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During the 13th session of the Committee of the 1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, held in UNESCO Paris headquarters, the committee members made a unanimous decision on granting the Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley an Enhanced Protection status, the foreign ministry informed.

Thus, Geghard Monastery and the Upper Azat Valley has become the first cultural property of Armenia that has been granted an enhanced protection status. The Geghard Monastery and the Upper Azat Valley have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2000, as a Cultural property for humanity.
“Enhanced protection” is a mechanism established by the 1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. It aims to ensure full and effective protection of specifically designated cultural property during international or non-international armed conflicts.

Cultural property under enhanced protection benefits from high level immunity which requires the parties to a conflict to refrain from making such property the object of attack or from any use of the property or its immediate surroundings to support military action. In case where individuals do not respect the enhanced protection granted to a cultural property, criminal sanctions have been laid down by the 1999 Second Protocol.

As of today, 17 cultural properties were inscribed on the List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection.