Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I very much welcome the launch of the Group of Friends, and I commend co-chairs Cyprus and Italy for this timely initiative to strengthen international action to protect cultural heritage.
Protection of cultural heritage has emerged as a priority in efforts to promote international peace and security.
In its latest review of the UN Global Counter-terrorism Strategy, the General Assembly highlighted concerns that terrorists may benefit from transnational organized crime, including from the trafficking of cultural property.
The Security Council has underscored the need to protect cultural heritage in armed conflict and from terrorist groups in multiple resolutions, including resolution 2347 adopted in March 2017.
The international community has a solid normative framework for action.
The General Assembly adopted the International Guidelines for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Responses with Respect to Trafficking in Cultural Property in 2014.
The guidelines address the development and strengthening of criminal justice policies, strategies, legislation and cooperation mechanisms, building on agreed instruments, including the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the UN Convention against Corruption and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
As requested by the GA, UNODC has developed an assistance tool for putting the International Guidelines into practice.
Our Office continues to work closely with UNESCO, INTERPOL, WCO, UNIDROIT and other partners to assist Member States.
This includes helping to build capacities on the ground to detect and interdict illicitly trafficked cultural heritage.
The UNODC-WCO Container Control Programme has developed specialized training modules for Port Control Units, including on region-specific types of cultural property.
UNODC also supports governments to clamp down on corruption and money-laundering, as well as prevent and counter terrorism financing, including through the illicit sale of antiquities.
Looking ahead, I encourage governments to do more to promote the exchange of information on measures taken at the national level, including relevant criminal cases, both with other countries and with international organizations engaged in this fight.
The international community must also do more to increase outreach to the art market and museums, to help them understand their role in preventing stolen cultural items from finding their way into otherwise legitimate activities and collections.
Governments can help these sectors to ensure that this care is exercised.
Excellencies,
The Group of Friends offers a platform to support such responses, and help ensure that the international community does not lose sight of this priority even as stories of cultural heritage destruction have fallen from the headlines.
As we have witnessed with the destruction and looting of historic sites and artefacts in Syria, Iraq and many other places around the world, these losses are profound and irreplaceable.
The scale of organized looting and trafficking represents a serious threat. To address this effectively governments need to invest in strengthening the rule of law and step up cooperation for the investigation and prosecution of offences.
The world cannot afford to wait until the next tragedy to act.
UNODC is here to help you, and to support the Group of Friends.
Thank you.