Decision 38 COM 7A.24

Timbuktu (Mali) (C 119rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7A.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7A.19, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013,)
3. Congratulates the State Party for having accomplished significant progress enabling the commencement of the reconstruction of the mausoleums on 14 March 2014;
4. Notes with satisfaction the preparation of a restoration and reconstruction strategy for damaged cultural heritage in northern Mali detailing the reconstruction method for the destroyed mausoleums, and appreciates the place accorded to the role of the communities, the responsible families and the corporation of masons in this process;
5. Warmly welcomes the reconstruction of the two mausoleums alongside the outer west wall of the Djingareyber Mosque (Sheik Babadjer and Amadou Fulani), as well as the daily documentation work undertake throughout this reconstruction so as to better understand the organization of the work, the working relations between the masons and the owner families and planning the reconstruction of the remaining mausoleums;
6. Recalls the importance of the work concerning the constitution of documentation provided for each of the mausoleums, taking into account the character and unique specificity of each of them, and encourages the State Party to accomplish the documentation work, begun in June 2013, as well as all the studies and diagnostics that are still required to define the different technical reconstruction solutions, and the physical state to which each of the mausoleums should be restored and to submit the results for examination;
7. Thanks all the countries and institutions that have contributed financially to the UNESCO and Mali Action Plan, adopted on 18 February 2013 in Paris, and more particularly Switzerland, the European Union, the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), Norway, The Netherlands, the Kingdom of Bahrain, African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), Croatia, Andorra and Mauritius;
8. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ ICOMOS/ICCROM mission to evaluate the general state of conservation of the property and progress achieved in the reconstruction of the mausoleums and the restoration of the mosques, and prepare all the corrective measures as well as a Desired State of Conservation for removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger;
9. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015, a report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and progress in the implementation of the above-mentioned points, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015;
10. Decides to continue the application of the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism of the property;
11. Decides to retain Timbuktu (Mali) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.