Iran: UNESCO to help rehabilitate damaged schools and cultural sites in Bam

A task force of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today decided to dispatch emergency funds to help children in the earthquake-devastated Bam area of Iran.

The group, meeting at UNESCO's Paris headquarters, also pledged to assist in rehabilitating Bam's damaged cultural heritage. The city was home to the world's largest mud-brick structure, a 2,000-year-old citadel which suffered severe harm in the quake.

All 131 schools in the Bam area were damaged or destroyed in the 26 December earthquake, which is estimated to have killed some 30,000 people, according to the Government. UNESCO and other UN agencies are working together to provide the affected children with an education now, and to draw up a plan to rehabilitate the educational system in the future.

Reporting that 70 per cent of Bam's prized cultural sites were destroyed, UNESCO also said it would send technical missions over the coming weeks to assess the agency's role in rehabilitation and conservation, as well as in raising awareness of disaster prevention and preparedness.

The Iranian authorities have asked UNESCO to coordinate international efforts to rehabilitate Bam's cultural heritage. To that end, the Iranian Cultural Heritage Department is working closely with UNESCO's International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the International Council on Monuments and Sites. One proposal currently under consideration involves listing Bam on the Heritage in Danger list maintained by UNESCO.