I am publishing this entry on behalf of a group of classmates that have had the opportunity to travel to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, to attend and assist the third meeting of the State Parties to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. More information on this exciting trip is available here.
Paris here we come! We began our journey from Ashford International train station at 5:40. We reached Paris Gare du Nord station in France at 9:32 (French time).
The first session of the UNESCO Meeting on 18th May 2015. We attended as observers in the Third Meeting of the States Parties to the
UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The Parties adopted Operational Guidelines after 45 years since the adoption of the 1970 UNESCO Convention.
Marcus Dean, our special guest, who is an intern at UNESCO and a previous student of Kent University, took us to the amazing places in UNESCO and gave us the presentation on the protection of cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq.
Apart from learning about the protection of cultural heritage from UNESCO meeting, we also had fun at the stunning places of Paris like the Eiffel Tower.
The second day of the meeting (19th May 2015), we attended the discussions of the possible creation of a Fund for the 1970 Convention and the discussions on Operational Guidelines (in the Provision Agenda Point 11).
Now it is time to say goodbye Paris! Thank you Sophie and Kent Law School for the great opportunity. It was such an interesting meeting and unforgettable memory.