ANDERSON: And your parting shots tonight, we look at an incredibly ambitious project by UNESCO designed to rebuild Iraq second- largest city after many of its landmarks often dating back centuries were destroyed by ISIS. Look at this.</s>ANDERSON: Over 800 years of history reduced to rubble. This is what remains of Mosul's grand al-Nouri Mosque. Built by one of the great military commanders in Islamic history. But today, a shadow of its former self. After being destroyed by ISIS in the summer of 2017. It was the very spot where its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi first declared the creation of a Caliphate in 2014. A dream that ironically ended just months after the group blew up the mosque, an act UNESCO has described as a crime. But now, the United Nations cultural agency wants to use the reconstruction of Iraq's second largest city as a way to restore its own credibility which took a hit after the U.S. and Israel left the agency in 2017, accusing it of anti-Israel bias. Partnering with Iraq's government, UNESCO wants to rebuild the city's landmarks which according to estimates will require at least $2 billion in aid. The biggest projects being the restoration of the Grand Mosque itself. The UAE has pledged $50 million to the five-year project which the country's culture minister Noura al-Kaabi hopes will nurture values, of tolerance, of peace, and of hope.</s>ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching wherever you are in the world.
Reviving The Spirit Of Mosul.