Across Southern Africa, cultural heritage is more than a record of the past. From monuments, archaeological sites, museums and archives to sacred places and cultural landscapes, it carries the identities, memories and knowledge of communities and contributes to resilience, peace and sustainable development.
Yet cultural property can be particularly vulnerable during conflict and emergencies. UNESCO is therefore supporting Member States across Southern Africa to strengthen awareness, institutional capacity and preparedness for the protection of cultural property, including through the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its 1954 First Protocol and 1999 Second Protocol.
The Convention provides an international framework for protecting cultural property during armed conflict while encouraging States to put safeguarding measures in place during peacetime. These preparations are increasingly important in a region where heritage institutions must also contend with wider risks, including disasters and illicit trafficking.
Protecting cultural property is not only about safeguarding monuments, museums or archives. It is about protecting the identities, memories and knowledge systems that connect communities to their past and guide them into the future. Investing in preparedness today helps ensure that heritage remains a source of resilience, peace and sustainable development for generations to come.
Explains Elena Constantinou, Programme Specialist for Culture at UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa.
A key lesson emerging from UNESCO’s engagement with Member States is that protecting cultural property cannot be the responsibility of heritage institutions alone. Effective implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention requires coordination across government and society, bringing together ministries responsible for culture, defense, foreign affairs, justice and disaster management, alongside museums, archives, universities, emergency services, security institutions and local communities.
