Director-General's remarks at the Opening of the Conference "Protecting Cultural Heritage: From Crisis to Peace"

Opening of the Conference
“Protecting Cultural Heritage: From Crisis to Peace”
Tuesday, 6 May 2025, at 5.00 p.m.
Villa Barton, Rue de Lausanne 132, 1202 Geneva

Excellences,
Mesdames et Messieurs,

C’est un honneur et un privilège de me joindre à vous ce soir pour cette conférence importante sur le thème : « Protéger le patrimoine culturel : de la crise à la paix ». Permettez-moi tout d'abord d'exprimer ma profonde gratitude à la Fondation ALIPH pour l'organisation de cet événement à Genève, haut lieu de la diplomatie et de la coopération multilatérale.  

Le patrimoine culturel est le fondement de notre identité collective. Il est aussi un vecteur essentiel de dialogue, de respect et de réconciliation. C'est pourquoi sa protection est une priorité pour les Nations Unies. En préservant la richesse et la diversité des cultures, nous contribuons directement à la réalisation de l’Agenda 2030 pour le développement durable, en favorisant la paix, la compréhension mutuelle et la consolidation de la confiance entre les peuples.

In 2022, at the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Politics and Sustainable Development, 150 countries adopted the Mondiacult Declaration, reaffirming that culture is a “global public good” and recognizing its vital role in sustainable development and conflict resolution. This Declaration reflects a growing awareness that safeguarding cultural heritage is not just about preservation, but about reinforcing the fabric of societies, fostering reconciliation, and preventing further division.

Last year, we commemorated another important milestone — the 70th anniversary of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. This landmark treaty continues to serve as a crucial instrument for both conflict prevention and post-conflict recovery, reminding us that the destruction of heritage is not just a loss for individual nations but for all of humanity. 

I wish to take this opportunity to commend ALIPH for its unwavering dedication to protecting cultural heritage, ensuring that future generations can continue to draw strength and inspiration from their history. Since its foundation in 2017, ALIPH has become the world’s leading fund dedicated to protecting cultural heritage in conflict and crisis zones. In less than a decade, it has supported nearly 500 projects in over 35 countries, helping to preserve and restore sites of profound historical, cultural, and social significance around the world. 

Culture sustains dignity and hope, even in the darkest times. As Secretary-General António Guterres once said: “Wherever we are from, wherever we live, culture is humanity’s heart and soul. It gives our lives meaning.” 
Today, we face a perfect storm of interconnected crises – geopolitical, environmental, economic – that amplify each other's impacts. Navigating this ‘polycrisis’ demands not only robust international cooperation, but also a more integrated approach across sectors.

This is precisely what this conference seeks to foster. Over the coming days, you will reflect on how heritage protection can be aligned with humanitarian and peacebuilding efforts through tools like data collection, local partnerships, financing and refugee support. And you will explore how, even in the immediate aftermath of destruction, it is possible to plant the seeds of long-term recovery, dialogue, and stability.

I would also like to commend ALIPH and its partners for complementing this important conference with the photo exhibition “Portraits of Women – Beyond the Stones”, which opened yesterday in Geneva. By highlighting the role of women in heritage protection, it powerfully reminds us that preserving culture also means upholding human rights, gender equality, and social cohesion.

Let us seize this opportunity to deepen our cooperation, strengthen our networks, and reaffirm together that protecting cultural heritage is not a luxury — it is an integral part of building peace, advancing development, and defending our shared humanity.

Thank you.