UN Resolution on Protecting Religious Sites

The U.N. General Assembly has recently adopted a resolution titled – Promoting a culture of peace and tolerance to safeguard religious sites. The resolution calls for more efforts for protecting religious sites from acts of terrorism.

Key Points

• The resolution- Promoting a culture of peace and tolerance to safeguard religious sites also asks for a global conference to discuss the ways to protect religious sites.
• The resolution asks for implementing the United Nations Plan of Action for protecting and preserving religious Sites from terrorism and such acts.
• Religious sites represent the traditions, social fabric, and history of a place and community and this must be protected and respected.
• The increasing threat to cultural and historical sites has been highlighted in the resolution giving examples of when terrorists have targeted and destroyed such sites.
• The resolution has also pointed out the illicit trafficking of artifacts.
• The resolution calls all the state governments to safeguard these sites and also promote them as vulnerable targets.
• Each country should ensure that proper measures are in place to protect any site in case of any terrorist attack.

The resolution was proposed by Saudi Arabia and co-sponsored by Arab nations like Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Palestine, Sudan, and the UAE. The resolution has been supported by the European Union and the United States.