UNESCO named Naseer Shamma an 'Artist for Peace' at a ceremony held at the organisation's Paris headquarters in 2017.

In this role, Shamma supports UNESCO's activities on education for peace and the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Iraq and the wider Arab region. His designation has been renewed for a second (2020) and third (2022) term, and now runs through 2026.

The appointment ceremony was attended by the Iraqi delegation to UNESCO's International Coordination Conference on the Protection of Iraq's Heritage, together with Iraq's Ambassador to Paris, Ismail Shafiq Mohsen.