UNESCO rallies international community to safeguard Beirut's cultural life and heritage
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2152
Following the devastating twin explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on 4 August, UNESCO mobilized leading cultural organizations and experts from Lebanon and abroad in an online meeting on 10 August to coordinate emergency and longer-term measures to safeguard the city's severely damaged cultural heritage and rehabilitate its cultural life.
 The explosions at the port of Beirut did not only claim hundreds of lives and leave thousands injured, they also inflicted severe damage to some of ...
Youth Day - "Youth Engagement for Global Action?h
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2151
The theme of International Youth Day 2020, "Youth Engagement for Global Action?h aims to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes, as well as draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be enhanced.
Our World Heritage is what we leave behind for future generations therefore we must educate young people to protect ...
UNESCO Mobilizes Funds and Expertise to Safeguard Yemen's Cultural Heritage
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2150
UNESCO profoundly regrets the loss of life and property in a number of historic centers in Yemen, including in the World Heritage sites of Zabid, Shibam, and Sana'a, in recent days following exceptional extreme weather conditions in the country.
The resulting damage is endangering the lives of the inhabitants of these historic centers, leaving some of them without adequate shelter and exacerbating the already-dire situation for many others. The weather conditions also threaten the ...
UNESCO convenes partners to coordinate support for cultural heritage after the tragic explosion in Beirut
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2147
While reiterating expressions of condolence and solidarity with the people of Lebanon in the wake of the tragic explosions in Beirut on 4 August 2020,  UNESCO is taking action and organizing a meeting on 10 August together with the Directorate General of Antiquities in the Ministry of Culture of Lebanon and its partners - ALIPH, ARC-WH, Blue Shield, ICCROM, ICOM and ICOMOS - to jointly assess the situation and determine how the international community can support Lebanon in its efforts ...
UN International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples: COVID-19 and indigenous peoples' resilience
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2146
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, the link between environmental damage and pandemics has again been established. Many indigenous peoples have warned over decades about increasing threats to natural heritage so important for their survival. Through their traditional knowledge and their relationship to nature, they have long known that environmental dilapidation can trigger disease.
We are still in the midst of the combat against the spread of the pandemic, and in this context it is more ...
#SOSAfricanHeritage: Call for Project Proposals, deadline 21 August 2020
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2149
The German Commission for UNESCO invites UNESCO World Heritage sites and possibly other UNESCO designated sites such as Biosphere Reserves in Africa to submit proposals for financial support projects that help UNESCO designated sites to overcome an existing impairment due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Through this support, the German Commission for UNESCO contributes to a relief fund set up by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut to respond to the impact of the COVID 19 ...
In memoriam: Jose de los Santos Sauna
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2148
UNESCO expresses its condolences for the death of José de los Santos Sauna, Governor of the indigenous community of the Kogui people, on 6 August 2020 in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia), caused by coronavirus Covid-19.
The cabildo governor will be remembered as one of the most representative leaders of the indigenous peoples of Colombia, who stood out for his work in defending the rights of the indigenous communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a site included on ...
Concern about fishing vessels in the surroundings of the Galapagos Islands
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2145
The World Heritage Centre and the advisory body for natural World Heritage, IUCN, are following with concern the situation in the immediate surroundings of the Galápagos Islands, where the massive presence of industrial fishing vessels from diverse nationalities has been repeatedly reported by media worldwide. 
The state of conservation for the Galápagos Islands, including the outcomes of the fishing practices review and possible measures to address them, will be examined at ...
Resilient Reefs presents novel climate approach at G20 Working Group
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2144
Resilient Reefs introduced its bold, inclusive approach to climate adaptation at the first G20 International Working Group on Coral Reef Conservation in July 2020. Reef Resilience is a new approach to marine conservation being piloted across five UNESCO-listed World Heritage sites, and backed by a global private-public consortium.
The working group, held by videoconference and hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia G20 Presidency, brought together prominent scientists, delegates and decision ...
Fires in the Pantanal ecoregion
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2142
UNESCO, through the World Heritage Centre and the Secretariat of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, is observing with attention and concern the large number of fires which have struck the Pantanal ecoregion in recent weeks.
According to information provided by experts and firefighters on site as well as satellite data from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais), widely reported by the international press, several tens ...
