‘Cultural heritage is all around us’ | The Cultural Protection Fund

Cultural heritage is all around us. It lives in the places we build, the traditions we carry, the communities we celebrate, in the songs we sing, and the stories we pass on. Connecting us, defining us, and shaping our world. But today, that heritage is under threat from conflict, from climate change, and is at risk of being lost forever. When heritage is lost, we lose more than history. We lose identity, knowledge, and opportunity. That's why protecting it matters, and why global challenges demand collective global action. Since 2016, the Cultural Protection Fund has supported communities across the Middle East, North and East Africa, and South Asia to safeguard heritage. The overarching purpose for the project was to create vital resources for current and future generations. For the first time in history, people are going to read poems from Bajuni in Kibajuni. Has never happened. We are doing this because we realized that there was no digital record of the works that are in this library, some of them very old, some of them very precious. We're determining how to scan the actual collections and what to do with the files after. And the goal is to digitize all of the material that is the most at risk of damage because of climate change. We build skills, create jobs, and economic opportunities that strengthen the bonds holding communities together. The projects we support enable people to protect their own legacy in ways that are sustainable and built to last in a changing world. Because protecting cultural heritage is not only about saving the past, it's about shaping the future.