Morocco successfully thwarted another attempt by Algeria to misappropriate the kingdom’s cultural heritage on Wednesday morning at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Backed by the Republic of Paraguay, Algeria sought to include an image of the traditional Moroccan caftan in a file related to Algerian attire. This prompted Morocco’s ambassador to UNESCO, Samir Addahr, to file an official protest.
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO accepted Morocco’s protest and ordered the removal of the image of the Moroccan caftan from the Algerian file.
The committee made this move after reviewing the strong evidence provided by the Moroccan delegation.
The Ministry of Culture in coordination with Morocco’s Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, gathered data on the Moroccan caftan, including details about the image in question and its proven Moroccan origin.
The UNESCO decision to reject the inclusion of the caftan image was based on a violation of intellectual property rights. The move further exposed Algeria’s repeated attempts to misappropriate Morocco’s cultural heritage, an issue that has surfaced multiple times in the past.
The Ministry of Culture has been proactive in combatting illegal appropriation efforts, working not only with UNESCO but also with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. In addition, the ministry has introduced the “Morocco” label as a national mechanism for protecting intangible cultural heritage.
Morocco is actively involved in the work of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage at UNESCO.