Launched in 2016, DCMS’s flagship Cultural Protection Fund (CPF) is delivered in partnership with the British Council, who oversee programme delivery and development. The fund aims to help to create sustainable opportunities for economic and social development through building local capacity to foster, safeguard and promote cultural heritage, particularly in regions affected by conflict. It currently operates across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Since 2016, the Cultural Protection Fund has given grants of over £50 million to 159 projects to protect cultural heritage in 19 countries, but the need for our work has never been greater. Last year alone we received funding requests of almost 20 times the budget for our entire current programme.

Stephanie Grant, Director of the Cultural Protection Fund at the British Council (2024)

Recognising the urgent need to protect cultural heritage from climate change, in 2020 DCMS and the British Council launched a new climate programme as part of the CPF, the Disaster and Climate Change Mitigation funding round. Funds were awarded to 5 global heritage projects that respond to the risk of climate change to heritage in East Africa. The projects aimed to advance regional cultural protection by supporting knowledge exchange between experts and empowering local organisations with the skills to protect their cultural heritage.

In May 2024, the CPF announced funding of 22 new projects, across 10 countries, with a funding total of over £2 million. The projects will protect cultural heritage at risk from the effects of conflict and/or climate change. The funding will support projects across Syria, Iraq, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Uganda, Tanzania and for the first time, Pakistan and Nepal, with the latter 2 being new additions to the CPF’s country portfolio.

Read more about the fund

The ICHP Programme has an annual contingency to contribute directly to emergency support for at-risk/damaged cultural heritage during humanitarian crises. ForOver example, the last four years, The ICHP Programme contributedhas 2made sumsa (£200,000significant andcontribution £550,000)of £1,500,000 to the UNESCO cultural protection funds. These are the Heritage Emergency Funds, the UNESCO Fund overfor 2023the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and 2024Response activities for Gaza, the UNESCO Special Account for Post Crisis Situations to aidrespond to the crisis in Ukraine, the UNESCO Special Account for the Protection of Cultural Property in respondingthe toEvent emergencyof requestsArmed Conflict and the Fund for assistancethe Protection of Cultural Property in ODAthe eligibleEvent countries.of InArmed 2020,Conflict. UNESCO is responsible for the delivery of said emergency response projects.

In 2025, ICHP Programmepartnered alsowith contributedHistoric emergencyEngland to provide funding viaup theto Prince£800,000 Clausfor Funda four year project to enablefacilitate atraining first-responseand interventioneducational followingexchanges for cultural professionals for the explosionprotection, inpreservation Beirutand restoration of Ukrainian cultural heritage that has been endangered by Russian aggression. This project will be delivered in 2020.consultation with key Ukrainian stakeholders to ensure it aligns with the needs of the sector. 

Read more about the fundUK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership

In 2020, DCMS partnered with the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Global Challenges Fund to run a pilot urgency grants scheme. The groundbreaking scheme centred on projects exploring how developing countries respond to the challenges for cultural heritage resulting from environmental disasters and climate change.

Originating from a cohort of 9 projects, the programme has generated research outputs and policy impacts, through 30 partners, for communities across 12 ODA countries, including Nigeria, Tanzania, Yemen, Zimbabwe, India, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Brazil. A future expansive phase will create a global Research Observatory, coordinating cultural heritage voices in international climate discussions.

In 2024, the Cultural Heritage and Climate Programme funded five research projects to mitigate climate change and build capacity for climate action. The projects will examine cultural heritage and environmental policies in countries including:

• India
• Indonesia
• Jordan
• Brazil

This programme is continuing in 2025 and 2026 to fund new networks of UK institutions working with European partners, in-country partners in ODA countries, community practitioners, researchers, and policymakers for 12 months. These grants will help researchers and policymakers to explore opportunities to enhance cultural heritage and climate change engagement and policy development.

Read more about the programme

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Read more about the taskforce

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In September 2024, the ICHP launched a programme with UNODC to strengthen investigation and prosecution capacities against cultural heritage trafficking linked to conflict zones in the Middle East. This project will conclude in March 2026. The project serves to: 

• increase understanding and awareness among key Egyptian and Lebanese stakeholders to prevent and counter the dynamic of trafficking in cultural heritage linked to regional conflicts; 
• improve follow-up investigation and prosecution capacities when it comes to cultural heritage trafficking in Egypt and Lebanon; and 
• facilitate international cooperation in investigating and prosecuting cultural heritage trafficking with Egyptian and Lebanese stakeholders.

Read more on UNODC’s mandate on trafficking in cultural property.

In October 2024, the ICHP funded UNESCO to deliver two sub-regional civil military workshops to enable the national armed forces and civilian authorities of both the Sahel and South America to master the relevant international legal obligations, in particular those stipulated in the 1954 Hague Convention and its two Protocols (1954 and 1999), with regard to the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict. 

These lessons will be enriched by examples of military best practice applicable during the various phases of an emergency operation, with the aim that Armed Forces in the region establish permanent military units for the protection of cultural property as well as regular training organised by their Ministries of Defence.

Read more on UNESCO’s previous civil-military training in the Baltic region.