World Heritage	7 EXT.COM	

Distribution limited	
WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/6
Paris, 21 October 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 6 of the Provisional Agenda: International Assistance Requests

SUMMARY

Background: The World Heritage Centre received 4 requests for International Assistance as of 1 October 2004 for examination in December 2004. Three of them  are at first for the Bureau's recommendation, the other one being for decision by the Committee.

Action by the Committee: The Committee is requested to examine the requests briefly listed in the present document; the detailed descriptions will be given in document WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/6.ADD and WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/BUR.1.

SECTION  I

PREPARATORY  ASSISTANCE

(for recommendation by the Bureau)

N° 	
Region	
State Party - Brief description of activity	Amount requested (US$)	Amount recommended for approval (US$)	

1	
Africa	South Africa – Preparation of a nomination file for Richtersveld mixed property.
The key objective of the project is to conduct a feasibility study to clarify to what extent the Richtersveld is of outstanding universal value and hence worthy of becoming a World Heritage Site
	
30,000	
30,000

2	
Arab States 	Sudan – Preparation of a nomination file for the Island of Meroe
The objective is to prepare the nomination file of the site “The Island of Meroe”, which is the region comprised between the Blue Nile, the White Nile and the Atbara River. Composed of three archaeological sites (all included in the Tentative List of Sudan) it constitutes the heartland of the Meroitic Kingdom: Meroe, Naga and Musawwarat.
	
30,000	
30,000	

Funds available as at 21 October 2004 for approval under 2004 budget: US$ 112

Total amount of requests submitted for approval by the Bureau: US$ 60,000

Comments of the Secretariat: inadequate funds available for approval under 2004 budget.

Funds available for approval under 2005 budget: US$ 208,000.

SECTION  II

TECHNICAL  COOPERATION
-
Cultural Properties

(for decision by the Committee)

N° 	
Region	
State Party - Brief description of activity	Amount requested (US$)	Amount recommended for approval (US$)	

3	
Asia	India – Improved Geographic Information System (GIS) for Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR).
The multidisciplinary GIS would facilitate processing, synergising, planning and systematically addressing conservation and sustainable development issues for DHR & its surroundings.
	
100,000	
100,000	

Funds available as at 21 October 2004 for approval under 2004 budget: US$ 1,848

Total amount of requests submitted for approval by the Committee: US$ 100,000

Comments of the Secretariat: inadequate funds available for approval under 2004 budget.

Furthermore,
- according to decision 28 COM 10A, four requests for technical cooperation will be submitted to the Chairperson on January 2005 for a total amount US$ 104,915, namely Uganda (US$ 14,915), Sudan (US$ 30,000), Bangladesh (US$ 40,000) and Morocco (US$ 20,000);
- only US$ 160,000 are available for cultural properties under technical cooperation assistance under the 2005 budget.

Therefore there will be also inadequate funds available for approval under 2005 budget.

SECTION  II bis

TECHNICAL  COOPERATION
-
Natural Properties

(for recommendation by the Bureau)

N° 	
Region	
State Party - Brief description of activity	Amount requested (US$)	Amount recommended for approval (US$)	

4	
Asia /
Europe	Mongolia / Russian Federation – Elaboration of a joint Mongolian - Russian Federation Site Management Plan for the Uvs Nuur Basin.
This project is designed to ensure adequate conservation of the Uvs Nuur natural heritage by strengthening cooperation between the Russian Federation and Mongolia through developing an effective joint management plan and its operational implementation.	
26,000	
26,000	

Funds available as at 21 October 2004 for approval under 2004 budget:
US$ 53,188

Total amount of requests submitted for approval by the Bureau: US$ 26,000

Comments of the Secretariat: Adequate funds for approval under 2004 budget.