Parent Sector : Culture Sector (CLT)
Duty Station: Paris
Job Family: Culture
Type of contract : Non Staff
Duration of contract : From 1 to 6 months
Recruitment open to : External candidates
Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 10-JAN-2025
UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism
1. Background and Justification
In recent years, the escalation of conflicts, particularly in urban settings, has caused, and continues to cause devastating human suffering. In addition, these often protracted and complex conflicts have a wide-spread and profound impact on cultural heritage and cultural landscapes, causing damage and sometimes complete destruction. Moreover, we witness an increase in urban warfare, leaving many cultural sites – and by extension the debris and rubble that surround them – affected by explosive ordnance.
In many instances, the affected heritage is intimately tied to its respective urban fabric – rehabilitation or reconstruction of these assets, whether historic housing, including privately-owned, museums, religious buildings or other cultural property, cannot be conceived only at the site-level, but as part of the urban landscape and, more generally, as a core part of larger recovery, as has notably been outlined in the Culture in City Reconstruction and Recovery (CURE) framework[1] developed by the World Bank and UNESCO.
Beyond the planning for recovery, this also implies the need to ensure the appropriate consideration for cultural heritage in the operational aspects of emergency interventions and post-conflict recovery, such as debris management.
In Gaza, for example, in July 2024, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reports estimated that 42 million tons of debris have been generated by the ongoing conflict, translating to an average of 115 kg of debris for each 1 sqm, including large-scale contamination with explosive ordnance. At the same time, according to data available to UNESCO, the Gaza Strip counts 86 archaeological sites, 246 historic buildings and monuments, as well as 20 buildings with architectural, cultural and/or symbolic value. 236 of the 246 historic buildings constitute the remaining fabric of the old town of Gaza City, which has been heavily affected by the conflict.
These types of contexts call for the urgent adoption of a tailored approach to dealing with emergency and post-conflict rehabilitation of cultural sites, including its mainstreaming in other aspects of recovery operations, and notably debris management, in order to ensure that debris and rubble of historic or cultural value is adequately sorted, salvaged, evacuated and safeguarded for use in rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Yet, debris management at heritage or in close vicinity of cultural heritage sites in conflict and post-conflict settings requires a specialized approach due to the delicate balance between preserving cultural heritage, ensuring safety and security, and facilitating humanitarian assistance and early recovery activities. Standard debris removal methods can irreversibly damage fragile structural elements of the sites, potentially leading to irreversible loss. Thus, these operations must be conducted with certain tailored standards, using techniques that minimize harm to the site's integrity while effectively addressing safety concerns and property rights, involving collaboration with heritage conservation experts.
[1] https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/708271541534427317/pdf/131856-WP-REVISED-II-PUBLIC.pdf
2. Objective
The overall objective of these Guidelines is hence to advocate for and advise on heritage-sensitive debris removal and rubble management in conflict/post-conflict settings.
These guidelines should be addressed to the variety of stakeholders engaging in humanitarian assistance and early recovery activities, and in particular to debris management partners, with a view to protect cultural remains during their activities and thereby safeguarding them to contribute to recovery. They will be made available to relevant stakeholders, including through Debris Management Working Groups at UN Country Team levels, such as UNEP, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), which lead this sector at the UN level, Ministries responsible for culture, the environment, housing and public works or equivalent in a respective Member State, as well as municipalities and other local authorities.
3. Description of duties
Under the overall authority of the Assistant Director-General for Culture, the general supervision of the Director of Culture and Emergencies, the direct supervision of the Project Officer of the Emergency Operations and Programmes Unit, and in close coordination with the Editorial Committee of UNESCO, the consultant shall perform the following tasks:
a. Conduct desk research and interviews as considered necessary with relevant stakeholders to map existing methodologies and guidelines with regards to debris and rubble management in conflict and post-conflict settings. This includes exploring approaches to the triage/sorting, salvaging, evacuation and safeguarding of cultural heritage, with a view to identifying specific processes applicable to cultural heritage and to highlight gaps;
b. Develop and present to the Editorial Committee a methodological plan and outline of the guidelines;
c. Develop draft guidelines for heritage-sensitive debris removal and rubble management in conflict/post-conflict settings. The guidelines should: