It is a network of committees of dedicated individuals across the world that is “committed to the protection of the world's cultural property, and is concerned with the protection of cultural and natural heritage, tangible and intangible, in the event of armed conflict, natural- or human-made disaster.” Blue Shield is a close partner organization with the UN, United Nations peacekeeping and UNESCO and in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

At the behest of the Netherlands,[7] UNESCO helped draft and sponsor the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the first widely ratified international treaty that focused exclusively on the protection of cultural property in armed conflict; it entered into force on 7 August 1956, obligating states parties to protect cultural property in both peacetime and war, including those located in combatant nations.

[11] In 2006, a conference Towards Solid Organisation: Infrastructure and Awareness was held at the Hague in the Netherlands, attended by the national committees and the ICBS.

During this time, he undertook a number of fact finding missions[14] to countries in conflict to learn more about the damage to their cultural heritage.

While in many wars the freedom of movement of the United Nations personnel is significantly restricted due to security concerns, Blue Shield is considered to be particularly suitable due to its structure enabling it to act flexibly and autonomously in particularly dangerous armed conflicts.

Joris Kila, art historian for Blue Shield and the "Competence Center for Cultural Heritage" at the University of Vienna, sums it up as follows: "Unesco and other institutions consider it too dangerous to inspect the places in Libya themselves, whether they are damaged or not.

We were in Ras-Almergib, a site right next to Leptis Magna, where a radar and air defense station of the Gaddafi troops was destroyed, less than 15 meters away from a Roman fort that remained intact.

"[15] In terms of cultural property protection, there is therefore intensive cooperation between Blue Shield, the United Nations and UNESCO.

"UNESCO and Blue Shield International share a common goal" and "We seek to protect cultural property, and, by extension, humanity's cultural legacy", said Bokova in October 2017 at a conference of Blue Shield International.

"[22] A special concern of Blue Shield International is the protection of cultural heritage during military peace operations.

40 lecturers and participants from America, Denmark, Lebanon, Italy, Croatia, Slovakia and Austria had the opportunity at the "Blue Helmet Forum 2019" to deal with the topic.

The Blue Shield is a network of committees of dedicated individuals across the world that is: committed to the protection of the world's cultural property, and is concerned with the protection of cultural and natural heritage, tangible and intangible, in the event of armed conflict, natural- or human-made disaster.

[31] With respect to cultural property protection (CPP) in the event of armed conflict and natural/human-made disasters, the Blue Shield works in the areas of: The Blue Shield realises these Areas of Activity in the following national and international contexts: The Blue Shield formally adopted the Four Tier Approach[32] to the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict at its 2017 General Assembly, describing the four times when heritage professionals aim to work with armed forces to protect cultural property.

Blue Shield International is committed to providing training in cultural property protection for members of armed forces around the world, and lists NATO amongst its partners.