Blue Shield International
The Blue Shield, formerly the International Committee of the Blue Shield, is an international organization founded in 1996 to protect the world's cultural heritage from threats such as armed conflict and natural disasters. Described as the "cultural equivalent of the Red Cross, its name derives from the blue shield symbol used to signify cultural sites protected by the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict.
The Blue Shield's mission statement is in their statutes. It is a network of committees of dedicated individuals across the world that is “committed to the protection of the world’s cultural property, and is concerned with the protection of cultural and natural heritage, tangible and intangible, in the event of armed conflict, natural- or human-made disaster.”
Blue shield is a close partner organization with the UN, United Nations peacekeeping and UNESCO and in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
History
Following the Second World War, which saw extensive damage and widespread theft of cultural heritage throughout Europe and Asia, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was founded in 1946 with the official aim of promoting peace, development, and dialogue through cultural exchange and preservation. At the behest of the Netherlands, UNESCO helped draft and sponsor the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the first widely ratified international treaty that focused exclusively on the protection of cultural property in armed conflict; it entered into force on 7 August 1956, obligating states parties to protect cultural property in both peacetime and war, including those located in combatant nations.was established in 1996 by the four major non-governmental heritage organisations, which represent professionals active in the fields of archives, libraries, monuments and sites, and museums:
- ICA: International Council on Archives
- ICOM: International Council of Museums
- ICOMOS: International Council on Monuments and Sites
- IFLA: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
By 2000, national committees had begun to form to protect cultural heritage in their countries. In 2006, a conference Towards Solid Organisation: Infrastructure and Awareness was held at the Hague in the Netherlands, attended by the national committees and the ICBS. At this event, the was written, establishing the to coordinate the work of the national committees. The ANCBS came into formal existence in 2008: Karl von Habsburg was appointed as the first President. During this time, he undertook a number of fact finding missions to countries in conflict to learn more about the damage to their cultural heritage.
While in many wars the freedom of movement of the United Nations personnel is significantly restricted due to security concerns, Blue Shield is considered to be particularly suitable due to its structure to act flexibly and autonomously in really dangerous armed conflicts. Joris Kila, art historian for Blue Shield and the "Competence Center for Cultural Heritage" at the University of Vienna, sums it up as follows: "Unesco and other institutions consider it too dangerous to inspect the places in Libya themselves, whether they are were damaged or not. So Karl von Habsburg and I decided that we had to do it ourselves. We were in Ras-Almergib, a site right next to Leptis Magna, where a radar and air defense station of the Gaddafi troops was destroyed, less than 15 meters away from a Roman fort that remained intact. The ancient site was on our list."
In terms of cultural property protection, there is therefore intensive cooperation between Blue Shield, the United Nations and UNESCO. The cooperation between UNESCO and Blue Shield International is to be further strengthened, according to the then Director General of UNESCO Irina Bokova. "UNESCO and Blue Shield International share a common goal" and "We seek to protect cultural property, and, by extension, humanity’s cultural legacy", said Bokova in October 2017 at a conference of Blue Shield International.
In 2016, ICBS and ANCBS amalgamated to become simply “The Blue Shield”, amending the ANCBS statutes to reflect these changes, and registering the Blue Shield as an Association in the Netherlands. These statutes were formally approved by the Blue Shield General Assembly in Vienna.
Language preservation is also protection of cultural heritage, as Habsburg states. "Today, on average, we lose one language in the world every six weeks. There are approximately 6800 languages. But four percent of the population speaks 96 percent of the languages, and 96 percent of the population speaks four percent of the languages. These four percent are spoken by large language groups and are therefore not at risk. But 96 percent of the languages we know are more or less at risk. You have to treat them like extinct species."
A special concern of Blue Shield International is the protection of cultural heritage during military peace operations. 40 lecturers and participants from America, Denmark, Lebanon, Italy, Croatia, Slovakia and Austria had the opportunity at the "Blue Helmet Forum 2019" to deal with the topic. Experiences of the US Army, operational experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and the establishment of a separate Italian cultural property unit were also discussed. Karl von Habsburg spoke about the need to protect cultural property not only during and after conflicts, but also outside of armed conflicts.
Composition
The Blue Shield is formed from national committees around the world, coordinated by an International Board - Blue Shield International. BSI maintains a list of national committees on their .The BSI Board is formed from nine people. There are four nominated representatives from ICA, ICOM, ICOMOS, and IFLA. The General Assembly also votes in four members who have stood for election from national committees. In 2017, the elected board members were:
- Georgia - Manana Tevzadze, lecturer at Ilia State University, consultant and member of ICOM and ICOMOS
- S. Korea - Kidong Bae, Director General of the National Museum of Korea, Chairperson of the ICOM ASPAC, and Professor Emeritus of Hanyang University
- USA - Nancy Wilkie, William H. Laird Professor of Classics, Anthropology and the Liberal Arts, Emerita at Carleton College in Northfield
- UK - Peter G. Stone, for Cultural Property and Peace, Newcastle University and former Secretary of ANCBS
In support of Peter Stone's work in cultural property protection, Newcastle University funded the first full-time Secretariat for the organisation in 2017, consisting of one part time and one full time staff member - , and .
Mission and areas of activity
The Blue Shield is a network of committees of dedicated individuals across the world that is:“committed to the protection of the world’s cultural property, and is concerned with the protection of cultural and natural heritage, tangible and intangible, in the event of armed conflict, natural- or human-made disaster.”
The key goals of the Blue Shield are laid out in Article 2 of the . They are to:
- protect cultural and natural heritage – tangible and intangible – from the effects of conflict and environmental disaster;
- promote the ratification of, respect for, and implementation of, the 1954 Hague Convention and its two Protocols;
- raise awareness of the importance of protecting heritage in emergency situations;
- promote and provide relevant training ;
- promote community engagement with and participation in protecting cultural property ;
- encourage co-operation with, and between, other relevant entities involved in emergency situations.
- Proactive protection and risk preparedness;
- Emergency response;
- Stabilisation, post-disaster recovery, and long-term/ongoing support activities;
- Legal compliance, policy, and their implementation;
- Capacity building activities, and education and training in support of the Blue Shield’s Areas of Activity;
- Co-ordination – of Blue Shield members and with partner organisations.
- Contributing the development and delivery of plans and actions for proactive planning, emergency response, stabilisation, post-disaster recovery, and long-term/ongoing support activities at the national and international level, coordinating support to affected national committees from the international community as requested.
- Promoting and developing understanding of the international laws which underpin the Blue Shield’s work
- Contributing to the development of policies in relation to national and international cultural protection agendas, and promoting their implementation.
- Developing policy for the Blue Shield, and interpreting and implementing it at the national level. BSI recognises that its work must be interpreted in a national context, taking account of national legislation and policy.
- Working with partners to support capacity building activities and develop and deliver education and training materials and courses in support of the Blue Shield’s Areas of Activity.
- Co-ordinating the work of the Blue Shield national committees, and national / international partners. Blue Shield does not work in isolation. International partners include: UNESCO, ICA, ICOM, ICOMOS, IFLA and other international heritage organisations; NATO and other multi-national forces; and other international organisations involved in cultural property protection. National partners include: government departments, national ministries of defence, emergency response units, and other national organisations involved in CPP, such as national committees or branches of ICA, ICOM, ICOMOS, IFLA, and the National Commissions of UNESCO.
Logo
ICBS adopted the emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention that designates cultural property that should be protected, and for identification of those working to protect it – the blue shield. The cultural emblem is a protective symbol used during armed conflicts, and its use is restricted under international law. In order to avoid confusion with the emblem, the ANCBS adopted a new symbol - they took up the emblem of the Convention as a symbol of their protective work, but lightened the royal blue, and set it in a cyan blue circular background. The strapline of ANCBS was "Protecting The World's Cultural Heritage During Emergency Situations".When ICBS and ANCBS merged in 2016, the decision was taken to re-brand to symbolise the new Blue Shield organisation. In 2018, a new logo was formally adopted by the Blue Shield International Board. The Blue Shield logo is the royal blue shield emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention, set within a mid-blue circle, symbolising both Blue Shield’s roots and focus on the Hague Convention and armed conflict, and the wider remit it encompasses today. As part of the rebranding, the Blue Shield changed its strapline to "Protecting Heritage in Crisis".
The Blue Shield logo is used as a visible sign to indicate the Blue Shield International Board and shows the officially registered national committees of the Blue Shield across the world. It should be used to raise the visibility of the name and logo of the Blue Shield organisation by linking its name and organisation to activities of those it works with.