“While the buildings were not badly damaged, 600 of the Museum’s collection of 1080 artefacts were missing,” the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a statement following a visit of its experts to Minya.

The mission, organized with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and local authorities, follows the 18 August statement of UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on the museum’s looting.

The destruction constitutes “irreversible damage to the history and identity of the Egyptian people,” Ms. Bokova said.

She had pledged to lend the Organization’s technical support and mobilize partner organizations of the 1970 Convention against Illicit Traffic of Cultural Heritage, including the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the World Customs Organization.

During the visit, from 11 to 16 September, the International Expert and UNESCO Consultant, Architect Pierre-André Lablaude, and a UNESCO expert also visited other cultural sites damaged during recent unrest, among them, the Evangelical Church in Minya, Amir Tadros Monastery in Fayoum and the Franciscan Sisters School in Beni Suef.

Some other significant churches could not be visited for security reasons.

Several other sites and museums were visited by the experts at the request of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and the Ministry of Culture, notably the belle époque Casdagli Villa in Cairo, which was found to be sound despite superficial damage in February 2013.

Egypt has been undergoing a democratic transition following the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak two years ago in the wake of mass protests. Renewed protests starting in July – in which dozens of people were killed and wounded – led to the Egyptian military deposing Mr. Morsy. The Constitution was then suspended and an interim government set up.

The Benaki Museum in Athens celebrates both the International Museum Day & 35 years of creativity. Thus, calls the visitors on a unique experience to the most sanctuary parts of the Museum. The celebration will last the whole weekend.

The renovated Acropolis Museum celebrates the Day by free admission to all. The doors open at 8:00 until late at night. The Museum will present various programmes both for children and adults. All the visitors will a acquaint for-free a commemorative medal. This year’s medal displays a fighting rooster; the impetuous and persistent rooster was the competitive prototype for athletes and fighters in ancient Athens. The Museum archaeologists will give 20-minute talks about the rooster both in Greek and in English. At 21:00 pm The Orchestra of the Center of Arts and Cultures of Dion will perform songs by great composers from the rich repertoire of traditional and Greek art music.

Musical performances will take place at the National and Archaeological Museum. The City of Athens Symphony Orchestra will perform while visitors can enjoy the mosaic exhibition of Daphni Angelidou.

Finally, the Byzantine and Christian Museum organises a guided tour to the permanent collections of the Museum. The Museum will conduct a series of educational activities, which are free for children on Sunday.

The National Museum aims to tell the story of South Sudan and its people. Therefore, as many people as possible will be consulted to provide their inputs and ideas on how this story should be told.

The experts, from the British group Metaphor, will give public lectures at universities, organize workshops with high school youth, hold meetings with government and parliament officials, and conduct field visits. There will also be social media platforms to engage young people and especially the large number of South Sudanese living abroad.

The absence of a traditional arts collection, combined with the unique historic context of South Sudan and the role that the National Museum is to play as a symbol of nationhood and democracy, requires the conceptual design of the National Museum to precede any planning of the construction and development of the institution.

South Sudan became the world’s newest country in July 2011 after decades of nearly continuous conflict. . Understanding and promoting the country’s rich diversity represents a key part of the solution as well as one of its main challenges. Culture lies at the basis of sustainable peace and development in South Sudan.

The young Government of South Sudan is working towards fostering a national identity that respects its diversity, which will be among the key requirements for sustaining peace and social stability.

Significant progress has been made in recent years, but South Sudan remains one of the most under-developed countries in the world and the government is facing one of the largest capacity gaps with over half of its civil servants having completed primary education. State-level institutions, capacities and relevant policies need to be built, including in r the culture sector, which has currently no institutions or policies in place.

South Sudan’s first National Museum will be created taking into account the country’s development challenges at all levels. It will be accessible to a population (73% of which is illiterate) and will feature an outreach programme that allows for the participation of even the most remote communities in the country. The building will take into account South Sudan’s energy restraints, and the need to use sustainable building technologies.

According to an UNESCO announcement, the potential of the first National Museum is an important -and neglected- resource in the construction of South Sudan; not only embodied in its intrinsic link with the culture and history of the country, but also in the institution’s potential contribution tto promoting education and life-long learning as well as a participatory and democratic society. A museum that tells stories and teaches history through objects, sound recordings, written texts and video images; a museum about South Sudan’s people, about the different cultures and communities, the customs and traditions, the refugees, returnees and diaspora, the young and the old, the women and the men; a museum about arts, crafts and cultural expressions

It is hoped that the National Museum of South Sudan will be a place where South Sudan’s people, their culture and their history are presented in an innovative and interactive manner. It will be a place for learning – about South Sudan, its culture and heritage, the struggle for independence, and the creation of a new state. It will provide an opportunity to move beyond an identity based on independence and conflict alone, by highlighting the rich heritage of its people. As such, the National Museum will need to be designed as an interactive educational institution, reflecting South Sudan’s rich cultural diversity.