Unesco to visit heritage sites

UN team expected to visit Pakistan to inspect archaeological sites in Sindh for possible damage following the floods.

ISLAMABAD: A United Nations team is expected to visit Pakistan to inspect the archaeological sites in Sindh for possible damage following the floods, The Express Tribune has learnt.

A mission from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (Unesco) World Heritage Centre will conduct a technical assessment of the two endangered archaeological sites of Moenjo Daro and Makli.

“We are concerned about the monuments at Makli and Thatta,” Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova told The Express Tribune. “We have seen satellite images and now we are ensuring protective measures.”

According to Unesco, these sites are under threat but the Pakistani government is not doing enough to protect them. Makli, an ancient necropolis, has been encroached by those who have lost their homes in the floods. “These people have not moved here because they were told to. They have moved here by choice and set up their tents, damaging the site,” a Unesco official said.  The agency, which had earlier spent $2 million to build protective dykes at Moenjo Daro, is struggling for funds.

“Whatever we are doing or have done was using our own funds. But donors need to show interest,” a Unesco official told The Express Tribune. The agency has not received any share of the UN’s previous flood appeal, which had concentrated on emergency relief, said Syed Arsalan, Unesco’s project officer for flood response. “The funds that we have are not enough and there is a huge gap which needs to be filled. Our projects haven’t been funded yet but a few meetings are in the pipeline,” he said.

However, the agency is hopeful that after the second appeal, donors will support its newly designed projects that have been prepared after Unesco experts met officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the meteorological department, the geology department and flood forecasting centre. The agency is working on two cultural projects: one will engage local people to make replica statues, coins and souvenirs of the sites to attract tourists while the second will train people for rehabilitation of the sites.

Bokova said that the agency was planning some fundraising activities of its own. “Unesco will support the production of radio serial broadcasts and informational theatre. We will use the world heritage fund to fulfill the needs,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2010.