The International Committee for the Salvation of the Cultural Heritage of Afghanistan (ICSCHA) is a non-profit, non-governmental, independent organisation initiated in 1992 by Afghan scholar and archaeologist Dr Chaibai Mustamundi, former Director General of the Afghan Institute of Archaeology and Preservation of Historical Monuments and President of the UNESCO International Centre for Khushan Studies, at the conclusion of the Gandharan Art Conference in Cambridge, UK. Its primary aim was to form a support team to safeguard the ancient treasures of Afghanistan from further looting. After the death of Dr Mustamundi, the Committee was reorganised in 1993 under the leadership of his wife Dr Mehria Rafiq Mustamundi, with the institutional support of Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California. The Committee is committed to raising awareness about the richness of the cultural of Afghanistan, as well as the vulnerability of that nation's ancient artifacts. Since its inception it has been involved in various national and international initiatives aimed at preserving Afghan art from further destruction and looting. In 1999 it jointly sponsored an international symposium held at the Pacific Asia Museum focusing on the glory of archaeological past of Afghanistan as well as that nation's recent plunder. A resolution calling for the creation of an Afghan Art Advisory Council (AAAC) to bring together various agencies and political groups who have a stake in preserving Afghanistan's cultural heritage was adopted at the conclusion of the symposium.