China News Service, Paris, March 3. UNESCO issued a statement on the 3rd local time, expressing its deep concern over the development of the situation in Ukraine, and is working to assess the situation in various fields of UNESCO's business (especially education, culture, heritage and information). ) and implement emergency support operations.
The Director-General of UNESCO, Azoulay, expressed his complete agreement with the opening remarks by UN Secretary-General Guterres at the special session of the UN General Assembly.
The Secretary-General says this escalating violence is totally unacceptable.
Azoulay called for “protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage, which bears witness to the country’s rich history, including its seven World Heritage Sites – particularly those in Lviv and Kyiv; UNESCO Creative Cities Network members Odessa and Kharkiv; its state archives, some of which are included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register; and its sites commemorating the tragedy of the Holocaust.”
Azoulay said we must protect these cultural heritages.
They are both witnesses to history and carriers of future peace, and the international community has a responsibility to protect them for future generations.
Educational institutions are sanctuaries for the future of humanity, and we must protect them.
UNESCO calls for an immediate end to attacks on civilian facilities such as schools, memorial sites, cultural and communication infrastructure, and regrets civilian casualties.
UNESCO strongly condemns attacks on educational facilities.
The Ukrainian-wide closure of schools and educational facilities has affected all of the country's school-age population - 6 million students aged 3-17 and more than 1.5 million people enrolled in higher education institutions.
Escalating violence undermines the protective function of education, with far-reaching consequences and damage to neighbouring countries.
In the field of culture, UNESCO emphasizes its obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) and its two Protocols (1954 and 1999), which require the avoidance of harm cultural property, and condemns any attack and destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage of all types.
To prevent the recurrence of attacks, UNESCO is working closely with the authorities to mark important historical monuments and sites across Ukraine with the unique emblem designated by the Hague Convention as soon as possible.
The emblem is an internationally recognized symbol for the protection of cultural heritage in armed conflict.
At the request of some Member States, UNESCO's Executive Board will hold a special session on 15 March to "examine the implications and consequences of the current situation in Ukraine on all aspects of UNESCO's mandate".
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