Last week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Egyptian authorities held an inter-regional workshop to combat illicit trafficking of cultural property.
It was the first time the workshop, which included a comprehensive three-day, full-immersion experience, was held, bringing together professionals, cultural heritage experts, judiciary, prosecutors, and police, Nuria Sanz, director of UNESCO’s Cairo regional office, said.
Supported by the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF), the workshop aimed to equip participants with knowledge of the existing tools, measures and international legal frameworks available to prevent theft, illegal trade, and destruction of cultural heritage in times of crisis.
The goal of the workshop was to create a community of practice, generate common deliberation on regional priorities, and establish a mechanism of cooperation among participants, Sanz told Al-Ahram Weekly, adding that it also aimed at teaching trainers who will help related communities in their countries.
Combating the illicit trafficking of cultural property is a major issue that concerns all countries with a rich cultural heritage. “Raising awareness among concerned professionals about the need to protect cultural heritage in times of crisis is very important,” according to Ambassador Khaled Sarwat, advisor to the minister and supervisor of the General Administration for International Relations and Agreements at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Sarwat highlighted that cultural property trafficking is used to fund terrorists.
Sanz said that the daily challenge for UNESCO is in Sudan and Gaza, saying “trafficking is happening now,” in an indication of the urgency of the matter.
During the workshop a database of stolen cultural property was exchanged between participants. Moreover, they discussed how Sudan and neighbouring countries Egypt, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, and Ethiopia can prevent the circulation of stolen items, Ikhlas Ahmed, director of the Sudanese Museums Department and head of the Stolen Antiquities Tracking and Recovery Unit, told the Weekly. Ahmed explained that the most important outcome of the workshop for Sudan was addressing the 1970 UN convention on prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property.
Although the convention was adopted 55 years ago, Sudan signed it just before the civil war broke out in 2023. However, Ahmed explained, the Ministry of Justice is now reviewing the convention, and it is expected to be submitted to the Sudanese Sovereign Council for ratification. “All international legal procedures for recovering stolen property depend on it,” Ahmed added.
The UNESCO convention is a legal instrument in the fight against plunder and illicit trafficking.
UNESCO has expressed concern over reports of “possible looting and vandalism by armed groups at several museums and heritage institutions in Sudan”, including the National Museum, which “houses important antiquities and statues, as well as archaeological collections of great historical and material value”.
In addition to Sudan, the State of Palestine boasts a rich cultural heritage and, due to its geopolitical situation, is particularly vulnerable to looting, theft, and illicit trafficking of cultural property, UNESCO said.
Ahmed said the UN and several international organisations concerned with culture responded to Sudan’s calls after some groups secretly contacted Sudanese authorities that militants were about to sell stolen property. Accordingly, she said, the authorities contacted the UN and asked countries around the world, traders and brokers, not to deal in any Sudanese antiquities that they may come across. She added that the specifications of the stolen artefacts had all been sent to Interpol, and a committee is currently assessing the damage and will add more photos as evidence.
Sanz said that during the ongoing conflict it was urgent to proceed with the ratification because it is the key mechanism to ensure the full benefit of international cooperation.
Egypt was one of the first countries to ratify the 1970 UNESCO convention banning the stealing of cultural property, Sarwat told the Weekly.
Sarwat said the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in cooperation with the ministries of foreign affairs and justice, in addition to the Tourism and Antiquities Police, has made “tangible and clear efforts to combat the trafficking of antiquities, as well as to recover antiquities that were illegally smuggled out of Egypt over the past years. The process of recovering Egyptian antiquities has witnessed a boom recently. A large number of antiquities in the possession of dealers and some entities and institutions outside Egypt — estimated in the thousands — have been recovered in cooperation with a number of friendly countries,” Sarwat told the Weekly.
“Egyptian legislation and jurisprudence display good practices,” Sanz said.
The workshop brought together over 80 participants from the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Palestine, in addition to key UNESCO partners in the field: the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), an independent intergovernmental organisation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
* A version of this article appears in print in the 24 April, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: