Cultural Emergency Response: First Activity of the Cultural Emergency Response for Baghdad University Library concluded

PRESS RELEASE
Date: 3 March 2004
For immediate release

The first activity of the Cultural Emergency Response (CER) of 25,000 Euro to help refurbish the Reading Room of the Central Library of the University of Baghdad, damaged during war in Iraq, has been concluded.

The Cultural Emergency Response (CER), a joint initiative of the Prince Claus Fund of the Netherlands and the International Committee of the Blue Shield, allocated the funds. The decision to help refurbish the reading room followed a report by Jean-Marie Arnoult, Inspecteur Génèral des Bibliothèques, in France, on the damage to archives and libraries caused by the war and the subsequent looting. M. Arnoult, an authority on archives and libraries in Iraq, took part in the second UNESCO mission last July and made a number of recommendations for action on his return.

The money from the CER has been used to buy tables, chairs and computer equipment. Mr. Wishyar Muhammed, Library Adviser with the Coalition Provisional Administration, identified the need for refurbishment of the reading room. He also facilitated the purchase of the furniture and equipment.

Mr. Muhammed said: "Following the collapse of the Saddam's regime in Iraq last April not only government offices and public buildings were looted and burned but universities, libraries and museums were not safe from such a barbarous act. Among them was the Central Library of the University of Baghdad. We were desperate and thought that the library would never reopen. However, it was only through the help of some good friends of the Iraqi people and human culture and civilization who showed interest in helping the library, that it become possible to refurbish it once more. Among them was the Cultural Emergency Response (CER) which made a generous donation of 25,000 Euros to be spent on the library's reading room. On behalf of myself, as a representative of this library and library adviser in the CPA in Baghdad and also on behalf of all the University's students, its staff and President of the University, I express my sincere gratitude and thanks to CER and the Dutch people."

Further information from:

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The Cultural Emergency Response (CER)
The Cultural Emergency Response (CER) is a joint initiative of the Prince Claus Fund and the International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS), established on 26 September 2003. The purpose of the CER is to provide limited emergency assistance in the event of damage to, or destruction of, cultural property arising from human action or natural disaster.

Prince Claus Fund
The Prince Claus Fund is a platform for intercultural exchange. It works jointly with individuals and organisations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, on the realisation of activities and publications reflecting a contemporary approach to the themes of culture and development. The Prince Claus Awards form a part of this policy.

Report by: Jean-Marie Arnoult
Assessment of Iraqi cultural heritage Libraries and Archives, June 27-July 6, 2003