1 Feb 2013

PARIS / MALI HERITAGE SITES

UNESCO says it will send a mission to Mali to assess damage to the World Heritage sites in Timbuktu and Gao, help with repairs and assist in capacity building for the community that has guarded ancient treasures for thousands of years. UNESCO / FILE

Posted at: February 1, 2013 4:58 pm

Duration: 02:52

Available in: SD

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STORY: PARIS / MALI HERITAGE SITES
TRT:  2:52
SOURCE: UNESCO / FILE
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE 31 JANUARY 2013, PARIS, FRANCE / FILE MALI

SHOTLIST

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN, UNESCO HEADQUARTERS, PARIS

1. Wide shot, UNESCO headquarters.

31 JANUARY 2013, PARIS, FRANCE

2. SOUNDBITE Lazare Eloundou, Chief of Africa Unit, UNESCO World Heritage Centre:
"UNESCO will work closely with the government of Mali in order to immediately assess the damage both in Timbuktu and Gao where we have the World Heritage Sites of the Tomb of Askia and also Timbuktu."

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN - GAO, MALI

3. Wide shot, Tomb of Askia
4. Med shot, Tomb of Askia

31 JANUARY 2013, PARIS, FRANCE

5. SOUNDBITE Lazare Eloundou, Chief of Africa Unit, UNESCO World Heritage Centre:
"UNESCO will definitely send a mission to assess the situation and define the immediate urgent priorities, in close cooperation with the local communities who have been maintaining this site for the past thousand years."

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN - TIMBUKTU, MALI

6. Pan, Timbuktu, Mali

31 JANUARY 2013, PARIS, FRANCE

7. SOUNDBITE Lazare Eloundou, Chief of Africa Unit, UNESCO World Heritage Centre:
"But what is sure is that reconstruction and rehabilitation of these sites will be of main priorities, but also capacity building, because lots of the capacity building have been unfortunately lost during the crisis."

FILE – UNKNOWN DATE - TIMBUKTU, MALI

8 Wide shot Timbuktu
9 Wide shot Timbuktu
10. Wide shot Timbuktu.

31 JANUARY 2013, PARIS, FRANCE

11. SOUNDBITE Lazare Eloundou, Chief of Africa Unit, UNESCO World Heritage Centre:
"At this stage we know that many manuscripts have been deliberately destroyed and burned completely.

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN - TIMBUKTU, MALI

12 Wide shot Timbuktu

STORYLINE

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced it will help rebuild and safeguard Mali's cultural heritage, which has been the target of attacks during the current crisis.

Lazare Eloundou, Chief of UNESCO's Africa Unit said a mission will be sent to Mali to help the Malian government reconstruct and rehabilitate the damaged sites.

Eloundou said the team would also help in capacity building, "because lots of the capacity building have been unfortunately lost during the crisis."
  
According to media reports, Islamist extremists set fire to a library in the city of Timbuktu containing thousands of historic manuscripts, many of them dating back to the 13th to 16th centuries. The manuscripts deal with subjects ranging from religious studies to mathematics, medicine, astronomy, music, literature, poetry, architecture and women's and children's rights.

The latest attacks on the West African country's cultural heritage follow the destruction of at least three mausoleums last month.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova yesterday said, "UNESCO will spare no effort in working with the people of Mali to recover what is rightfully theirs. We will help them rebuild the mausoleums of Timbuktu and the tomb of Askia in Gao."

Filed under 15. - CULTURE FEDERATION OF MALI UNESCO - United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.