How Does it Work

HomePage | Convention| News

-
-

The World Heritage Convention

The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention) was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. To date, more than 170 countries have adhered to the Convention, making it one of the most universal international legal instruments for the protection of the cultural and natural heritage.

ORGANS OF THE CONVENTION

The following organs are directly involved in the implementation of the Convention:

The General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention
All countries which have ratified the Convention meeting every two years.

The World Heritage Committee
21 States Parties elected by the General Assembly for 6-year periods meeting annually

The Bureau of the World Heritage Committee
Seven members elected by the Committee to prepare its decisions.

Advisory Bodies
Three international non-governmental or intergovernmental organizationss named in the Convention to advise the Committee in its deliberations:

For natural properties: IUCN-The World Conservation Union
For cultural properties: The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
For cultural properties (restoration and training): The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM)

Secretariat
UNESCO provides the Convention's Secretariat. To this end, in 1992 the Director General of UNESCO established the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

PROCEDURES AND REPORTS

The following documents guide the deliberations of the Statutory Bodies established under the World Heritage Convention:

Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly of States Parties

Rules of Procedure of the World Heritage Committee (text)

Financial Regulations for the World Heritage Fund (text)

Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (text)

According to Article 29.3 of the Convention, the World Heritage Committee submits a report on its activities at each of the ordinary sessions of the General Conference of UNESCO. These reports are also brought to the attention of the General Assembly.

For all meetings of statutory bodies, the Centre prepares reports in the two official languages, English and French. These reports are contained in the secretariat's Documentation Unit and in the UNESCO Archives. Some of these reports are also being made available to this server's document repository.

(parent:) http://www.unesco.org/whc/how.htm
Update: 15 November 1997