
