Documentation and risk assessment in the vicinity of heritage sites in Bamiyan

UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations system that promotes education, science, culture, communication, and access to information in order to foster peace through dialogue, tackle poverty, strengthen sustainable development, uphold respect for diversity and human rights, build knowledge societies and media pluralism and work towards gender equality, thereby helping to bring about more successful and prosperous societies.

UNESCO’s programme in Afghanistan aims at supporting initiatives related to settlement improvement, prevention of natural hazards and durable solutions through a participatory approach towards skills development and job creation, to foster social cohesion and community reconciliation through shared cultural identities and spaces. UNESCO has been active in the preservation of Cultural Heritage properties in the country for two decades, through promotion and sustainable heritage management; communication and awareness-raising on the contribution of heritage to social and economic opportunities and prosperity; operational projects on the maintenance of monuments and sites; the enhancement of cultural sites through the addition of cultural infrastructure, as well as institutional and individual capacity development initiatives and opportunities.

In areas bearing significant archaeological and cultural heritage values, UNESCO carries out documentation, monitoring and safeguarding as appropriate to prevent damage to the tangible and intangible heritage of Afghanistan from uncontrolled settlement expansion, and unsustainable construction activities.

There is therefore a need for integrated technical services combining heritage documentation, geohydrological assessment, and archaeological expertise. The services will support UNESCO in ensuring that ongoing and planned interventions are appropriately documented, technically supervised and implemented with due consideration for the cultural, archaeological and environmental values of the sites.

UNESCO also requires updated documentation and monitoring tools for selected sites. Such documentation will support current interventions as well as future conservation, monitoring, research and management activities.