Skip Links
U.S. Department of State
Progress in the Middle East  |  Daily Press Briefing | What's NewU.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
SEARCHU.S. Department of State
Subject IndexBookmark and Share
U.S. Department of State
HomeHot Topics, press releases, publications, info for journalists, and morepassports, visas, hotline, business support, trade, and morecountry names, regions, embassies, and morestudy abroad, Fulbright, students, teachers, history, and moreforeign service, civil servants, interns, exammission, contact us, the Secretary, org chart, biographies, and more
Video
 You are in: Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs: Press Relations Office > Press Releases (Other) > 2007 > August 
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
August 16, 2007


U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation Awards for 2007 Support Cultural Preservation in 54 Countries

We are pleased to announce that the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ 2007 U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation awards will support 57 projects in 54 countries. Created by Congress in 2001, the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation assists less developed countries preserve museum collections, ancient and historic sites, and traditional forms of expression, helping to reinforce cultural identity and community solidarity.

The Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation provides an opportunity for U.S. Embassies to directly demonstrate America’s respect for the cultural heritage of host countries, and to play an active role in protecting those heritages. Since its inception, the Fund has awarded 436 preservation grants in 119 countries.

The 2007 projects include the conservation of museum collections, restoration of historic buildings, preservation of archaeological sites, and documentation of forms of traditional expression such as music, including:

  • Conservation of Pashto, Arabic, and Persian manuscripts dating back to the 16th century in the Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar, Pakistan;
  • Provision of tools for site management of the ancient city of Busra in Syria, the northern capital of the Nabataean Empire in the 2nd century BC, which contains evidence from the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods;
  • Restoration of the 18th-century Maria Magdalena Church, the oldest building in the province of Madriz, Nigaragua;
  • Conservation of over 200 Buddha statues in the Museum of Vietnamese History in Ho Chi Minh City;
  • Documentation of Romani culture and music that has been passed down through generations for six centuries in Romania; and
  • Preservation of artifacts at the Henriette Bathily Women’s Museum on Goree Island, Senegal.

The Cultural Heritage Center of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administers the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/afcp/). Through a range of cultural preservation activities, the Bureau promotes cooperation with other countries reducing the threat of pillage of irreplaceable cultural heritage, and developing educational initiatives and other long-term strategies for preserving cultural property.

2007/699


Released on August 16, 2007

  Back to top

U.S. Department of State
USA.govU.S. Department of StateUpdates  |  Frequent Questions  |  Contact Us  |  Email this Page  |  Subject Index  |  Search
The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.
About state.gov  |  Privacy Notice  |  FOIA  |  Copyright Information  |  Other U.S. Government Information

Published by the U.S. Department of State Website at http://www.state.gov maintained by the Bureau of Public Affairs.