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Indonesia contributes US$400,000 to UNESCO
The Indonesian government has contributed US$400,000 to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for a cooperation project between Indonesia and Afghanistan, an official said on Wednesday
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he Indonesian government has contributed US$400,000 to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for a cooperation project between Indonesia and Afghanistan, an official said on Wednesday.
The UNESCO Kabul office head of culture unit, Masanori Nagaoka, said that the funds would be used to finance capacity-building training for the staff of museums and world heritage sites in Indonesia and Afghanistan, the two Muslim countries that hold a Buddhist heritage.
'We decided to promote this inter-cultural and inter-religious dialog between the two countries where world heritage sites exist. Museums are important entities for raising this awareness,' Nagaoka said, referring to Buddhist heritage of the Borobudur and Prambanan temples in Central Java and statue of Buddha in Bamiyan and several other artefacts in Afghanistan.
'UNESCO was invited to assist two countries to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Then we decided to assist the two countries in improving museum management for world heritage sites,' he said.
Nagaoka said that the cooperation was initiated during a meeting between then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai four years ago that had been followed up by a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the education and culture ministers of both countries a year later.
UNESCO would facilitate training for 20 museum staff from Indonesia and 20 from Afghanistan in August and to subsequently select five staff from each country for advanced training in the Netherlands.
National Museum of Afghanistan director Omara Khan Massoudi said his country was repairing the heritage destroyed during civil wars.
'This training is an opportunity for the young staff of museums to gain expert training on the management and interpreting of our country's rich cultural heritage, especially at the world heritage sites,' he said.
Meanwhile, the director of PT Taman Candi Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko temples management, Laily Prihatiningtyas, said that the capacity-building training for museum staff was very significant for museum management.
'When people understand the meaning of monuments or museums, they will love the monument and can preserve them for future generations,' Laily said.(+++)
