UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

TWELFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF STATES PARTIES TO THE
CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION
OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

Paris, UNESCO Headquarters, Room II
28-29 October 1999

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

• Considering that the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, referred to here under as the 1972 Convention, is a general framework for international co-operation,

• Underlining the importance of finding the correct balance between the various activities linked to the implementation of the Convention, in particular nominations of properties on the List, reporting on the state of conservation, training of specialists, and improving public awareness to safeguard the heritage of humankind,

• Noting that the representative nature of the World Heritage List has been the subject of numerous debates by the World Heritage Committee since 1979,

• Recognizing that since the adoption of the Global Strategy by the World Heritage Committee at its eighteenth session in December 1994 with a view to improving the representativity of the List, this objective has not been attained, despite the remarkable efforts of the Secretariat and States Parties concerned,

• Noting that at present two-thirds of the States Parties have fewer than three sites on the List and that their heritage of outstanding universal value is still under-represented or not represented,

1. Agrees to give its full support for the implementation of the Convention, in the States Parties whose heritage is still under-represented on the List,

2. Recognizes the interest of all the States Parties and the advisory bodies in preserving the authority of the 1972 Convention, by improving, through appropriate means, the representativity of the World Heritage List which must reflect the diversity of all cultures and ecosystems of all regions,

3. Endorses the objectives of the Global Strategy while reaffirming the sovereign rights of the States Parties and the sovereign role of the General Assembly,

4. Shares the will expressed by the World Heritage Committee at its twenty-second session in December 1998 "to move from recommendations to action" and to improve the representativity of the List, and therefore:

A. Invites all the States Parties to:

1. Give the highest priority to the "adoption of a general policy which aims to give the cultural and natural heritage a function in the life of the community and to integrate the protection of that heritage into comprehensive planning programmes", according to Article 5 of the 1972 Convention,

2. Take measures to redress the imbalance and improve the representativity of the World Heritage List, in order to reinforce the authority of the 1972 Convention,

3. Prepare or re-examine their tentative lists in the light of the methodology developed and regional and thematic definitions by focusing on categories of heritage which are still under-represented on the List,

4. Rigorously establish the outstanding universal value of properties when preparing the tentative lists,

5. Give priority to the submission of nominations resulting from regional consultations in the categories under- represented that highlight notably the interaction between human beings and their environment and human beings in society, expressing the diversity and richness of living or past cultures.

B. Invites the States Parties that already have a substantial number of sites inscribed on the World Heritage List to:

1. Apply paragraph 6 (vii) of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention:
   1. by spacing voluntarily their nominations according to conditions that they will define, and/or

   2. by proposing only properties falling into categories still under-represented, and/or

   3. by linking each of their nominations with a nomination presented by a State Party whose heritage is under-represented, or

   4. by deciding, on a voluntary basis, to suspend the presentation of new nominations, and

   to inform the Committee of the measures taken,

2. Initiate and encourage bilateral and multilateral co- operation with States Parties whose heritage is still under-represented in the List within the framework of the preparation of tentative lists, nominations and training programmes,

3. Give priority to the re-examination of their tentative lists within the framework of regional consultations and to the preparation of periodic reports.

C. Invites the States Parties whose heritage is still under-represented on the List to:

1. Give priority to the preparation of tentative lists and nominations,

2. Initiate and consolidate at regional level, partnerships based on the exchange of technical expertise,

3. Encourage bilateral and multilateral co-operation so as to increase their expertise and the technical capacities of institutions in charge of the protection, safeguard and management of their heritage,

4. Participate, as much as possible, in the meetings of the World Heritage Committee.

D. Invites the advisory bodies to:

1. Pursue their collaboration with the Secretariat for the preparation and co-ordination of regional consultations,

2. Pursue their programmes of thematic studies and the classification of the themes into sub-themes, on the basis of the tentative lists prepared by States Parties and the recommendations of the regional experts meetings,

3. Observe the greatest scientific rigour during the evaluation of the proposals for inscription, so that the decisions of the Committee can reflect more systematically the positive results of the implementation of the Global Strategy,

4. Develop mechanisms that would give experts of the regions under-represented on the List the necessary training to prepare and evaluate nominations and ensure the state of conservation of properties.

E. Invites the World Heritage Committee to:

1. Continue its actions undertaken within the framework of the Global Strategy,

2. Provide the necessary resources from the World Heritage Fund to support the efforts of the States Parties whose heritage is still under-represented on the List, in order to increase the number of their nominations,

3. Adopt a regional and multi-year Action Plan for the implementation of the Global Strategy, as a follow-up to the Action Plan adopted in 1999,

4. Evaluate the progress in the implementation of the Global Strategy Action Plan with the participation of all States Parties and define, should the need arise, adjustment measures to fulfil its objectives.

F. Invites the Secretariat of the Convention to:

1. Pursue its collaboration with the advisory bodies in the framework of regional consultations,

2. Support in particular the efforts of States Parties whose heritage is still under-represented on the List in the preparation of their tentative lists and nominations,

3. Ensure that the human resources allocated to the implementation of the Action Plan are consistent with it objectives,

4. Submit to the General Assembly a progress report on the implementation of the regional and multi-year Action Plan.

G. Invites the international community and more particularly the donor agencies to:

1. Support, in co-operation with the advisory bodies and the Secretariat, the protection of cultural and natural heritage and the implementation of the 1972 Convention,

2. Give priority to the actions directed towards the implementation of the Global Strategy, undertaken in States Parties whose heritage is still under-represented on the List.

The General Assembly invites all States Parties, the advisory bodies and the Secretariat to transmit this resolution to the concerned agencies.