Acciones tomadas:
Has your organisation taken action on the implementation of this pledge?
Yes
If YES, please describe the actions taken (including challenges encountered if there is any) and provide concrete examples (including written reports, programme information, photos and videos*)
3 key facts and figures
The British Red Cross has continued to support the UK Government with advice on the implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflicts and its two Protocols. We have also been very pleased to continue to attend meetings of the Cross-Government Cultural Protection Working Group, and of the UK Military Cultural Property Protection Working Group. Additionally, the British Red Cross provided views on the implementation of the UK’s new Cultural Protection Fund, including by making a submission to the government consultation.
The British Red Cross was represented at a roundtable on the protection of cultural heritage at the start of the Edinburgh International Culture Summit in August 2018. Culture Ministers from 15 Commonwealth countries participated, and a Minister from the UK Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) chaired the meeting. In July 2019, the British Red Cross and the Commonwealth Secretariat co-hosted a meeting for representatives of High Commissions in London, entitled “Protecting Cultural Heritage in the Commonwealth: New Challenges and Opportunities.” Speakers included experts from UNESCO, the ICRC and UNODC, as well as Ambassador Nazhat Shameen Khan of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Fiji to Geneva. Ms. Emma Squire, a senior official at DCMS, chaired the event. Participants included members of the UK culture community and of the UK armed forces.
We are also pleased to attend, as an observer, meetings of the UK Committee of the Blue Shield. In April 2018, a member of the British Red Cross International Law Department presented a paper on Cultural Property Protection and Proportionality in Attack at Blue Shield’s conference on “Making Cultural Property Protection an Operational Reality”.
2 high resolution pictures with an extended caption
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1 story of interest
For many years, the British Red Cross has worked together with Commonwealth Secretariat to spread awareness and understanding of the importance of the protection of cultural heritage within the Commonwealth.
The topic of the Protection of Cultural Heritage was on the agendas of the 4th Meeting of Representatives of National Committees on International Humanitarian Law of Commonwealth States, held in Namibia in June 2017, and of the 5th Commonwealth Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference on IHL, held in Rwanda in June 2019. Both events were supported by the British Red Cross.
In July 2019, the British Red Cross and the Commonwealth Secretariat co-hosted a half-day meeting on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Commonwealth for representatives of High Commissions in London and members of the culture community from the UK and overseas. The flyer for the meeting is attached. Of the 53 Commonwealth member countries, 20 have ratified the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of matters relating to the protection of cultural heritage during armed conflict and natural disasters, and to provide practical ways for both States Parties and non-States Parties to enhance their efforts in this domain.
In his opening address to the conference, Deputy Secretary-General Dr Arjoon Suddhoo stated that: “[t]he Commonwealth is ready to help all of its member countries in fully implementing the 1954 Hague Convention and its protocols at the national level. Implementing international humanitarian law is about prevention and preparedness, including when dealing with cultural heritage.”
Practitioners, culture experts and academics contributed to the panel sessions which followed, and these sessions covered:
- Protecting cultural property in armed conflict: Implementing the 1954 Hague Convention in the Commonwealth;
- Joining forces – the role of military organisations in the Commonwealth in protecting cultural property;
- New challenges and opportunities for cooperation in the protection of cultural heritage against illicit trafficking; and
- Protection of cultural property in natural disasters.
Possible challenges
Possible challenges ahead for the protection of cultural heritage include determining:
- which cultural property should be entitled to protection under the Hague Convention;
- how cultural property should be registered on military geospatial information systems, especially for sites which span a large area;
- when and how to mark cultural property with the emblems of the Hague Convention and its Protocols;
- how to encourage co-ordination between the art sector and relevant police and other government agencies to combat illicit trafficking; and
- how to protect intangible cultural heritage, particularly during mass migration caused by armed conflict, natural disasters and the climate crisis.
