How should we remember the Holocaust? Why the plan for a new national memorial in Westminster is causing such division. As we approach Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January – the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army in 1945 – we might spare a thought for the unsung David Morgan. He is the planning inspector whose task it is to make a recommendation to Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on a proposal to create a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre located in the Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the Houses of Parliament. The proposal, originally made in 2015 by David Cameron, is supported by a range of eminent figures including other former prime ministers and more than 170 MPs and members of the House of Lords.
COVID-19 and Security Issues Hamper Myanmar’s Efforts to List Mrauk-U with UN
A pagoda in Mrauk-U. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
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By Zue Zue 19 January 2021
Yangon COVID-19 and security issues are making it difficult for the government to continue with follow-up work to allow the nomination of Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U to become a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Myanmar submitted a draft nomination to the United Nations cultural agency in September 2019 and a final application in January 2020. But one year after submitting the final application, Myanmar has yet to finalize the management plan.
Field surveys could not be conducted in Mrauk-U amid fighting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA) that broke out in the township in March 2019 and continued until late last year. And Unesco has not been able to conduct a survey due to COVID-19.
UNESCO and Zanzibar review response measures after collapse of Beit-al-Ajaib
The House of Wonders is an emblematic edifice of the Stone Town of Zanzibar, and a central component of the World Heritage site, which was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2000.UNESCO | Dar Es Salaam | Updated: 15-01-2021 09:31 IST | Created: 15-01-2021 09:31 IST
During the meeting, UNESCO’s Representative also presented the Organization’s condolences to the families of the two victims who lost their lives in the collapse of the House of Wonders, and best wishes for a speedy recovery to those who were injured. Image Credit: Wikimedia
Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, 13 January During a meeting yesterday, Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar, and Tirso Dos Santos,.
More than 3,600 Buddhist temples in the Getty’s Bagan Conservation Project in Myanmar (pictured: Sitana Gyi Hpaya) have been at risk of looting Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Trust
Lockdowns, stranded workers, a collapse in tourism revenue, the threat of looting: the stewards of cultural heritage sites across the globe have faced harrowing difficulties over the past year in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. All are still struggling to meet the challenges as the new year begins.
Some international organisations have drafted action plans to help managers of heritage sites cope with the repercussions of Covid-19. The International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (Aliph), for example, has allocated $2m in emergency grants for more than 100 struggling operators in 34 countries.