The United Nations should be empowered to protect culturally valuable sites in war-torn, politically unstable and poverty-stricken areas by registering them as World Heritage sites at its own initiative, UNESCO goodwill envoy Ikuo Hirayama says.
The 70-year-old renowned painter said in a recent interview with Kyodo News that he will propose the measure at a meeting of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO on Wednesday in the wake of destruction of two giant Buddha statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban authorities.
The two towering, cliff-hewn Buddha statues in Bamyan, northwest of Kabul, were demolished last month following an edict by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar that labeled them offensive to Islam.