Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State Ned Price recognizes 20 years of the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation

April 27, 2021

The U.S. Department of State Recognizes 20 Years of the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation

Today we celebrate 20 years of American leadership, cooperation, and support for the preservation of cultural heritage around the world through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. Since the fund launched on April 3rd, 2001, U.S. embassies have used this public diplomacy program to support disaster preparedness and response effort overseas, to spur economic development, to adapt to climate change, and promote American values, such as respect for cultural diversity. In the process, our embassies have provided educational and career development opportunities for American students and professionals from nearly all 50 states.

For example, in 2019, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Albania and damaged three ancient fortifications. With a grant of nearly $800,000, the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation is supporting the emergency stabilization of the structures, a conservation analysis for each fortification, and reconstruction of the damaged sections. In Bosnia and Herzegovina and other post-conflict countries, embassies have incorporated the fund into the recovery and reconciliation efforts. In Rwanda, our embassy used the program to help preserve the memory and evidence of lives lost in 1994. And in northern Iraq, our embassy has used the program to mitigate the effects of genocide by preserving cultural sites of terrorized communities.

Through more than 1,000 projects thus far, the Ambassadors Fund continues to incorporate cultural preservation and protection into American diplomacy. Read more from the April 5, 2021, press briefing at this link: https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-april-5-2021/

Find out more about AFCP's 20th Anniversary here: https://www.state.gov/dipnote-u-s-department-of-state-official-blog/celebrating-20-years-of-the-ambassadors-fund-for-cultural-preservation/