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Join on Telegram Rabat – Following the earthquake that struck Morocco last Friday, UNESCO issued a statement expressing solidarity with the victims and the Moroccan people as a whole.
The organization expressed its support for the Moroccan authorities and professionals who were mobilized to overcome this crisis, adding that they “stand ready to assist.”
On Saturday, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, sent her condolences to the families of the victims, expressing her “full support for the Moroccan people.”
“Morocco can count on UNESCO’s solidarity,” she stressed. “Within the framework of its mandate, our Organization will be able to support the Moroccan authorities as needs arise, whether it is a matter of surveying the damage in the fields of heritage and education, making buildings safe, or preparing for reconstruction.”
A team of experts visited Marrakech on Saturday, to make an initial assessment of the damage to the Medina, included on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1985.
The mission observed damage to a number of buildings including the minaret of the Kharbouch mosque, on Jemaa el-Fna Square, which has been almost completely destroyed.
The minaret of Koutoubia has major cracks. Several houses in the old Jewish quarter of the Mellah have collapsed and the ramparts of the old town have also been affected in many places.
In the province of Ouarzazate, Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, which has been part of the World Heritage List since 1987, has several cracked buildings, the UNESCO statement explains.
In the province of Al Haouz, the mosque at Tinmel – an important site in Morocco’s history and on the national Tentative World Heritage List – has been almost completely destroyed.
The disaster is also likely to have a significant impact on the creative economy, an area in which the country is particularly committed, as well as on the traditions and know-how that constitute its intangible heritage.
The statement adds that the damage done in the education sector is also a cause for concern.
The earthquake affected a particularly rural and isolated area, encompassing a school population of around one million pupils and a teaching staff of more than 42,000 professionals.
According to an initial assessment by the Moroccan authorities, at least seven teachers died in the disaster, and more than half a thousand schools and around fifty boarding schools were damaged.
In the provinces of Al Haouz, Chichaoua, and Taroudant, some forty municipalities have been forced to temporarily suspend classes.
Read Also: Second Earthquake Hits Morocco’s Marrakech
