A workshop entitled: “Update on Crisis Response, Risk Mitigation and First Aid for Sudan’s Heritage” took place at the UNESCO headquarters in Cairo. Among the workshop’s organizers were the Emergency Response Committee – Cairo Office, the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan (NCAM), UNESCO, the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw and the Section Française de la Direction des Antiquités du Soudan (SFDAS).
The event focused on the risks to the Sudan’s cultural heritage during the ongoing armed conflict there. Attrocities in Sudan broke out on April 15th, 2023, so the workshop took place right after the first anniversary of the start of hostilities.
The workshop was divided into two parts. An open part was held on April 16th-17th 2024. During the two days of sessions, Sudanese specialists and invited scholars from other countries reported on the monitoring and safeguarding of Sudan’s cultural heritage undertaken since the beginning of the armed conflict. The closed part took place on April 18th 2024, at which time the action plan for the next six months was discussed.
See the agenda of the meeting (PDF).
The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, whose expeditions have worked in Sudan for more than 60 years, was represented by Dr. Mariusz Drzewiecki, who had conducted work in Soba, the medieval capital of the kingdom of Alwa, before the conflict began. The ruins of this metropolis are located in central Sudan, on the outskirts of Khartoum i.e. in the areas affected by hostilities from the very beginning of the conflict.
Dr. Dobrochna Zielińska of the UW Department of Archaeology, who is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Campaign for the Establishment of the Nubian Museum in Aswan and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo, also participated in the session.