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Minister of State Keul travels to Paris for the conference of the International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH)
Minister of State Katja Keul issued the following statement today (31 January) prior to her departure for Paris:
Armed conflicts, natural disasters and the climate crisis are putting our shared world cultural heritage at risk. In order to oppose this, we need to combine our forces and work together still more closely at the European and international level. This was an important objective also of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2020. In Paris, I will offer to closely dovetail Germany’s efforts to protect cultural heritage with ALIPH’s commitment. My attendance of the second ALIPH donor conference at the beginning of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU is also a reflection of close Franco-German cooperation in international cultural policy.
Background Information:
The second donor conference of the International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH) will take place in Paris on 31 January as part of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU. Founded in 2017, the initiative aims to protect cultural heritage in crisis regions. The conference will be attended by French Foreign Minister Jean‑Yves Le Drian, Minister of Culture Roselyn Bachelot, European Commissioner Margaritis Schinas and other ministers from various countries.
The Federal Government is pursuing the objective of expanding cultural preservation in European cooperation and in multilateral forums such as UNESCO also against the backdrop of the climate crisis. To this end, a mechanism for rapid assistance in the protection and preservation of cultural heritage in crisis situations (KulturGutRetter) is being developed together with the German Archaeological Institute, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum – Leibniz Research Institute for Archaeology (RGZM) in Mainz and other partners.
Since 1981, the Federal Republic of Germany has supported the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide via the Cultural Preservation Programme of the Federal Foreign Office. More than 80 million euro were provided from 1981 to the present to fund almost 3000 projects in 144 countries.