PARIS, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Monday held an international meeting to incite efforts to rebuild cultural heritage in Iraq's Mosul, a former stronghold of the Islamic State (IS).

On the initiative of the "Revive the Spirit of Mosul", the international meeting is the first of its kind with an aim to not only rebuild the city's cultural heritage, but also rehabilitate its educational system and revitalize its cultural life, announced UNESCO on its website.

"We wish to concentrate our efforts on the human dimension of the city's reconstruction through the promotion of culture and education," said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO,

"Only by restoring the shared cultural heritage and revitalizing cultural and educational life will the people of Mosul be, once again, actors in the renewal of their country. That is the ambition of this unprecedented initiative," she added.

The meeting was also organized in collaboration with the Iraqi government.

Many experts and personalities, including the Iraqi Minister of Culture and the Director of the University of Mosul Library, shared their expertise on the history of the city and explained the current situation, according to the Paris-based UN body.