Delegation from Represented by

People’s Republic of Bangladesh Leon High School

Position Paper for UNESCO

The topics before UNESCO are: Preserving World Heritage Sites During Conflict and Natural
Disasters and Protecting the World's Oceans. Bangladesh strives to implement new programs that
will collaboratively allow them to maintain their rich culture and economy.

I. Preserving World Heritage Sites During Conflict and Natural Disasters

UNESCO works with Member States to help protect their established world heritage sites, and
expects them to preserve them for future generations. Bangladesh had three world heritage sites,
the Sundarbans mangrove forest, the Mosque City of Bagerhat, and the Ruins of Buddhist
Vihara. These sites are threatened by poachers and woodcutters, who seek to make profit off of
the flora and fauna. Bangladesh implemented an Antique Preservation Act in 1986, which
outlined rules that protected antiques from Heritage Sites from suffering damage or plundering.
Article 24 of the Bangladesh constitution also calls the state to protect monuments and objects of
historical importance. Bangladesh created a national culture policy in 2006 that endorses the
safeguarding of the culture. An aspect of this policy is the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, which
helps preserve the art, books, and folk culture of Bangladesh. UNESCO adopted a treaty in 1972
that encourages the protection of world heritage sites among Member States. Bangladesh urges
Member States who have not yet signed to sign the Convention. Article 5 of the Convention
states the expectations of UNESCO, that each Member State protects their heritage sites with
legal actions, and nominate sites to be added to the world heritage site list.
Bangladesh participated in the Business Skills for Natural World Heritage Site Managers
program, which trains and directs representatives to develop plans to implement in their
countries. These plans help bolster the effectiveness of managers of the World Heritage Sites.
Bangladesh additionally plans to attend the International Council on Monuments and Sites that
will focus on issues including as the lack of programs that address natural disaster damage done
to cultural heritage sites. Bangladesh looks to anticipate the future by establishing a program that
would repair such damage.
The Sundarbans forest currently suffers from the byproducts of industrialization. UNESCO has
worked to fight the Bangladesh government from approving coal fired power plants, along with
many other large scale industrialization projects. These pleas have been bypassed. The
ramifications of these projects will be extremely detrimental to the world heritage sites, and will
increase air pollution and the risk of environmental disasters. Citizens have taken notice, and
fought back by forming peaceful protests, which have had limited effects. Bangladesh calls
Member States to provide backing for new amendments to current preservation laws that will
allow the world heritage sites to be more aptly protected.
Bangladesh also seeks to enforce a program that encourages cultural heritage, which is
supported by the Bangladesh High Commission. This program would encourage the preservation
of world heritage sites by bringing awareness to and emphasizing the history and culture of the
sites. Bangladesh is working to find funding for this program with the Global Challenges
Research Fund. This organization provides developing countries with funding that assist them in
conservation.

II. Protecting the World's Oceans

UNESCO expects its Member States to expand their research of the Oceans, and to partner
with each other to improve ocean sustainability. Bangladesh thrives on aquaculture, which has
experienced a rise in the past ten years1. The fishing industry will be ameliorated with a shift
towards a “blue economy” plan. A “blue economy” approach promotes sustainable marine
fishing, and prevents overfishing by reinforcing proper management of fisheries. Bangladesh
urges Member States to implement this approach with the aid of The World Bank Group, who
supports countries that strive to preserve their costal areas. Bangladesh additionally calls
Member States to join The Ocean and Climate Initiatives Alliance, a platform of UNESCO that
“address ocean and climate interlinkages and ensure the involvement of local communities”.
Increasing public awareness of the state of the oceans is a critical step in working towards
preservation and sustainable use of the ocean’s resources. The Ocean and Climate Initiatives
Alliance exemplifies Bangladesh’s goal of preserving its natural and diverse ocean habitats. The
Alliance has been working on Sustainable Developmental Goal 14, which in 2018, placed over
22 million kilometers of oceans under national jurisdiction, conserving key biodiverse areas.2
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, which 149 Member States,
including Bangladesh, belong to, continues to build the ladder needed to reach Developmental
Goal 14. This includes expanding scientific data analysis, as well as new programs in ocean
observation (addressed further below). Bangladesh encourages Member States to attend The
High Level Political Forum later this year. In 2017, Bangladesh took part in the Forum, and
developed a Perspective Plan to be resolved by 2021. This plan placed high priority on water
fisheries, and strives to develop closed water fisheries production, while cultivating fishermen
cooperatives. Bangladesh needs to address how to best implement Sustainable Development
Goals in the future, as well as how to encourage participation among the private sector.
Bangladesh collaboratively observes and assess Indian Ocean as part of IOGOOS, the Indian
Ocean region of The Global Ocean Observing System. This organization is sponsored by UN
Environment, and is run by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.
GOOS creates international observing systems for the world’s oceans, that allow countries to
then form developmental projects that resolve problems that the data uncovers. Bangladesh
encourages Member States not involved in GOOS to incorporate this system into their program.
It allows new research to be conducted that helps countries understand the problems being faced
by ocean pollution and misuse of resources.

1
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468550X16300260
2
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg14