The 33rd Session of the ICCROM General Assembly marks the beginning of a new and promising chapter for our Organization. It also provides us with an opportunity to take stock and recognize our Member States and partners who have made the past two years' accomplishments possible. 

First and foremost, we thank the Government of Italy and the Government of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, for generously hosting our headquarters and regional office within their respective territories, as well as for their invaluable support of our initiatives.

We extend our gratitude to all our partners whose voluntary and in-kind contributions have made our work possible during the 2022-2023 biennium.  

  • Agency for Cultural Affairs of the government of Japan – continued strengthening our human resources by providing secondments as well as co-organizing training activities in Japan. 
  • Australian Government – supported inaugural phase of a collaborative UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN capacity-development project on climate action for World Heritage. 
  • British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund (CPF) – enabled us to organize an international online conference, “Climate.Culture.Peace,” and deliver the project “Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth in Southeast Asia.” 
  • Canadian Heritage – continued support of Bibliographic Database of the Conservation Information Network (BCIN) platform and extended its support to the First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR) programme. 
  • China Academy of Cultural Heritage (CACH) – helped us deliver training on World Heritage management with a focus on China. 
  • Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) of the Republic of Korea – extended cooperation to strengthen heritage management and conservation capacities and supported activities, such as CollAsia 2023. 
  • Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) – supported ICCROM's Digital Transformation initiative.   
  • With the support of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) we will implement the project “Enhancing Capacities in Ukraine for Cultural Heritage First Aid and Recovery Planning.”  
  • The Horizon Europe grants from the European Union enabled us to make significant contributions to the advancement of cutting-edge research initiatives in the field of cultural heritage at the European level.  
  • Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC) – helped ICCROM embark on a restructuring initiative to improve efficiency by supporting our Resource Mobilization function. 
  • Government of Spain – facilitated the use of the Spanish language in ICCROM's activities to enhance our offerings for the Ibero-American region. 
  • Government of the Principality of Monaco – enabled our FAR programme to publish some of its most important resources. 
  • Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) – provided contributions that enabled us to launch and implement our newest flagship program, Youth.Heritage.Africa (YHA). 
  • National Cultural Heritage Administration of China (NCHA) – played a vital role in advancing the career development of heritage practitioners by providing scholarships. 
  • With the National Museum of Oman, we continued collaborating within the "Rehabilitation of Royal Houses in Old Muscat" project, offering technical and scientific expertise. 
  • Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment (KLD) – committed its support to the second phase of the World Heritage Leadership programme.
  • United States Department of State (DOS) – supported ICCROM’s efforts in building Ukrainian professionals’ capacities through the generous contribution from the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). 
  • UNESCO – enabled us to successfully deliver the capacity-building programme for Heritage Recovery in Mosul and supported our efforts in Ukraine.

We also thank the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) and Nottingham Trent University (NTU), United Kingdom, for their support of our programmes and activities.  

In addition to our government and multilateral partners, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to the foundations and other institutions that have offered invaluable support to our endeavours. 

  • With ALIPH, we formed an Alliance for Cultural Heritage First Aid, Peace and Resilience to strengthen capacities for risk reduction, preparedness, response and recovery in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan region (MENAP). 
  • European Cultural Foundation – facilitated the creation of a special collection in the ICCROM Library focused on heritage education, as well as a dedicated space for young readers. 
  • Fondazione Santagata – supported ICCROM in organizing the Summer School on Post-conflict Recovery.
  • Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali – joined forces with YHA in promoting young entrepreneurship in the cultural sector in Africa and beyond. 
  • Getty Conservation Institute – supports various initiatives at ICCROM, including MOSAIKON and the international workshop “Connecting Collections: Unlocking Value in Heritage Samples Archives.” 
  • Saudi Heritage Preservation Society (SHPS) with the gracious support of the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (MoC) – enabled a training series for heritage professionals from Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries. 
  • Support from the Swedish Postcode Foundation has been instrumental in our First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR) programme, particularly in delivering the “Net Zero: Heritage for Climate Action” project. 

In addition, we would also like to thank all the partners that hosted and co-organized courses with ICCROM enhancing the skills of heritage practitioners worldwide.  

Your support has been instrumental in empowering us to expand our reach and enhance our impact over the past two years. Your contributions strengthened ICCROM's essential infrastructure, fuelled our programmes and activities and enhanced our ability to effectively address the needs of our Member States.

       –  Webber Ndoro, ICCROM Director-General