World Heritage Centre

41 COM 5B Reports of the Advisory Bodies

wh-support@unesco.org — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 00:00:00 EST

The World Heritage Committee,

Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/5B,
Takes note with appreciation of the reports of the Advisory Bodies (ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN) on their activities;
Also takes note of the progress made as well as of the challenges and gaps identified by the Advisory Bodies in the framework of the implementation of the Convention, in particular the concerns surrounding sustained funding of evaluation and monitoring activities;
Congratulates the Advisory Bodies for their efforts to mobilize additional financial resources and encourages them to continue in their endeavour;
Requests ICOMOS and IUCN to continue to engage in appropriate dialogue and consultation with States Parties to further enhance overall transparency and decision-making in the Committee.

41 COM 9B Progress Report on the Reflection on Processes for Mixed Nominations

wh-support@unesco.org — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 00:00:00 EST

The World Heritage Committee,

Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/9B,
Recalling Decisions 38 COM 9B and 39 COM 9B adopted respectively at its 38th (Doha, 2014) and 39th (Bonn, 2015) sessions,
Welcomes the report of the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies on proposals to improve the preparation and evaluation of mixed World Heritage nominations;
Reiterates that due to the complexity of mixed site nominations and their evaluation, States Parties should ideally seek prior advice from IUCN and ICOMOS, if possible at least two years before a potential nomination is submitted, in compliance with Paragraph 122 of the Operational Guidelines;
Recognizes the progress made by the Advisory Bodies over the past two years and encourages them to continue their efforts towards setting up a harmonized evaluation process for mixed nominations to include as far as is feasible:
1. establishing a common approach for desk reviews,
2. undertaking a joint IUCN/ICOMOS panel to either address the whole evaluation or to complete the evaluations after the first IUCN and ICOMOS panels in December,
3. producing a single jointly agreed decision for mixed site evaluations;
Requests the Advisory Bodies to report back on the progress with regard to the above-mentioned paragraph to the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee in 2019;
Calls upon States Parties to consider providing support to this initiative that requires additional resources;
Invites States Parties hosting potential mixed properties to reinforce their culture/nature interfaces in view of consolidating and sustaining the values of the properies.

42 COM 12A Follow-up to Recommendations of Evaluations and Audits on Working Methods: outcomes of the ad-hoc working group

wh-support@unesco.org — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 00:00:00 EST

The World Heritage Committee,

Having examined document WHC/18/42.COM/12A,
Expresses its appreciation to the ad-hoc Working Group for its work and recommendations;
Takes note of the recommendations related to upstream, International Assistance and sustainability of the World Heritage Fund which have been included accordingly in the related Decisions (42 COM 9A, 42 COM 13 and 42 COM 14);
In relation to Recommendation n°3 of the IOS study, notes with concern the number of deviations of the decisions of the World Heritage Committee from the recommendations of the Advisory Bodies and considers that, in order to address them, it is necessary to review the nomination process, tentative lists and upstream process, bearing in mind the Global Strategy, and to consider other possible measures, such as a Code of conduct of the World Heritage Committee;
Decides to extend the mandate of the adhoc Working Group, to be composed of members of the Committee and up to two non-members per Electoral Group, to:
• Examine different possibilities of reforming the nomination process and propose recommendations in view of increasing the balance and credibility of the World Heritage List;
• Discuss the modalities for the possible use of advisory services of other entities with suitable experience and knowledge, in line with UNESCO’s rules and regulations, and in addition to the current three Advisory Bodies;
Noting that the ad-hoc Working Group identified the need for reform of the nomination and evaluation process, considers that this would benefit from further reflection from a representative panel of experts drawn from the ad-hoc Working Group, the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and other experts, to feed into the work of the ad-hoc Working Group;
Requests in this regard, the World Heritage Centre to organize, by March 2019, a reflection meeting to examine different possibilities for reforming the nomination and evaluation process and to propose recommendations for consideration by the World Heritage Committee in view of increasing the balance and credibility of the World Heritage List, as outlined in document WHC/18/42.COM/12A;
Calls upon interested States Parties to contribute extrabudgetary funds towards the organisation of the reflection meeting;
Requests the Secretariat to consult with States Parties and other relevant stakeholders of the Convention on the matters that should be addressed at the reflection meeting;
Further requests the ad-hoc Working Group to review the reflection meeting report and recommendations and to submit these together with the advice of the ad-hoc Working Group, to the 43rd session of the Committee with a view to revising the Operational Guidelines.