Under the chairmanship of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, the Culture Department held, on November 12, 2020, the 6th coordination meeting of the Architectural and Urban Heritage Observatory in the Arab Countries, with the participation of 16 Arab countries. The theme of the meeting was : “The role of the Observatory in protecting ancient cities and historical monuments in the Arab countries in exceptional circumstances”.
This event is part of the rescue plan that ALECSO will implement in cooperation with other regional and international organizations in one of the countries having gone through exceptional circumstances that have severely affected their historical buildings and sites.
The meeting discussed ways to implement this initiative and enhance the role of the Observatory’s technical teams, and ultimately came out with accurate, practical and implementable solutions.
The meeting was also an opportunity to present the initiative launched by ALECSO to promote coordination between specialized international and regional organizations and institutions in order to support Member States’ efforts to protect their heritage properties in times of crisis.
The representatives of the affected countries presented their reports on the damage recently suffered by historical monuments and buildings, and listened to the proposals of the Architectural and Urban Heritage Observatory’s Liaison Officers on how to activate the role of the Observatory in this regard.
At the end of the meeting, it was agreed to implement a pilot technical intervention project in Beirut, and to form a working group in coordination with the representative of the Lebanese Republic to protect and restore one of the historial buildings to be chosen by the concerned party.
