This is the largest section of our website and contains information about our programmes. Links to them are all listed below, sorted by UNESCO’s programme priorities.
Cultural Diversity and Development
Culture and Development - Advocating for the recognition of the central role of culture in sustainable development
Cultural Diversity Lens - A useful tool which can help you address cultural diversity in programming and implementing projects.
Trafficking and HIV/AIDS Project - Tackles HIV/AIDS, trafficking, and non-traditional drug use, by researching, developing, and implementing programmes which crosscut these issues.
Livelihoods for Ethnic Minorities - 8 UN agencies (FAO, UNIDO, UNFPA, IOM, UNDP, UNHCR, WHO and UNESCO) undertake a large development project covering the areas of agriculture, small-scale businesses, natural resources management, health, education, legal status, tourism, etc..with ethnic minorities being the main beneficiaries.
Programme Archive
• Andaman Sea Project - A project run in cooperation with the Science unit.
World Heritage
• Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation - The Awards in recognition of the achievements in restoring structures of cultural heritage value.
• Asia-Pacific World Heritage Site Projects
- Plain of Jars Tentative List Site, Lao PDR - This UNESCO-Lao Safeguarding Project is intended to remove the danger of unexploded ordnance, rehabilitate the plateau's agricultural land and identify priority areas for protection for archaeological research and tourism development.
- Vat Phou World Heritage, Lao PDR - Preservation of Vat Phou and Surrounding Archaeological Landscape within a Framework of Sustainable Development of Champasak, Lao PDR.
- My Son World Heritage, Viet Nam - Demonstration and Training in the Application of International Standard of Conservation at My Son Monuments.
• Cultural Heritage Specialist Guide Programme - Widely recognized for its effectiveness, during the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee in 2007, the guide programme was lauded as “a best practice example of an initiative aiming at integrating the conservation of World Heritage within the wider sustainable development framework for the benefit of local communities”.
• Geographic Information Systems and Cultural Resources Management - Promotes and provides technical support for developing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in managing cultural resources.
• World Heritage Education Project - Gives young people a chance to voice their concerns and to become involved in the protection of our common cultural and natural heritage.
Programme Archive
• Asian Academy for Heritage Management - A network of institutions offering professional training in the field of heritage management.
• Integrated Community Development and Cultural Heritage Site Preservation Through Local Effort in Asia and the Pacific (LEAP) - Fosters local community stewardship over the vast and varied heritage resources of Asia and the Pacific.
• Culture Heritage Management and Tourism: Models for Co-operation among Stakeholders - Aims open and structure avenues of communication between the tourism industry and those responsible for the conservation and maintenance of cultural heritage properties.
• Namha Ecotourism Project - This project from northern Lao PDR is recognized as a best practice project by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and has set new standards for community-led local development through ecotourism activities.
• IMPACT: The Effects of Tourism on Culture and the Environment in Asia-Pacific - A series of publications designed to educate and foster cooperation between tourism industry personnel and heritage site managers.
Intangible Cultural Heritage
• Documentation of Children's Traditional Games - UNESCO, with support from Gangneung City, Republic of Korea, has launched a pilot project to document a selection of traditional children’s games from the Asia-Pacific region. This project commenced in 2010 by groups of researchers from 4 countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Thailand. 14 ethnic groups were reflected in the documentation
Programme Archive
• Regional Meeting on Intangible Cultural Heritage - Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Cultural Tourism: Opportunities and Challenges, Hue, Viet Nam, December 2007
• Cultural Survival and Revival in the Buddhist Sangha - Reviving traditional decorative arts and building crafts, and developing preventative conservation skills among local caretakers of heritage.
• ICH Toolkit - Distributed information about the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
Underwater Cultural Heritage
• Underwater Cultural Heritage in Asia and the Pacifics - Capacity-building project, funded by the Royal Norwegian Government, successfully bearing regional training courses on Maritime Archaeology and related disciplines for professionals in Asia-Pacific Region since 2009.
• Creating Public Awareness - Promoting the protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage through a three-month exhibition in Bangkok Metropolis and its online virtual tour for both adults and kids.
Programme Archive
Creativity
Arts in Education - Established to review and promote the current status and role of arts within basic education in the Asia Pacific region.
Cultural Industries in Asia and the Pacific - Aims to raise awareness of the potential of cultural industries, and to stimulate their growth in the region.
The 2005 Convention on the promotion and protection of the diversity of cultural expressions - Aims to reinforce commitment to the implementation of the convention
Award of Excellence for Handicraft Programme - Established to create standards of quality and to enhance international market awareness of handicrafts.
Programme Archive
• Asia-Pacific Performing Arts Network (APPAN) - Preservation of tradition and creativity from traditional resources through awareness raising, conservation of traditional forms, and capacity building among youth.