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heritages in peril
HERITAGE IN PERIL
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Illicit Traffic resources on-line:
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Some African objects stolen from the continent or from museums or private holdings elsewhere. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Across the African continent, artefacts are looted from museums, universities and archaeological sites, and find their way to museums and private collectors abroad. Many organisations are working towards the protection of this heritage under threat. The International Commission of Museums (ICOM) publishes a Red List of African archaeological objects at risk of looting. It is estimated that illicit traffic in cultural property is worth $4.5 billion a year worldwide, and it is estimated that Africa accounts for 10% of this black market trade.
The theft of Africa's rich cultural heritage is of grave concern. Theft continues both on the African continent and beyond. Museums can assist in curbing this menace in many ways, including by working with the local communities who are the custodians of the heritage. Museums in Africa must also pressure their governments to ratify the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Propertyas well as the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (Rome, 1995) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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AFRICOM has recently launched a campaign to sensitise African governments about the various cultural heritage conventions, and is strongly urging State Parties to ratify them. As of 2003, only the following 23 State Parties in Africa had ratified the 1970 UNESCO Convention:
*Ratification (R), Acceptance (Ac), Accession (A), Succession (S) Museums can also be at the forefront of this fight by ensuring that they have an acquisitions policy that conforms to the ICOM Code of Professional Ethics, to which AFRICOM adheres. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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