UNESCO

Lithuania joined the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (hereinafter, UNESCO) in 1991. In 1992 was established the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO, in 1993 – the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Lithuania to UNESCO. Secretariat of the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO serves the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO and supports implementation of its decisions. 

More information on UNESCO activities: UNESCO World Heritage Centre 
UNESCO conventions and agreements: Conventions | UNESCO 
The Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO: Lietuvos nacionalinė UNESCO komisija | UNESCO and Lithuania 

UNESCO work in the field of cultural heritage

According to the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (hereinafter, the Convention) the properties included into the World Heritage List have outstanding universal value. This document is aimed at preserving these properties for future generations as part of tangible heritage that belongs to all the peoples of the world. 

Lithuanian tangible heritage objects in the World Heritage List:
Vilnius Historic Centre (1994)
Curonian Spit (2000)
Kernavė Archaeological Site (Cultural Reserve of Kernavė) (2004)
Struve Geodetic Arc (2005)
Modernist Kaunas: Architecture of Optimism, 1919-1939 (2023)

Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

On 2 November 2001, UNESCO adopted the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. The purpose of this convention is to protect the underwater cultural heritage in situ and not to allow its exploitation for commercial purposes. The Republic of Lithuania ratified this convention on 12 June 2006; the convention became effective on 2 January 2009.
The implementation of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage in Lithuania is coordinated by the Department. On the questions of the implementation of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, member states are advised by the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body (hereinafter, the Advisory Body). At the Advisory Body, in the period of 2009-2019 Lithuania was represented by Prof. Vladas Žulkus who was the first in Lithuania to start research in underwater archaeology. 
At the initiative of the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, on 30 November 2018 the Inter-institutional Cooperation Agreement for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage was signed in Vilnius, Lithuania. The signatories to the Agreement: The Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Lithuanian Armed Forces, the State Border Guard Service at the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, and Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration. The purpose of the Agreement is to cooperate effectively in the protection of the underwater cultural heritage located in the waters of the territory of Lithuania in the Baltic Sea, and in implementing the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage in Lithuania.