Resolution 2 GA 9-16

Elections to the World Heritage Committee

9. Twenty-one State Parties had presented their candidature for election to the World Heritage Committee : Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Idea, Cyprus, :Ethiopia, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, Senegal, Sudan, Switzerland, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zaire.

10. The Chairman explained to the General Assembly the procedure to be followed for the election of members of the Committee. As a result of the increase in the number of States having ratified or accepted the Convention, the number of members of the Committee would be increased from 15 to 21. It would therefore be necessary to elect, on the one hand, five members to replace the five members whose term of office was to expire at the end of the 20th session of the General Conference and, on the other hand, six new members whose term of office would be decided by drawing lots. The term of office of two of these States would terminate at the end of the 21st session of the General Conference, that of two other States at the end of the 22nd session of the General Conference, and that of the two remaining States at the end of the 23rd session of the General Conference. The choice by lot would be undertaken by the President of the General Conference, in conformity with Article 9, paragraph 2, of the Convention.

11. Some delegates referred to the terms of the Convention whereby “any State Party to the Convention which is in arrears with the payment of its compulsory or voluntary contribution for the current year and the calendar year immediately preceding it shall not be eligible as a membem of the World Heritage Committee”. In the light of this provision, the delegates of the Federal Republic of Germany and of Costa Rica withdrew their candidature. They explained to the Assembly that the delay in paying their contributions was due to budgetary reasons, but that their governments would take the necessary measures to make the payments very shortly.

12. Several delegates then broached the problem of geographical distribution, making reference to Article 8, paragraph 2, of the Convention, according to which "Election of members of the Committee shall ensure an equitable representation of the different regions and cultures of the world". One delegate proposed, in view of the practice followed in the elections to other bodies of Unesco, and given the distribution of the 40 States Parties to the Convention among the electoral groups set up for the purpose of elections to the Executive Board, that the 21 seats on the Committee be attributed as follows: 5 seats to Group I, 2 to Group II, 4 to Group III, 3 to Group IV and 7 to Group V. This proposal gave rise to a wide exchange of views on the principles which should govern the distribution of the seats. Some speakers suggested a different distribution among these same groups, or the formation of different groups, while others observed that the procedure could not be the same for elections involving the 145 Member States of Unesco as for the election of members to the Committee, since the Convention had, to date, only 40 States Parties. Many delegates stressed the need to remain flexible, since the number of States Parties was likely to increase, and it would be dangerous to establish rigid principles which would create a precedent for future elections.

13. Taking into account the wish of all those present to reach a balanced geographical distribution, and in order to allow the delegations time to arrive at an agreement, the Chairman proposed that the meeting be suspended. Since it had not been possible to reach an agreement, he suggested the delegates should proceed to vote by secret ballot, bearing in mind the moral obligation to achieve an equitable distribution. In order to help to clarify the situation, the delegate of Poland withdrew his country's candidature, in favour of that of Bulgaria.

14. Other questions concerning more specifically the voting procedure itself were raised and, in particular, as to whether the five States members whose term of office was due to expire at the end of the 20th session of the General Conference could be re-elected to the new Committee. The Deputy Assistant Director-General (Operational Activities) of the Sector of Culture and Communication replied that there was nothing in the Convention that was contrary thereto. One delegate, with the support of many other delegations, proposed that the Assembly should proceed to a single vote for the eleven members to be elected. The five candidates gaining the largest number of votes would be considered as elected in replacement of the five retiring members, and the six candidates with the next highest number of votes would be considered as elected to the six new seats, and their terms of office would consequently be determined by lot. This proposal was accepted by the Assembly.

15. The Chairman then appointed the delegates of Costa Rica and Egypt as tellers, and the General Assembly proceeded to the vote. The results of the vote, which the Chairman announced, were as follows:

Number of votes obtained by the States having obtained the required majority (18 votes):

 16. The five States having obtained the greatest number of votes were declared elected by the Chairman in replacement of the five States whose term of office was to expire at the end of the 20th session of the General Conference. The next six States mentioned above were declared elected by the Chairman as new members of the Committee, with terms of office to be determined by drawing As a result of the choice by lot undertaken by the President of the General Conference on 23 November 1978, the terms of office of the six new members were fixed as follows : Algeria and Sudan until the end of the 21st session of the General Conference, Bulgaria and Nepal until the end of the 22nd session of the General Conference, and Senegal and Switzerland until the end of the 23rd session.