World Heritage	7 EXT.COM	

Distribution limited	
WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/4A
Paris, 9 November 2004
Original: English/French	

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL
ORGANIZATION

CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD
CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE

Seventh Extraordinary Session

Paris, UNESCO Headquarters, Room II
6 – 11 December 2004

Item 4A of the Provisional Agenda: Progress report on revised Operational Guidelines

SUMMARY

This document consists of a chronological background of the process of revision of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention and of a Summary table showing the major changes and additions introduced between the Operational Guidelines text of July 2002 and the revised text. 

I.	CHRONOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

1.	The first version of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention was unanimously adopted by the 1st session of the World Heritage Committee (Paris, France, 27 June - 1 July 1977). Since then, the Operational Guidelines have been revised approximately 12 times. 

2.	The most recent revision process began when, at its 22nd session (Kyoto, Japan, 30 November - 5 December 1998), the World Heritage Committee decided that the World Heritage Centre should work with the Advisory Bodies to develop new sections of the Operational Guidelines in order to produce a revised version.

3.	At its 23rd session (Marrakesh, Morocco, 29 November - 4 December 1999), the World Heritage Committee welcomed the invitation by the United Kingdom to host an international expert meeting in early 2000 to consolidate proposals to revise and reorganize the text of the Operational Guidelines.  The International Expert Meeting on the Revision of the Operational Guidelines was held from 10 to 14 April 2000 in Canterbury, United Kingdom.  The main objectives of the Expert Meeting were to:

a)	Identify and define the target audiences for the Operational Guidelines;

b)	Review previous proposals for revisions;

c)	Identify gaps, duplications and inconsistencies of the text;

d)	Recommend a new structure, content and format;

e)	Make recommendations on the future presentation of the Operational   	Guidelines to make them more user-friendly.

4.	At its 24th session, the World Heritage Committee (Cairns, Australia, 27 November - 2 December 2000) decided that the Operational Guidelines be restructured according to a new overall structure as proposed by the Final Report of the Expert Meeting (WHC-2000/CONF.204/INF.10).  The Committee also adopted the Recommendation of the special session of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee (Budapest, Hungary, October 2000), which agreed that the revision of the Operational Guidelines would require "teamwork on the part of the Secretariat, Advisory Bodies and representatives of States Parties" (WHC-2000/CONF.202/4 Rev.1).

In June 2001, the World Heritage Centre circulated the first draft of the revised Operational Guidelines by circular letter (CL/WHC.8/01) and 17 responses were received from States Parties and Advisory Bodies.  From 8 to 12 October 2001, a drafting group, composed of experts from States Parties, representatives of the World Heritage Centre, the Culture Sector of UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies met to consolidate the comments received into the 2nd draft of the revised Operational Guidelines. 

5.	The 2nd draft was submitted as Annex IV to document WHC-01/CONF.208/6 for discussion and decision at the 25th session of the World Heritage Committee (Helsinki, Finland, 11-16 December 2001).
The Committee congratulated the drafting group for the substantial progress made in revising the draft text and approved the organization of another meeting of the group to review the Annexes and the sections of the Operational Guidelines still requiring finalization.  The Committee also considered that the drafting group should only examine technical questions and should leave discussions on legal and policy issues to the Committee and requested the Centre to ask for comments on the 2nd draft, with circular letter dated 21 December 2001 (CL/WHC.16/01).

6.	From 18 to 22 March 2002, the drafting group met to review the 2nd draft, its Annexes and the 22 submissions received in response to the circular letter in order to finalize and submit a revised document for discussion and decision to the following session of the Committee.

7.	The 3rd draft of the revised Operational Guidelines (WHC-02/CONF.202/14B), its annexes and the report of the drafting group (WHC-02/CONF.202/14A) were submitted to the 26th session of the World Heritage Committee (Budapest, Hungary, 24 - 29 June 2002), which, due to the time constraints, decided to defer the discussion on the revision of the Operational Guidelines to its next session.

8.	At its 6th extraordinary session, the World Heritage Committee (Paris, France, 17 - 22 March 2003) examined the revised text for the first time in plenary session. It considered that, though the 3rd draft represented a substantial effort the revised text, further work was required, as set out in Decision 6 EXT.COM 5.1 and its Technical Annex, Decision 6 EXT.COM 7. The Committee also decided to maintain the following items from the July 2002 Operational Guidelines (Decision 6 EXT.COM 4.1): 

a)	Reactive monitoring;

b)	Development of a programme of corrective measures;

c)	Inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger; and

d)	Possible deletion from the World Heritage List.

The Committee requested the Centre to re-order the text "to ensure a logical and consistent presentation" of the above-mentioned procedures (Decision 6 EXT.COM 4.2).

9.	In this regard, the Centre and the Advisory Bodies prepared a draft (WHC-03/27.COM/10) that was presented to the 27th session of the World Heritage Committee (Paris, France, 30 June - 5 July 2003).  The Committee requested States Parties to provide final comments on the revised draft and further requested the Centre and the Advisory Bodies to review those comments and to integrate them into a final revised Operational Guidelines, verifying that they complied with previous decisions of the Committee, in particular those approved by the 6th extraordinary session. The Committee also requested the Chairperson of its 27th session to approve the final text of the revised Operational Guidelines on its behalf and decided that these would come into effect on 1 March 2004 (Decision 27 COM 10).

The Centre, after intensive working sessions with the Advisory Bodies (24-25 November 2003 and 8-9 January 2004), prepared a draft that was submitted to the Chairperson of the 27th session as requested by the Committee. Due to the fact that some of the provisions of the 6th extraordinary session had not entirely been reflected in the revised draft and that there was a need to further improve it, the deadline of 1 March 2004 set by Decision 27 COM 10 could not been met.

10.	At its 28th session, the World Heritage Committee (Suzhou, China, 28 June - 7 July 2004) decided that the Centre shall finalize and submit for the approval of the Chairperson of its 27th session the revised Operational Guidelines as adopted at its 6th extraordinary session, and also stated that they shall be applied, if finalized, from 1 November 2004, with appropriate transitional arrangements where necessary (Decision 28 COM 9.7).

Additional drafting work had also been necessary to include decisions made during the 28th session as requested by the Committee. The Centre, in close consultations with the Chairperson of the 27th session, the Rapporteur of the 6th session of the Committee and the Advisory Bodies, completed the final draft of the revised Operational Guidelines incorporating all previous decisions of the Committee.

II.	SUMMARY TABLE OF THE MAJOR CHANGES AND ADDITIONS

1.	The following table shows, section by section, the major changes and additions introduced between the July 2002 text and the revised text of the Operational Guidelines:

INTRODUCTION

•	Emphasis on the participatory role of all stakeholders in all aspects of the Convention's work
•	Detailed description of the roles and responsibilities of each of the partners (States Parties, General Assembly, Committee, Centre, Advisory Bodies)
•	Description of the Strategic Objectives and  "4 C's" (Credibility, 	Conservation, Capacity-building, Communication)

THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

•	Inclusion of the "Cairns-Suzhou Decision" (Decision 28 COM 13.1)
•	Description of the Global Strategy

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE NOMINATION OF PROPERTIES FOR INSCRIPTION ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

•	New provision on Tentative Lists, mandatory for both cultural and natural properties as of 2000, which should now be submitted preferably at least one year prior to the transmission of a nomination;
•	Clear distinction between Thematic Studies prepared by the Advisory Bodies, and Comparative Analyses, prepared by States Parties submitting nominations;
•	Merger of the cultural and natural criteria for the assessment of the Outstanding Universal Value into one single list of 10 criteria (cultural from (i) to (vi) and natural from (vii) to (x)); changes to the definitions of cultural criteria (v) and (vi) requested by the World Heritage Committee;
•	Condition of authenticity now defined by "attributes";
•	New definition of integrity with examples of use for natural properties;
•	Extension of the management and protection requirements to all nominated properties;
•	Improved definition of boundaries and buffer zones;
•	Inclusion in the main text of explanatory notes from the nomination format;
•	Encourage the States Parties to submit draft nominations by the deadline of 30 September to enable the Centre to evaluate the nomination file and, if necessary, to assist them to submit "complete" nominations by the deadline of 1 February;
•	Reordering of the nomination section following the recommendations of the 6th extraordinary session of the World Heritage Committee:

1.	Identification of the Property
2.	Description
3.	Justification for Inscription
4.	State of conservation
5.	Protection and Management
6.	Monitoring
7.	Documentation
8.	Contact Information
9.	Signature on behalf of the State Party(ies)

•	Definition of the requirements for a "complete" nomination
•	New elements in the nomination format:

1.	Description should include all component parts of the property being proposed for inscription
2.	Checklist for completeness of the nomination file
3.	"Image Inventory and Photograph authorization form" replaces former "Photograph authorization form"
4.	New paragraph for contact information

•	Improved definition of serial and transboundary properties

PROCESS FOR THE INSCRIPTION OF PROPERTIES ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

•	Clarification in the definitions of "referral" and "deferral" to distinguish between properties that may be brought back to the next Committee session (referred), and those requiring a second submission (deferred);
•	Clarification of the conditions under which nominations not inscribed by the Committee may be resubmitted for the Committee's examination;
•	Revised procedure for nominations to be processed on an emergency basis with requirement to show how immediate actions by the Committee are necessary for the survival of the property;
•	Clarification in the procedures for boundary extensions and name changes;
•	Timetable for nominations modified to include the new deadlines requested by the Committee.

PERIODIC REPORTING

•	Inclusion in the "Periodic Reporting" section of an introductory page from existing Periodic Reporting format

THE WORLD HERITAGE FUND

•	Reorganization of the International Assistance and World Heritage Fund sections to include the summary table and single application form

ENCOURAGING SUPPORT FOR THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION

•	Inclusion in the main text of the Annex on the Emblem

GENERAL

•	Reorganization of sections (see table below);
•	Greater use of web addresses.

2.	The following table represents the changes to the overall structure of the Operational Guidelines:

Existing Operational Guidelines (2002)
	
Revised Operational Guidelines (2004)

INTRODUCTION	
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

I.	INTRODUCTION
I.A	The Operational Guidelines
I.B	The Convention
I.C	Roles and responsibilities

I.	ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

A.	General Principles
B.	Indications to States Parties concerning nominations to the List
C.	Criteria for the inclusion of cultural properties in the World Heritage List
D.	Criteria for the inclusion of natural properties in the World Heritage List
E.	Procedure for the eventual deletion of properties from the World Heritage List
F.	Guidelines for the evaluation and examination of nominations 
G.	Format and content of nominations
H.	Procedure and timetable for the processing of nominations
	
II.	THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

II.A	Definition of World Heritage
II.B	A Representative, Balanced, and Credible World Heritage List

III.	REQUIREMENTS FOR THE NOMINATION OF PROPERTIES TO THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

III.A	Tentative Lists
III.B	Criteria for the assessment of Outstanding Universal Value
III.C	Conditions of authenticity and/or integrity
III.D	Requirements for protection and management
III.E	Preparation of nominations
III.F	Format and content of nominations
III.G	Requirements for the nomination of different types of properties and different methods for nomination

IV.	PROCESS FOR THE INSCRIPTION OF PROPERTIES ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST
	
IV.A	Introduction
IV.B	Evaluation of nominations by ICOMOS and IUCN
IV.C	Withdrawn nominations
IV.D	Decision of the World Heritage Committee
IV.E	Nominations to be processed on an emergency basis
IV.F	Modifications to the boundaries, criteria or name of an existing World Heritage property
IV.G	Timetable and procedures for the nomination, evaluation and inscription of properties on the World Heritage List

II.	REACTIVE MONITORING AND PERIODIC REPORTING

A.	Reactive Monitoring
B.	Periodic Reporting
C.	Format and Content of periodic reports

III.	ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LIST OF WORLD HERITAGE IN DANGER

A.	Guidelines for the inclusion of properties in the List of World Heritage in Danger
B.	Criteria for the inclusion of properties in the List of World Heritage in Danger
C.	Procedure for the inclusion of properties in the List of World Heritage in Danger	
V.	MONITORING THE STATE OF CONSERVATION OF WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES

V.A	Reactive Monitoring
V.B	The List of World Heritage in Danger
V.C	Procedure for the inclusion of properties in the List of World Heritage in Danger
V.D	Regular review of the state of conservation of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger
V.E	Procedure for the eventual deletion of properties from the World Heritage List

VI.	PERIODIC REPORTING

VI.A	Definition 
VI.B	Objectives 
VI.C	Procedure
VI.D	Format 
VI.E	Follow Up

IV.	INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE 

A.	Different forms of assistance available under the World Heritage Fund
	(i)	Preparatory assistance
	(ii)	Emergency assistance
	(iii)	Training 
	(iv)	Technical co‑operation
	(v)	Assistance for educational, information and promotional activities
B.	Deadlines for presentation of requests for international assistance for consideration by the Bureau and the Committee
C.	Order of priorities for the granting of international assistance
D.	Agreement to be concluded with States receiving international assistance
E.	Implementation of projects
F.	Conditions for the granting of  international assistance

V.	WORLD HERITAGE FUND
	
VII.	THE WORLD HERITAGE FUND
	
VII.A	Definition 
VII.B	Mobilization of other technical and financial resources and partnerships in support of the World Heritage Convention
VII.C	International Assistance
VII.D	Objectives
VII.E	Submission, evaluation and approval of requests 
VII.F	Evaluation and follow-up

VI.	BALANCE BETWEEN THE CULTURAL AND THE NATURAL HERITAGE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION 	126

		

VII.	OTHER MATTERS

A.	Use of the World Heritage Emblem and the name, symbol or depiction of World Heritage sites
B.	Rules of Procedure of the Committee	
C.	Meetings of the World Heritage Committee 
D.	Meetings of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee
E.	Participation of experts from developing countries 
F.	Publications of the World Heritage List
G.	Action at the national level to promote a greater awareness of the activities undertaken under the Convention
H.	Links with other Conventions and Recommendations 
	
VIII.	ENCOURAGING SUPPORT FOR THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION

VIII.A	Objectives
VIII.B	Awareness-raising and education
VIII.C	Capacity-building and research

IX.	WORLD HERITAGE EMBLEM

X.	INFORMATION SOURCES
X.A	Information archived by the World Heritage Centre
X.B	Specific information for World Heritage Committee members and other States Parties
X.C	Information available to the public

ANNEXES
1	Model for Presenting a Tentative List
2	World Heritage Emblem
3	Guidelines and Principles for the Use of the World Heritage Emblem	
ANNEXES
1	Model Instrument of Ratification/Acceptance and Accession
2	Tentative List submission format
3	Guidelines on the inscription of specific types of properties on the World Heritage List
4	Authenticity in relation to the World Heritage Convention
5	Integrity in relation to the World Heritage Convention
6	Format for the nomination of properties for inscription on the World Heritage List
7	Evaluation procedures of ICOMOS and IUCN
8	Format for the Periodic Reporting on the application of the World Heritage Convention 
9	Format for the submission of requests for International Assistance

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX