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Heritage

Morocco Elected Vice-President of ICOMOS General Assembly for 2024

Friday 15 November 2024 - 09:58

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Morocco has been unanimously elected to serve as Vice-President of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) General Assembly for 2024. This historic decision was made during the assembly held in Ouro Preto, a city in southeastern Brazil, on Wednesday. Aboulkacem Chebri, President of ICOMOS-Morocco, will represent the country in this role, alongside Nepal, the host nation for the 2025 General Assembly.

This is the first time that a country from the Arab region has been appointed to the vice-presidency of the ICOMOS General Assembly, a significant achievement highlighted by Chebri in an interview. He emphasized that this recognition underscores Morocco's prominent role on the international stage and the growing influence of ICOMOS-Morocco within the organization, which serves as an advisory body to UNESCO for world heritage.

During the assembly, ICOMOS President Teresa Patricio stressed the critical task of monitoring and responding to crises that impact heritage sites and the operations of national committees. She noted that the organization’s crisis unit has been actively monitoring global situations, including those in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, and Syria this year.

Chebri shared with the press that the Arab Group had prepared a comprehensive report on the state of heritage in the Middle East, with Morocco playing an active role in its creation.

The General Assembly, chaired by Brazil this year, was preceded by several administrative, scientific, and advisory board meetings from November 10-12, 2024. These sessions included networking opportunities and collaboration between national committees and regional groups. The gathering also featured the International Working Group for Emerging Professionals, aimed at promoting the next generation of heritage experts.

The assembly continues through November 17 with a scientific symposium focused on revisiting the Venice Charter, marking its 60th anniversary. The symposium will explore critical perspectives and contemporary challenges in heritage conservation. It provides an invaluable platform for research, knowledge exchange, training, and capacity building, including seminars, workshops, site visits, and in-depth discussions on cross-cutting approaches to heritage preservation.

A key announcement at this event is the launch of ICOMOS’s new three-year scientific plan, titled Heritage Resilient to Disasters and Conflicts: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. This plan emphasizes the importance of strengthening global capacity to protect heritage in the face of disasters and conflicts, with climate change also remaining a top priority.

Founded in 1965 in Paris, ICOMOS now includes 113 national committees and 31 specialized scientific committees. Morocco's involvement is significant, with several Moroccan researchers contributing to the national committee.

The current ICOMOS-Morocco office (2022-2025) is headed by Aboulkacem Chebri, an archaeologist and expert in Moroccan-Portuguese heritage and monument restoration, also serving as the director of the Center for Studies and Research on Moroccan-Lusitanian Heritage under the Ministry of Culture. Chebri’s extensive academic background, coupled with his leadership in various heritage preservation associations, underscores his pivotal role in Morocco’s increasing prominence in the field of global heritage conservation.