On 11 November, the United Arab Emirates organised a roundtable on Protection and Recovery of Culture and Heritage at UNESCO to discuss the lessons learned from the “Revive the Spirit of Mosul” initiative. UNESCO’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay launched this flagship initiative in 2018 to rebuild cultural heritage in Mosul that had been devastated by the Islamic State’s occupation of the city. With the support of the main donors of the initiative, the UAE and the European Union, UNESCO has worked in Mosul to restore historic urban landscapes by training and employing locals in the reconstruction work. A major partner in the initiative, the EU has committed 38.5 million USD to “Revive the Spirit of Mosul”.

During the roundtable, the EU Ambassador to UNESCO Didier Lenoir discussed with UNESCO’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay and the UAE Minister of Culture and Youth Noura Al-Kaabi about the key role that culture and heritage can play in the recovery and reconstruction of Mosul and the resilience and social cohesion of local communities. The event also provided an opportunity to learn about the project from the local engineers and coordinators on the ground, who were invited to share their experiences.