World Heritage	7 EXT.COM	

Distribution limited	
WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/8
Paris, 25 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 8 of the Provisional Agenda: Proposals concerning the preparation of the Draft Programme and Budget 2006-2007 (Draft 33C/5) and 34C/4

SUMMARY

This document is provided as a basis for discussion and consultation with the World Heritage Committee on the preparation of the Draft 33 C/5 (Draft Programme and Budget 2006-2007). It reviews the current status of World Heritage within UNESCO and indicates areas the Committee may wish to address in considering the future direction of UNESCO’s World Heritage work.

Draft Decision 7 EXT.COM 8 : see point III

This document was prepared for the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee (as document WHC-04/28 COM/12). It is presented herewith with an updated information (changes are highlighted).

I.	 Introduction

1.	At its 26th session (Budapest 2002) the World Heritage Committee requested that the Director-General of UNESCO consult the World Heritage Committee on the preparation of the World Heritage content of future biennial Programme and Budget (C/5 documents) and Medium-Term Strategies (C/4 documents). This document, which draws on previous deliberations by the Committee, within the World Heritage Centre and its Advisory Bodies, as well as on Decision 3.7.3 by the Executive Board at its 169th session, is provided as a basis for discussion and consultation on the preparation of the Draft 33 C/5 (Draft Programme and Budget 2006-2007). 

2.	Both the 27th session of the World Heritage Committee and the 14th General Assembly of States Parties in 2003 adopted decisions requesting the Director-General to recommend that the General Conference of UNESCO should provide for an overall increase in the resources for the 1972 Convention.

3.	The 14th General Assembly of States Parties in 2003 requested that, “when preparing the draft document 33 C/5, the Director-General of UNESCO should explore additional resources for the activities of the World Heritage Centre from the Regular Budget of UNESCO, in consultation with the World Heritage Committee" (Resolution 14 GA 5). 

4.	Furthermore, the UNESCO Executive Board at its 169th session requested by Decision 3.7.3:

“the Director-General to consider allocating, in document 33 C/5, additional resources to the World Heritage Centre, in particular as regards the permanent staff, for the priorities identified by States Parties and the World Heritage Committee in regard to the implementation of the 1972 Convention, by examining whether the resources currently allocated to the Centre for its institutional tasks are adequate and taking into account the needs of the different regions…[and] to take full account of the views and requests expressed by the Member States at the 32nd session of the General Conference and at the XIV General Assembly of the States Parties to the 1972 Convention as well as of ...the 169th session of the Executive Board in order to ensure appropriate follow-up in the preparation of document 33 C/5.”
(169EX/Decision 3.7.3)

5.	This document begins with an overview of the status of World Heritage within UNESCO and the United Nations system and indicates some areas that the World Heritage Committee may wish to address, namely the medium- and long-term programmatic orientation for World Heritage activities and its relation to the proposed provisions in the programme and budget for 2006-2007 (33 C/5) as well as issues related to the mandate, the funding and staffing of the World Heritage Centre in relation to other activities being carried out by UNESCO in the field of cultural heritage. It also includes some points for discussion about the future direction of the World Heritage programme. The document concludes with a Draft Decision 7 EXT.COM 8 (see point III).

II.	World Heritage: A UNESCO Flagship Programme

	The strategic framework

6.	The 1972 Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage has proved to be one of the most successful and visible elements of UNESCO’s work. Membership of the Convention is now almost universal and UNESCO Member States have clearly indicated the promotion and implementation of the Convention as a strategic priority. This was recognised in UNESCO's Medium-Term Strategy for 2002-2007 (31C/4) which designated World Heritage as a UNESCO flagship programme and which includes strategic objectives for Culture and Science of key relevance to World Heritage, namely, objectives 5 to 9 which call for “improving human security by better management of the environment and social change, promoting the drafting and implementation of standard-setting instruments in the cultural field, safeguarding cultural diversity and encouraging dialogue among cultures and civilizations and enhancing the linkages between culture and development through capacity-building and sharing of knowledge”.. Designation as a UNESCO flagship programme entails that a particular programme has a continuously successful track record, high visibility and impact as well as international recognition in UNESCO Member States.

	The operational framework
 
7.	Successive C/5 documents have translated the strategic objectives of the 31 C/4 into operational reality. The World Heritage Sub-programme IV.2.1 in UNESCO's Approved Programme and Budget for 2004-2005 (32C/5) (Promotion and implementation of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972) under Major Programme IV – Culture)  includes two Main Lines of Action - (1) Support to the World Heritage governing bodies and (2) Protecting the world’s cultural diversity and supporting the development process through the 1972 Convention. World Heritage is also part of the innovative intersectoral Main Line of Action in document 32 C/5 to be implemented jointly by the Science and Culture sectors - Enhancing the linkages between cultural and biological diversity as a key basis for sustainable development 

8.	The World Heritage Sub-programme itself derives its structure and focus from the four Strategic Objectives (“4C’s”) adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 26th session in Budapest in 2002: Credibility, Conservation, Capacity-Building and Communication, which are to be implemented, inter-alia, through the development of a series of regional, thematic and action Programmes which form part of the Global Strategy for :

a)	a more representative, balanced and credible World Heritage List,

b)	Periodic Reporting,

c)	the Global Training Strategy and

d)	International Assistance as adopted by the Committee.

The development of partnerships with interested organizations able to provide additional resources and technical skills has been identified as a principal means of achieving the work. 

9.	In recent years World Heritage has become increasingly visible largely as a result of the almost universal membership of the World Heritage Convention, the growth of the World Heritage List, the focus on international co-operation and partnership and the prominence of a number of high profile nomination cases. At current rates of growth, it is likely that the World Heritage List will include something approaching 1000 properties in the next ten years. How should UNESCO's World Heritage work evolve to manage the issues that derive from a World Heritage List of such dimensions, including: the search for a more credible, balanced and representative List; the urgent need for training and capacity building; and the threats to cultural and natural heritage and the attendant conservation requirements.  The Committee may also wish to consider how World Heritage can best contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that UN Member States have pledged to meet by 2015, with special emphasis on the attainment of MDG 1 and 7 “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger” and “Ensure environmental sustainability”.

10.	Some issues for discussion and proposals are set out below. The Committee may wish to comment on them or formulate proposals thereon that may be incorporated in the draft Decision 7 EXT.COM 8 contained in point III below.

	Mandate and organisational location

11.	Established in 1992 to enhance the effective implementation and promotion of the 1972 Convention, which promotes the identification and conservation of both cultural and natural heritage of outstanding universal value, the World Heritage Centre forms part of the Culture Sector of UNESCO, alongside a Division of Cultural Heritage, a Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, a Division of Arts and Cultural Enterprise and the Executive Office of the Assistant Director-General for Culture. 

12.	 In accordance with Article 14 of the Convention the primary function of the World Heritage Centre is to assist the World Heritage Committee, notably by organizing its statutory meetings, developing and proposing policy on its behalf and actively ensuring the implementation of activities in accordance with its Decisions in co-operation with the States Parties and the Advisory Bodies. It provides advice to States Parties on the preparation of Tentative Lists and nominations to the World Heritage List and assures their receipt, registration, archiving and transmission to ICOMOS and/or IUCN. It also co-ordinates studies and activities in support of the Global Strategy for a balanced, representative and credible World Heritage List. The Centre organizes International Assistance from the World Heritage Fund upon request, co-ordinates Periodic Reporting and the reporting on the state of conservation of World Heritage properties and the emergency action undertaken when a property is threatened, organizes technical seminars and workshops, updates the World Heritage List, database and web site, develops teaching materials to raise awareness among young people of the need for heritage preservation and promotes World Heritage and the Convention through dissemination of information to States Parties, the Advisory Bodies and the general public. The Centre also identifies and implements regional and thematic Programmes, and works to mobilize additional financial and technical resources to ensure the effective implementation of the Convention in partnership with other UN agencies, development banks, conservation non governmental organisations, research institutions and the corporate sector.

13.	An increasingly important element of the work of the World Heritage Centre is that of coordinating its work with that of other multilateral cultural and environmental agreements, UNESCO cultural heritage Conventions and Recommendations and natural heritage Programmes, to ensure greater complementarity and synergy. 

14.	One of the outcomes of the IUCN 5th World Parks Congress (Durban, South Africa, 8-17 September 2003), which designated World Heritage as a cross cutting theme, was a recognition that there is a need to go beyond mere coordination between Convention secretariats to work at local, regional, national and international levels to share information, avoid  duplication, and foster lessons learned, such as through the global programme on protected areas adopted by 7th Conference of Parties (COP7) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in February 2004. 

15.	The issue of enhancing cooperation within UNESCO has always been important in relation to the need to understand links between people and the environment and recognize both natural and cultural values. The 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and UNESCO's activities in the field of the promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue illustrate the growing interest the Member States of UNESCO attach to the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The World Heritage Committee will have to develop an answer to this new context and start discussions about the future cooperation between the safeguarding of tangible heritage of outstanding universal value and the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, and about the mechanisms guaranteeing efficient cooperation and coordination between existing and future UNESCO Conventions touching upon these domains. Special attention will have to be paid, in particular, to the conceptual approaches to the tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage underpinning its safeguarding in the implementation of the Operational Guidelines.

16.	In anticipation not only of the 33 C/5 but also of the 34 C/4, for which preparations will begin in the next two years, the Committee may wish to begin to reflect not only on the short- and medium-term orientation of World Heritage activities but to take a longer term view of the issues that should be addressed over a longer period, such as the next decade. The Committee may wish to invite the Director-General to take into account any recommendations thereon reached by the Committee in the preparations for the Programme and Budget for 2006-2007(33 C/5). For example, building on the emphasis within the 32 C/5 on the linkages between cultural diversity and biological diversity, it may be desirable to strengthen existing inter-sectoral work within UNESCO as well as with other cultural heritage Conventions, in particular the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Such an approach could also be applied to other relevant internal and external Programmes and Conventions on protected areas including the Man and Biosphere Programme and CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). This might best be achieved through joint work programmes by the relevant Secretariats of these Conventions and Programmes.

17.	Furthermore, and building on the current and emerging regional and thematic Programmes that have been developed to address the differing capacity building and conservation needs of the regions emerging from the Periodic Reports, a related strand of work could, as suggested in WHC-04/28 COM/10B, include the development of a risk preparedness strategy for World Heritage in collaboration with other relevant UNESCO sectors and regional offices, UN wide agencies and other organizations active in this area.

18.	The Committee may also wish to express itself on measures that may be desirable to consolidate the role of the World Heritage Centre as the co-ordinator for all UNESCO activities and communications on World Heritage and to enhance the visibility of World Heritage properties worldwide, including the development of a strategy to foster to heritage education and the development of pedagogical tools in this regard.

19.	The current strategic framework for World Heritage is grounded on strategic objectives, principles, and action programmes increasingly undertaken with a broad range of partners. The Committee may wish at a future session to review the implementation of this strategic framework with a view to streamlining it to enable greater clarity as to the expected results for World Heritage conservation to be reflected in future C5 documents, applying the results-based programming approach.

	Funding

20.	The 32 C/5 allocated US$2,108,900 for the World Heritage Sub-programme. In addition to the US$2,108,900 allocated through the regular budget, the World Heritage Centre also received a one-time contribution of US$1,000,000 from the contribution of the United States of America for the period 1 October – 31 December 2003. 

21.	The Committee may wish to note that there has been a substantial reduction in the income to the World Heritage Fund in 2004-2005, which has fallen from US$10,417,338 in 2002-2003 to US$7,248,070 in 2004-2005 representing a shortfall of US$3,169,268. This was due to reduced mandatory contributions arising from the return of the USA and the depletion of the reserves of the World Heritage Fund. 

22.	Thus, despite the increase in support from the Regular Budget and the additional US$1,000,000, the total amount available from the World Heritage Fund and Regular Budget combined in the 2004-2005 biennium is about US$ 1,130,000 less than in the previous biennium. However, the workload of the World Heritage Centre has increased and continues to do so, owing to a growth in the World Heritage List and associated conservation, capacity-building and communication activities. For example, the World Heritage List increased from 690 properties in the year 2000 to 788 in 2004; in the same period, the number of States Parties rose from 161 at the end of 2000 to 178 today. In the past year alone, the Centre has reviewed 50 draft nominations and an equal number of new nominations for inscription. Inscription on the List is not the end of the process, there are increasing numbers of reactive monitoring missions and state of conservation reports to prepare and, since 2000, the cycle of Periodic Reporting has demonstrated the urgent need for training and capacity building. Members of the Committee may wish to note that in addition to the human resources allocated to the World Heritage Centre by the Director-General, other parts of UNESCO, including the Division of Cultural Heritage, Science and Education sectors and the UNESCO Field Offices carry out activities in relation to World Heritage properties. 

23.	Several factors need to be addressed with regard to the overall financial situation. One of the issues pertains to arrears. In Decision 27 COM 11.3 the World Heritage Committee has already urged States Parties in arrears to pay their overdue contributions to the World Heritage Fund and encouraged the World Heritage Centre to further develop bilateral agreements with States Parties as well as partnerships with multilateral organizations, the private sector and other actors with a view to securing additional resources for the following priorities:

a)	Reinforcement of the staff of the World Heritage Centre,

b)	Emergency International Assistance,

c)	International Assistance to properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger,

d)	Other International Assistance to States Parties, with priority to Preparatory Assistance,

e)	Funds to ensure that the Advisory Bodies have sufficient resources to enable them fulfill their obligations under the Convention.

25.	Furthermore, the Committee may wish to consider the need for formulating a strategy for mobilizing extra budgetary resources together with medium-term targets so as to meet the priorities identified by the Committee, drawing on the World Heritage Fund and other extra budgetary sources, including the World Heritage Partnerships for Conservation Initiative (PACT)

Staffing

26.	The following tables show the evolution of staffing in the World Heritage Centre and, for comparative purposes that of the Cultural Heritage Division according to posts funded through the Regular Budget, Extra-budgetary sources and FITOCA. Associate experts and short term detachments are also shown.

Evolution Staffing CLT/WHC

C/5	DIR		WHC Units		Total			
30 C/5  2000/2001	2 P	2 G	10 P	8 G	12 P	10 G	)	
			5 Assoc		5 Assoc		) 28 posts	
			1 Detachmt		1 Detachmt		)	
								
31 C/5  2002/2003	2 P	2 G	13 P
3 EXB
1 Fitoca
11 Assoc
4 Detachmt	9 G
	15 P
3 EXB
1 Fitoca
11 Assoc
4 Detachmt	11 G	)
) 
) 45 posts
)
)	
								
32 C/5  2004/2005	2 P	2 G	13 P	11 G	15 P	13 G	)	
			3 EXB		3 EXB		)	
			1 Fitoca		1 Fitoca		) 40 posts	
			7 Assoc		7 Assoc		)	
			1 Detachmt		1 Detachmt		)	

Evolution Staffing CLT/CH

C/5	DIR	THS	ITH	INS	Total	
30C/5    2000/2001    	1 P       2 G	10 P      6 G
2 Fitoca	4 P        2 G	6 P          2 G
1 Assoc	21 P       12 G  )
2 Fitoca           )   36 posts
1 assoc             )
	
31 C/5    2002/2003	1 P       1 G	10 P      7 G
3 Fitoca
1 Assoc	5 P        3 G
3 Fitoca
2 Assoc	5 P          2 G
2 Assoc	21 P       13 G  )
6 Fitoca           )   45 posts
5 Assoc            )
	
32 C/5    2004/2005	1 P       1 G	11 P      5 G
2 Fitoca
2 Assoc	5 P        3 G
3 Fitoca
3 Assoc	4 P          2 G
1 Fitoca	21 P       11 G  )
6 Fitoca           )   43 posts
5 Assoc            )	

27.	The Committee may wish to examine the staffing situation of the Centre and reflect on the possibility of developing a medium- to long-term staffing policy that reflects the desirable staff profiles and levels of responsibility related to the administration of the Convention and managing relationships with States Parties as well as other Conventions.

III.	Draft Decision

Draft Decision : 7 EXT.COM 8

The World Heritage Committee,

1. 	Considering that the 1972 Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage has proved to be one of the most successful and visible programmes of UNESCO and is reflected in its designation as a UNESCO flagship programme in UNESCO's Medium-Term Strategy (2002-2007),

2.	Noting that the resources available to the World Heritage Centre from the Regular Budget have increased in the 32 C/5, complemented further by a one-time additional US$1,000,000 allocation from the contribution of the United States of America, while the resources provided by the World Heritage Fund have decreased by US$ 3,169,268 resulting in an overall reduction of resources available to the Centre; 

3.	Recalling that at its 26th session (Budapest 2002), the World Heritage Committee requested the Director-General of UNESCO consult it on the preparation of the World Heritage content of future biennial Programme and Budget (document C/5) and Medium-Term Strategies (document C/4),

4. 	Recalling the debates at the 14th General Assembly of States Parties to the 1972 World Heritage Convention, in particular Resolution 14 GA 5, and at the 169th session of the Executive Board, in particular 169EX/Decision 3.7.3, 

5.	Invites the Director-General to take account in his preliminary proposals for the 33 C/5 the request for strengthening the World Heritage Centre as expressed in 169EX/Decision 3.7.3 and to make appropriate provision in the elaboration of the 33 C/5 following the 171st session of the Executive Board ;

7.	Considers that the 33C/5 should also envisage greater intersectoral coordination between the 1972 Convention and the other UNESCO’s cultural heritage Conventions and Recommendations, notably the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, as well as with protected area programmes and Conventions within and outside UNESCO.

8.	Requests the World Heritage Centre to present a document to the 29th session of the Committee in 2005 as the basis for a discussion about the evaluation of the achievements made in pursuit of the Committee's strategic objectives, to be presented to the Committee at its 30th session, and the future strategic framework of World Heritage in the context of the preparation of the future UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy for 2007-2012.