09 August 2020
H.E Shaikha Mai Appeals to International Cultural Institutions to Save Old City of Sana’a World Heritage after it has been damaged by torrential rain.
H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC_WH), expressed her deep concern over the severe damage to the historic city of Sana'a due to the floods and heavy rainfall that the Yemeni capital witnessed the past few days.
H.E Excellency said: “It is very sad and heartbreaking to see another Arab city, so genuine and a historically symbolic icon, such as Sana’a, lose a part of its original historical features", calling on all those concerned with the global human heritage to take urgent action to save the Yemeni community in Sana’a, and its cultural and urban components.
H.E added that historical cities are considered the cornstone of heritage elements, which are unique and exceptional landmarks that reflect the historical heritage in the Arab world, pointing out that their preservation and safeguard is a common shared local and international responsibility.
Worth to mention that many historical buildings in the Old Sanaa City have collapsed in heavy rains which have been lashing Yemen's capital for weeks, causing many life causalities also. Indeed, tens of people have been killed, hundreds of homes damaged and destroyed, thousands of displaced families affected and agricultural fields inundated by floodwaters triggered by heavy rains in the past two weeks. The Yemeni heritage safeguard authority launched a distress call after parts of the historic Old Sanaa Wall and a number of old houses in the center of the capital were demolished and damaged partly.
