Thread by @AAzoulay

What an exciting first day in #Iraq. It was a great pleasure for me to walk the streets of Old #Baghdad, to see its monuments which testify to the rich history of Iraq and to have direct talks with the Baghdadis.

I especially wanted to go to #AlMutanabbi Street, famous in the Arab world to have long drawn bibliophiles. Its bookstores and its very dynamic life highlight the return of peace and prosperity to #Iraq through culture. #Baghdad

I spoke with the booksellers and we have the same conviction: culture has a central role for the future of #Iraq. It is an important factor of social cohesion, as well as it is a source of job creation and economic activity. #AlMutanabbi #Baghdad

Moving discussion with the owner of the Shabandar café, iconic place of #Baghdad's intellectual heritage, 16 years after the attack. Thanks to him and his family for their hospitality and their inspiring message of hope. #Iraq

Glad to visit the National Museum of #Iraq, victim of a major looting in 2003, whose reopening has been supported by @UNESCO. This museum has collections of great quality and diversity. It is a powerful signal that they are again accessible to Iraqis and visitors. #Baghdad

.@UNESCO helped by mobilizing its experts, providing IT equipment and supported the museum team make an exhaustive inventory of works of art. In 2023, our Organization will organize a new training course, dedicated to the fight against illicit trafficking.

.@UNESCO is also proud to have supported in 2021 and 2022 the return of more than 17,000 artifacts to #Iraq by the United States, including the famous Gilgamesh tablet.

I give a special thanks to the museum team and the Iraqi authorities for their commitment to saving and protecting Iraqi heritage, finding the stolen works of art and restoring them. In recognition of this exceptional work, I have decided to award them the @UNESCO medal. #Iraq

In #Mosul, I was honoured to lay the first stone at the reconstruction site of Al-Hadba minaret with the Minister of Culture of #Iraq and the Sunni Waqf. I thank the United Arab Emirates, main partner of @UNESCO to #ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul. 🇮🇶🇺🇳🇦🇪 #UAE

This was a deeply moving experience, one that I will long remember. This twelfth-century minaret was a landmark on the #Mosul skyline. #ReviveTheSpiritofMosul, what @UNESCO wants to do, also means giving this minaret its historic place in the city's landscape. #Iraq

We are building it back exactly the same, as requested by Moslawis. This is an immense technical challenge: due to its lean and due to its original materials – tens of thousands of hand-laid bricks & mortar – all on the original foundations. #ReviveTheSpiritofMosul #Mosul #Iraq

I visited the site to see, with my own eyes, the progress made on the projects led by @UNESCO, and to thank the Iraqi engineers and labourers who are doing such fantastic work every day.
#ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul
#Mosul #Iraq

We have achieved so much in recent years: demining, clearing rubble, collecting and restoring heritage elements found among the debris, consolidating building foundations. In 2023, we have entered the final phase of reconstruction. 
#ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul
#Mosul #Iraq

In addition to the Al-Hadba minaret, @UNESCO is reviving three other symbolic monuments in the Old City of #Mosul with the support of the #UAE: Al-Nouri Mosque, the Our Lady of the Hour Convent and Al-Tahera Church. #ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul #Iraq

To carry out this project, we have worked hand in hand with national and local authorities, with local NGO and with Moslawi residents, who they themselves decided how monuments would be rebuilt.
#ReviveTheSpiritofMosul 
#Mosul #Iraq

Like Al-Hadba Minaret, the bell tower of Our Lady of the Hour #Church is a landmark on the #Mosul skyline. After visiting the foundry to see the new bells removed from their mold, it was an honour for me to be in Mosul to ring them for the first time after 20 years of silence.

Our Lady of the Hour Convent has an incredible history. It was home to the first girls’ school, the first school for women teachers and the first printing press in Mesopotamia. Within its walls the first Arab version of the Bible was published.
#Mosul #ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul

Here again, we wanted to rebuild in line with the best international practices. For this reason, @UNESCO called on a family-owned foundry in Normandy, France, to cast the new bells – they also made the bells for @notredameparis.
#Mosul #Iraq #ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul

.@UNESCO is also rebuilding 124 heritage houses in the historic center of #Mosul with the strong support of the European Union. 43 of them are already completed and returned to their owners. By September, we will have finished rebuilding all the other.
#ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul #EU

What a pleasure to have handed over the key of a heritage house that @UNESCO has just rehabilitated to its owner, and to see the Moslawi families returning to live in the historic center of #Mosul.
#ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul

With this @UNESCO Initiative, we wanted to make the human dimension a priority. Thanks to the Muafaq Al-Hadidi family, who returned to their home a few months ago, for welcoming me for tea. I was touched by our discussion.
#Mosul #Iraq
#ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul

At the University of #Mosul, inspiring meeting with the students of the #cinema section created with the support of @UNESCO. #ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul also means supporting the new generation. #Iraq

Thanks to #Italy for supporting @UNESCO's actions in #Mosul. We signed a new agreement to provide the University central library with computer and book scanning equipment, and to train librarians. #ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul

I also wanted to go to the museum and the cafe of @bytnamosul. What a great mobilization for the revival of cultural life. I also met representatives of @Mosul_heritage, @MosulEye and the Book Forum. @UNESCO is honored to work with all these NGO to #ReviveTheSpiritOfMosul.

In #Erbil, to visit the Citadel listed in 2014 as a @UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our Organization is proud to support @Kurdistan in the protection of this emblematic monument.
#Iraq

.@UNESCO is leading a program that combines the restoration of historic buildings of the citadel and the creation of local jobs, including for minorities. #Erbil #Kurdistan #Iraq

Exciting discussion with women who have found employment through the local @UNESCO program. Thanks for your commitment to protect and promote this World Heritage Site! @Selar_Agha
#Erbil #Kurdistan #Iraq