Ensuring the integrity and safety of cultural heritage during military conflict is a complex challenge that requires the joint efforts of various stakeholders. Here are some measures to protect cultural heritage: 1. **Identification and mapping of cultural resources**: Create accessible maps of cultural resources (such as historical sites, museums, and buildings) for military planners and operators. 2. **Military planning**: Integrate cultural heritage protection into military planning, taking into account the location of cultural resources in the conflict zone and the potential harm that may be caused to them. 3. **Expert advisors**: Provide cultural heritage experts to provide advice to military personnel to help identify and protect cultural resources. 4. **Training**: Provide cultural heritage protection training to military personnel, including education on the importance of cultural resources and how to minimize disturbance to them. 5. **Rules and protocols**: Establish clear rules and protocols that set out the procedures to be followed when conducting military operations near cultural resources, such as avoiding the use of strong explosive weapons in key cultural areas. 6. **International cooperation**: Promote international cooperation, including with UNESCO, other governmental and non-governmental organizations, to protect cultural heritage. 7. **Civil networks and community participation**: Involve local communities in the protection of cultural heritage and work with civil networks to prioritize and protect cultural resources. 8. **Protection of cultural resources**: Take measures to protect cultural resources, such as using temporary barriers or covers, to prevent damage. 9. **Emergency response to cultural heritage**: Develop emergency response plans for cultural heritage, including providing funding and experts for post-conflict protection efforts. 10. **Accountability and regulation**: Establish clear accountability and regulatory frameworks to prevent intentional or reckless actions, including potential trafficking of international cultural objects and exploitation of cultural resources. 11. **Safe distance from military operations**: Maintain safe distances between military operations and cultural resources to minimize interference with these resources. 12. **Protection of cultural objects**: Take measures to prevent the removal or looting of cultural objects, including providing training for operators and strengthening the security of cultural institutions. 13. **Documentation and recording**: Document cultural resources to make them easier to recover and repair after conflict. 14. **Post-conflict reconstruction**: Integrate cultural heritage protection into post-conflict reconstruction efforts, including the restoration and reopening of cultural institutions and historic sites. 15. **International law**: Comply with international law for the protection of cultural heritage, including the Hague Convention and the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property against the Effects of Armed Conflict. By taking these steps, states and militaries can help ensure that cultural heritage is protected during military conflict and preserve historical and cultural resources for future generations. **Important international agreements** * 1954 Hague Convention and its 1954 and 1999 Protocols* 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage* 1999 Regulations for the Protection of Cultural Property* International humanitarian law (e.g. the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols) **Key organizations** * UNESCO* International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) * Blue Shield International* International Council of Museums (ICOM) * International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)