U.S. Ratifies UNESCO Convention to Protect Cultural Property in Time of War

The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was negotiated in 1954. On March 13, 2009 the instrument of ratification was presented to UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura. The U.S. signed the Convention soon after its creation, and on September 25, 2008, the Senate voted to give its advice and consent to ratification. It is only after the Senate gave it consent that the United States became a full party to the Convention. The United States thus joins 122 other nations as a party to this treaty.

United States diplomats Stephen Engelken (center) and T. Michael Peay (left), present the instrument of ratification to UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura.
© UNESCO/Michel Ravassard

Links of Interest

UNESCO Flash Info: The United States of America deposits its instrument of ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict


Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property In the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague Convention), 14 May 1954


U.S Department of State International Cultural Property Protection


Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation