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DE RUEHFR #0187/01 0481719
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R 171719Z FEB 10
FM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS FR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0000
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE

UNCLAS UNESCO PARIS FR 000187 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR HAITI TASK FORCE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: AORC KPKO HA PREL SCUL UNESCO
SUBJECT: HAITI EARTHQUAKE:  UNESCO MEETING ON SAVING HAITI'S 
HERITAGE 
 
REF: UNESCO PARIS FR 000087 
 
¶1. Summary. UNESCO, February 16, convened a meeting to bring 
together Haitian government officials, representatives of museums 
and cultural experts and representatives of other UNESCO member 
states to discuss the impact of the January 12 earthquake on Haiti's 
cultural heritage.  The Haitian Minister of Culture described the 
devastation and efforts underway to deal with the situation.   She 
made it clear that Haiti has the lead in preserving its art and 
culture but needs the help of the international community to build 
the capacity to do so.  Experts discussed measures that must be 
taken in the near, medium and long term and underscored that 
priorities must be set when formulating a strategy for 
reconstruction.  The U.S. and others reiterated the immediate need 
to secure sites and prevent pillaging and looting of Haitian artwork 
and other artifacts.  UNESCO plans to set up an International 
Coordination Committee (ICC) to work with Haiti on establishing 
priorities and coordinating international assistance to Haiti in the 
culture sector.  End Summary. 
 
UNESCO Director General Opens the Meeting 
 
¶2. UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova opened the meeting for 
Establishment of an International Coordination Committee (ICC) for 
Haitian Culture.  She said that the purpose of the meeting was to 
listen to the Minister of Culture of Haiti in order to find out what 
is needed and how UNESCO and others can help.  Having taken stock of 
the damage and needs, UNESCO, working with the Government of Haiti 
(GOH), would be able to devise an integrated strategy to meet those 
needs.  UNESCO hopes to establish an International Coordination 
Committee (ICC) to help achieve this. 
 
¶3. The Director General described the actions which UNESCO has taken 
to address the effect of the January 12 earthquake on Haiti's art 
and cultural heritage.  She established a crisis unit and sent a 
mission to Haiti to assess the situation there (See para 8).  She 
also sent a letter the UN SyG which contained a request that the UN 
operation in Haiti (MINUSTAH) protect cultural sites. UNESCO has 
suggested that the UN act to impose a ban on the sale of art and 
cultural artifacts from Haiti that lack identification.  The aim 
would be to halt trafficking in stolen artwork but not interfere 
with the normal commerce of Haitian crafts which is an important 
source of income for its people. 
 
Haiti Describes the Damage 
 
¶4. The Minister of Culture of Haiti reported that the devastation 
had touched both tangible and intangible culture in Haiti.  A 
hundred years of architecture had, in many cases, been reduced to 
rubble and the carnival, which showcases Haitian handicrafts (masks, 
etc.) and forms of cultural expression, would not take place this 
year.  She described the losses as touching all forms of culture. 
The data base of Haitian literature was housed in a building which 
has collapsed and entire collections of media have been destroyed. 
The Haitian government will declare priority heritage locations and 
must inventory cultural property.  Their immediate goal will be to 
protect and preserve what they have.  Experts and training programs 
will be needed to increase Haiti's capacity to deal with the 
destruction.  In the long term, they must devise a strategy for such 
disasters. 
 
¶5. Mr. Daniel Elie, Director of the Institute to Save the National 
Patrimony (ISPAN) reported that 230,000 people have been killed and 
500,000 have left the earthquake area.  There are a million people 
living in camps and as the rainy season begins, the need for 200,000 
tents is acute.  All the monuments in the historic center of Port au 
Prince have been destroyed.  The Justice, Culture, Tax buildings, 
the National Palace and markets have all collapsed.  Most of the 
churches were built from 1860-1912 and have also been destroyed. 
The situation is similar in Jacmel, where the Historic Center had 
been on the World Heritage tentative list.  The city of Leogane has 
been almost entirely destroyed.  Still standing are old wooden 
houses which survived the quake.  He noted that following the 
earthquake of 1790, the French had a policy of constructing wooden 
buildings in the area but frequent fires led Haitians to build with 
bricks and cement.  ISPAN is now being faced with a national 
disaster of major proportions and has a budget of $375,000 per year. 
 The organization has four architects, three engineers, two offices, 
two cars and six computers to deal with this situation. 
 
Culture Institutions/Experts Assess the Damage 
 
¶6. At least thirty museums and organizations working in the culture 
field were represented.  The program provided an opportunity for 
them to share assessments of the impact of the quake on various 
aspects of Haiti's cultural heritage and to indicate what action 
they were prepared to take to ameliorate the situation.  The 
representative of the International Council on Monuments and Sites 
(ICOMOS) reported that they had participated in a reconnaissance 
mission in Haiti and are developing a data base of volunteers. They 
are ready to deploy international experts to help with shoring up 
buildings and reconstruction.  The International Council of Museums 
(ICOM) representative noted that the Haitian Commission of ICOM has 
drawn up a list of what is currently needed to safeguard a dozen 
museums and thirty cultural institutions. The International 
Federation of Libraries and Archives (IFLA) representative said that 
they are currently working to identify buildings where books can be 
stored.  Books are being sorted to determine what can be saved 
(placed in containers) and what cannot.  The French National Library 
is working with libraries in Quebec and Providence to digitalize the 
written heritage of Haiti and "Libraries without Borders" has 
provided tarps to protect books from the rain and has completed a 
detailed thirty page report. 
 
¶7. Dr. Richard Kurin of the Smithsonian addressed the subject of 
Haiti's intangible cultural heritage.  He said that efforts are 
underway to determine how many of 500 Haitians who are on a list of 
those who exemplify Haiti's intangible heritage survived.  He 
stressed the importance of providing materials so that Haitian 
artists can continue to create.  They need money to ship their work 
abroad and need markets.  The Smithsonian is looking for ways to 
help these artists market their crafts across the U.S.  This will, 
he said, help to keep Haiti in the public eye and gain recognition 
and revenue for the artists.  He said that the Smithsonian would 
work with other international organizations as partners in this 
effort but is looking for guidance from the Haitian government. 
What are Haiti's priorities?  What does Haiti think about 
international aid to private collections?  Kurin said that the 
Smithsonian stands ready to help and , in a subsequent intervention 
specified four ways it would be prepared to: (1)work with the GOH 
and the Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of 
Cultural Property (ICCROM) on the preservation and restoration of 
movable cultural property and train Haitians in this work; (2) work 
with Laval University (Canada) and the State University of Haiti on 
a survey of Haitian Intangible Cultural Heritage especially aimed at 
determining needs for musicians, artisans and others so they can 
revive their work and take advantage of cultural economic 
opportunities for performances and commercial sales of art, crafts, 
and other products; 
(3) work, with the approval of the GOH, with UNESCO and others to 
establish an international base of operations for cultural recovery 
in Haiti; 
(This would require a large tent, storage facility, vehicles and 
facilities for international teams.) 
(4) serve on an International Cultural Committee for Haiti. 
 
¶8. The representative of ICCROM noted that humanitarian 
considerations must be given the highest priority but after that its 
priorities are to gather consistent information, assess damage and 
create inventories, salvage and recover (while mitigating ongoing 
risks) and devise a preparedness plan for the future. 
 
UNESCO Reports on its Mission 
 
¶9. UNESCO officer Fernando Brugmann presented a slide show of 
pictures taken during his recent mission to Haiti which showed the 
destruction of cultural institutions and ongoing efforts by Haitians 
to retrieve those objects that can be saved.  Noticeably missing 
from the photos was any evidence of a MINUSTAH or other UN presence 
at the sites.  Noting that UNESCO had requested protection for the 
sites in early February, the U.S. inquired about the status of a 
protective guard.  The Haitian delegation noted that they have hired 
a private security service that patrols the area ever hour or two. 
A call line has been installed to report pillaging of sites.  The 
Director of UNESCO's Culture Sector said that she had asked the 
Minister of Culture to contact MINUSTAH and had spoken with MINUSTAH 
and provided a list of sites.  The UNESCO Mission reported that many 
private individuals have taken initiatives to secure the artwork. 
INTERPOL and Customs officials have also been contacted.  The 
INTERPOL representative at the meeting said that its 188 members 
have been alerted about the imminent risk of illegal importation of 
stolen artwork from Haiti. He noted, however, that it was proving 
difficult to obtain the detailed documentation required to prevent 
transport of the goods.  The UNESCO representative will contact 
MINUSTAH again to urge immediate action. 
 
What is Needed? Now? Later? 
 
¶10. The remainder of the session focused on the need to set 
priorities for necessary action.  Some said that securing the most 
important buildings to make sure they are not pillaged should be a 
high priority.  Others noted that when monuments and sites are 
rebuilt, they should be earthquake proof and one even asked whether 
Port au Prince should be rebuilt in the same place. The 
representative of Blue Shield International said that this "disaster 
can create an opportunity."  Blue Shield has 500 volunteers ready to 
go to Haiti to help secure the area but they need infrastructure and 
logistical assistance.  Art experts have started to inventory 
artwork but they need containers.  The Haitian Culture Ministry 
representative said that the Haitian government is weak because of 
the earthquake but added that they were weak before the quake.  They 
need external support to strengthen Haiti's capacity to do the job. 
The Google representative cited several ways in which the 
corporation could lend assistance, including:  mapping to collect 
information; translating into Creole (recently added to its site); 
using "people finder" to help locate people and digitizing written 
cultural heritage; and using "my maps," which includes a street view 
feature. 
 
¶11. Summing up the discussion, the Director of UNESCO's Culture 
Sector remarked that the strong attendance, particularly from the 
museums, institutions and other experts group showed a keen interest 
on the part of the international community in helping Haiti.  The 
next step would be to set priorities.  The Secretariat will prepare 
minutes of the meeting and provide them to Haitian officials who can 
begin the preparation of a "roadmap" and work with a International 
Co-ordination  Committee to establish priorities for the near, 
medium and long term.  If all agree, the ICC might meet in May or 
June of this year. 
 
¶12. Comment:  While we were pleased to see UNESCO trying to take the 
lead and galvanize an international effort to save Haiti's cultural 
heritage, we are not confident that adequate measures are being 
taken to secure Haitian cultural properties now.  We defer to those 
on the ground, but periodic patrols by private security companies 
may not be enough to prevent theft.  Despite repeated questions, 
UNESCO has never been able to assure us that MINUSTAH has deployed 
resources to protect Haitian cultural property.  Instead, 
Secretariat staff and others familiar with the situation have 
repeatedly expressed concern to us that MINUSTAH's efforts to 
protect Haitian cultural property are inadequate. 
 
¶13. MINIMIZE CONSIDERED 
 
KILLION