In order to achieve the aim of poverty alleviation fixed by the Millennium Declaration of the United Nations(2000), UNESCO is actively involved in a large number of projects working towards the economic and social empowerment of residential populations The contexts of these projects vary from case to case. although they often share particular types of crises. These usually are the result of structural changes a national sub-regional and international levels which appeared in the contests of decolonisabon, the end of the cold war and the recent acceleration of globalisation In these contexts. important economic and demographic shifts observed almost everywhere in the world induced senous threats to the preservation and recreation of both tangible and intangible natural and cultural heritage resources These were amplified in many developing countries by situations of extreme poverty; situations in which short-term socal and economie sumval often took precedent over the protection of heritage resources(International organisation for Migration 2005 This section illustrates UNESCO's empowerment of residential involvement with projects which focus on the populations. economic