With the participation of Syria, the General Foundation of the International Center for the Study and Preservation of Cultural Property (ICCROM) concluded its 30th General Assembly on Thursday in the Italian capital of Rome.

135 countries of the foundation’s members participated in the 3-day Assembly which included discussions, presentations, and meetings.

The activities of the Assembly focused on sustainable approaches in the reconstruction process of destroyed or damaged historic cities and served as a global platform to discuss and endorse the strategic directions and the action plan of the Rome-based cultural agency.

Director-General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) Mahmud Hammod presented the plans to restore buildings in Old Aleppo that had been exposed to destruction for 6 years, adding that the restoration process has started with executing urgent documentation operations and studying the restoration of buildings and markets in addition to Aleppo Citadel and Umayyad Mosque.

He indicated that the contribution of the DGAM, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the process of documentation and preparation for the implementation of the restoration works at a later stage, taking into account international and local standards.

For their part, the participants called for implementing the latest international agreements, especially the ones concerned with condemnation of destroying cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq

Source: SANA