France has committed $30m (£24m) towards protecting cultural heritage sites during wartime, the first step in the creation of an international fund aimed at preventing destruction like that carried out by Islamic State militants.

François Hollande announced the contribution during a conference jointly organised by France and the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Backers of the Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage conference hope to attract an initial $100m for the fund.

In coordination with Unesco, it aims to prevent or stop destruction of historical sites, fight trafficking of stolen artefacts and pay for the restoration of sites damaged by war.

The backers also seek to create a network of sites around the world where artefacts endangered by fighting or terrorism could be temporarily stored for safekeeping.

“What we have to do today, and what we have managed to do, is to ensure the future of what is precious to humanity,” the French president told dignitaries in the Emirati capital. “It is already late.”

Isis militants have deliberately stolen or destroyed cultural artefacts in areas they have seized, including the ancient Syrian town of Palmyra, and the Mosul museum, which was looted.

Just last month, Iraqi forces retook the 13th century BC Assyrian capital of Nimrud, south of Mosul, from the militant group. They found intricate reliefs smashed into pieces.

The conference was the centrepiece of Hollande’s two-day visit to the Emirates. He arrived on Friday, a day after surprising France by announcing he would not seek a second term as the Socialist candidate in next year’s presidential election.

France has built increasingly strong ties to the seven-state Emirates federation over the years. Cultural outreach is a key pillar of that effort, including the establishment of a satellite campus of Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi a decade ago.

Workers are still putting the finishing touches on a branch of the Louvre art museum, which will be the centrepiece of an ambitious cultural district on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island.

The project has faced repeated delays that have pushed its opening back by years, and it has attracted criticism from human rights campaigners over the treatment of migrant workers involved in its construction. It is now expected to open some time next year.

Hollande paid a visit to the Louvre site on Saturday morning before meeting French people living in the Emirates. He briefly addressed his decision not to seek re-election, saying he would continue to drive France forward “within the framework of its ideals and values” until he steps down in May.