Heritage Heroes: An Unprecedented collaboration to Safeguard Lebanon's Heritage

A tailor-made training course on protecting cultural heritage was delivered at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Tyre between July and September 2023.The course, which was delivered by the Lebanese NGO Biladi and endorsed by Cultural Emergency Response, consisted of 12 days of training, including field visits to museums and sites that had been reconstructed after being damaged in war.

This initiative is a result of long-term cooperation between UNESCO and UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese Armed Forces, the Lebanese Civil Defence and the Red Cross were also involved. This was the first time that these bodies had collaborated with archaeologists and the local community to better understand how to work together to protect heritage during emergencies. 

One month after they completed the course, the participants were unexpectedly asked to put the knowledge and skills they learned on the course into practice when they were called upon to evacuate a number of objects to the National Museum in Beirut. 

“Being trained with army officers helped us to evacuate the objects successfully, using best practices in heritage preservation”, says Ali Badawi, head of the archaeological sites in southern Lebanon. 

“This training helped me to understand and take pride in my heritage”, says Mariam Balhas, a Red Cross first-aider in Tyre. “I now know that I can play a role in preserving it, a consideration that never crossed my mind before.