Financial assistance for the preservation of movable cultural heritage

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The Federal Act on the International Transfer of Cultural Property (CPTA, SR 444.1) and the related Ordinance (CPTO, SR 444.11) implement the 1970 and the 2001 UNESCO Conventions into national law. The granting of financial assistance for the preservation of the cultural heritage (art. 14 CPTA) is one of the numerous measures provided for in the CPTA to preserve movable cultural property as the cultural heritage of humanity and to protect it against theft, looting and destruction.

Applications for financial assistance to preserve cultural heritage in states that have ratified the UNESCO Convention of 1970 can be submitted in writing (via post or email) to the Specialised Body for the International Transfer of Cultural Property using the «Application Form Financial Assistance» .

Applications for the submission period of 2025 are to be submitted latest by 31 May 2025 and prior to executing the intended project. Further information is available in the document «Guidelines on financial assistance to the benefit of maintaining movable cultural heritage ».

For the current submission call, priority will be given to projects that:

concern States Parties to 1970 UNESCO Convention with which Switzerland has signed a bilateral agreement in accordance with Article 7 of the CPTA;
serve to preserve cultural property that is directly threatened by wars, conflicts or natural disasters (whether or not they are carried out in cooperation with international organisations);
are of great urgency, i.e. those which cannot be postponed without endangering the movable cultural heritage;
are in collaboration with institutions based in Switzerland (e.g. museums or universities)
have a sustainable impact involving the transfer of knowledge, training of local specialists and capacity building on the ground, or
concern cultural property from a colonial context¹: projects focusing on archaeological cultural property or projects with specific measures to combat the illegal trade of such cultural property.

_{1 The 2025-2028 Cultural Message foresees a focus on cultural property from a colonial context for financial assistance for the preservation of movable cultural property. https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/fga/2024/753/de}

Grants will be awarded in accordance with the above order of priority and the Guidelines of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) of 15 December 2015 on financial assistance to the benefit of maintaining movable cultural heritage.

For details on how to apply for financial assistance for the protection of movable Ukrainian cultural property, further information is available at the following address Financial assistance for maintaining movable Ukrainian cultural property.