Paris, Unesco will on Monday organize an international meeting aimed at rebuilding the war-torn ancient Iraqi city Mosul’s cultural heritage, rehabilitating its education system and revitalising its cultural life, the UN culture body announced.
The first ‘Revive the Spirit of Mosul’ initiative is being held at Unesco’s headquarters in Paris and is being jointly organised with Iraq’s government, Unesco said.
“We wish to concentrate our efforts on the human dimension of the city’s reconstruction through the promotion of culture and education. Only by restoring the shared cultural heritage and revitalizing cultural and educational life will the people of Mosul be, once again, actors in the renewal of their country,” said Unesco’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay.
Top Iraqi government aid Mahdi Al-Alak will together with Azoulay open the conference which will be attended by politicians including ministers, representatives of religious authorities and Unesco partners, international experts and civil society members, Unesco said.
The event seeks to take stock of the situation in Mosul, once an ethnically and religiously diverse city – after its liberation from the Islamic State jihadist group in 2017 after four years of devastating conflict.
