A/HRC/RES/58/4 Mindful of the adoption by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 17 October 2003 of the Charter on the Preservation of Digital Heritage, Recalling the Geneva Declaration of Principles, of 2003, adopted during the World Summit on the Information Society, in particular principle 54 in which it is stated that the preservation of cultural heritage is a crucial component of identity and self-understanding of individuals that links a community to its past, and that the Information Society should harness and preserve cultural heritage for the future by all appropriate methods, including digitization, Convinced that damage to the cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, of any people constitutes damage to the cultural heritage of humanity as a whole, Recognizing that the duty of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of cultural heritage belongs primarily to the State on whose territory it is situated, Acknowledging that cultural heritage can be instrumentalized as a trigger for and a target in conflicts and crises and can be the subject of disinformation or information manipulation, Noting that the destruction of or damage to cultural heritage may have a detrimental and irreversible impact on the enjoyment of cultural rights, in particular the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, including the ability to access and enjoy cultural heritage, Reaffirming that safeguarding the enjoyment of cultural rights may form a crucial part of the response to many current global challenges, among others the adverse effects of climate change and the scourge of terrorism, Reaffirming also that addressing the destruction of tangible and intangible cultural heritage needs to be holistic, encompassing all regions, contemplating both prevention and accountability, and focusing on acts by State and non-State actors in both conflict and nonconflict situations, and terrorist acts, Recognizing that violation or abuse of the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, including the ability to access and enjoy cultural heritage, may threaten stability, social cohesion and cultural identity, and constitutes an aggravating factor in conflict and a major obstacle to dialogue, peace and reconciliation, Recognizing also the fundamental role of education in ensuring access to and the enjoyment of cultural rights and cultural life, and recalling to this end the relevance of implementing target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all, Acknowledging the importance of intercultural and intracultural dialogue and of the promotion of cultural diversity in strengthening social cohesion and sustainable development to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the key role of women, Indigenous Peoples, people of African descent and persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in maintaining, controlling, protecting, developing and preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage, Acknowledging also the necessity to protect the cultural heritage of persons belonging to minorities from intentional destruction aimed at erasing evidence of their presence, as a key factor for the preservation of their identity, Strongly condemning all acts of unlawful destruction of cultural heritage, which are often committed during or in the aftermath of armed conflicts around the world, or as a result of terrorist attacks, Noting with deep concern the organized looting, smuggling and theft of and illicit trafficking in cultural property that could undermine the full enjoyment of cultural rights and are contrary to international law and may, in some instances, generate funds for the financing of terrorism, 2