Decision 44 COM 10B

Results of the Third Cycle of the Periodic Reporting exercise in Africa

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC/21/44COM/10B,
2. Recalling Decisions 41 COM 10A and 43 COM 10B adopted at its 41st (Krakow, 2017) and 43rd (Baku, 2019) sessions respectively;
3. Notes with satisfaction that all States Parties of the Africa region participated in the completion and submission of Section I (State Party level) and Section II (World Heritage property level) of the Periodic Reporting questionnaire;
4. Commends the authorities of South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya for hosting sub-regional workshops for the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting exercise;
5. Thanks the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), Regional Coordinator and Mentors, Advisory Bodies as well as the World Heritage Centre for their continuous support throughout the exercise; also thanks all national focal points and World Heritage site managers for their commitment and participation throughout the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting exercise despite the challenging situation of the COVID-19 pandemic;
6. Welcomes with satisfaction the Third Cycle Regional Report in the Africa region and encourages all States Parties to widely disseminate among all relevant stakeholders in the region, and takes note of the possible publication of the Third Periodic Report in the Africa region in the World Heritage paper series, if the financial situation permits and encourages States Parties to contribute financially for this purpose;
7. Endorses the Third Cycle Regional Action Plan and its five Strategic Objectives recommended by the States Parties following the Final Regional Workshop of February 2021;
8. Encourages States Parties to appropriate the Regional Action Plan into their national, sub-regional and regional heritage strategies and requests the World Heritage Centre in collaboration with Advisory Bodies, and other partners, to support States Parties in its implementation;
9. Further encourages the States Parties to initiate regular meetings at regional and/or sub-regional level to ensure continuous monitoring in the implementation of the Action Plan;
10. Thanks the Governments of China, Flanders (Belgium), France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sultanate of Oman and the European Union for their contributions towards supporting the implementation of the Third Cycle Action Plan in Africa;
11. Welcomes the commitment and support of the AWHF to assist the African States Parties in the implementation of the Action Plan and calls upon African States Parties to provide financial and human resource support to the AWHF;
12. Further requests the World Heritage Centre to monitor the implementation of the Regional Action Plan in view of preparing a mid-cycle assessment report;
13. Finally requests the World Heritage Centre to prepare a progress report on the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting for examination at its 46th session.