In 1991, a painting by the Dutch master Pieter van Laer was lent by a museum in Brno, Czechoslovakia, to a museum in Cologne, Germany, for inclusion in an exhibition.

Data collection on various protection issues across the subregion has commenced, and a regional protection coordinator, seconded by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is in the process of being deployed to facilitate inter agency protection activities.