The General Assembly,
- Having examined Document WHC-13/19.GA/9,
- Recalling Decisions 35 COM 9A and 36 COM 9A adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th (UNESCO, 2011) and 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012) sessions respectively and Resolution 18 GA 8 of the 18th session of the General Assembly (UNESCO, 2011),
- Appreciates the work of the open-ended working group on the Implementation Plan for the recommendations of the External Auditor on the Global Strategy and the PACT Initiative carried out in 2012 and 2013 and endorses its recommendations;
- Notes the implementation of a number of recommendations as indicated in the updated implementation plan;
- Also notes that the World Heritage Committee, at its 37th session, decided not to implement recommendations 12 and 20 of the open-ended working group related to conflicts of interest and requests the Committee to reexamine these recommendations with a view to their implementation;
- Encourages States Parties, on a voluntary basis, not to submit nominations for inscription on the World Heritage List during their term on the World Heritage Committee;
- Urges the World Heritage Committee to continue implementing any pending requests in relation to its mandate;
- Welcomes Resolution 37 C/49 (item 6.4) adopted by the 37th session of the UNESCO General Conference on governance reform and invites the World Heritage Centre to launch a consultation process open for all States Parties as soon as possible, based on the self-assessment framework to be delivered by the External Auditor;
- Also encourages the continuation of the efforts to link the follow-up to the Implementation Plan for the recommendations of the External Auditor on the Global Strategy and the PACT Initiative with the implementation on the Strategic Action Plan for the World Heritage Convention;
- Also welcomes the harmonization of PACT with UNESCO’s partnership strategies;
- Also notes the adoption by the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee (Phnom Penh, 2013) of the PACT strategy to improve the development of partnerships for World Heritage with the private sector, their implementation and their evaluation through adequate tools and guidelines;
- Also requests the External Auditor to make a progress report on the implementation of the recommendations on the Global Strategy to be presented to the General Assembly at its 20th session in 2015.