Decision 44 COM 7B.4

Lower Valley of the Omo (Ethiopia) (C 17)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 41 COM 7B.68 and 42 COM 7B.44, adopted at its 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 39th (Bonn, 2015), 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 41st (Krakow, 2017) and 42nd (Manama, 2018) sessions respectively,
3. Welcomes the updated information on the Kuraz Sugar Development project (KSDP) submitted by the State Party and notes that substantial progress has not been made;
4. Notes that quantitative details have been provided on ancillary development near the property linked to the main project, but in order to assess their impacts on Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and requests the State Party to submit the full details together with the outcomes of the new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the updated Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA);
5. Regrets that that a draft proposal for boundary delineation that is being developed as part of the EU-funded projects has not been completed and submitted for review, as requested by the Committee, and urges the State Party to give priority to this crucial element that is needed to inform the Management Plan and the development of a buffer zone and to submit draft boundary proposals to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before any decisions are made;
6. Also notes that a new Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) has been commissioned and that its outcome was due in January 2020, and also requests the State Party to submit the report, together with the community consultation processes that have been followed, without further delay to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
7. Further requests the State Party to update and augment the HIA taking into account new ancillary developments and their impacts on OUV of the property and ICOMOS’ Technical Review of November 2017;
8. Further notes progress with the development of the EU-funded Management Plan and requests furthermore the State Party to finalize the Plan based on feedback received, obtain approval from relevant authorities and start implementation;
9. Also urges the State Party, in collaboration with the State Party of Kenya, to progress the development of a Strategic Impact Assessment (SEA) for assessing the potential impacts of the KSDP and its development activities on the Lake Turkana basin, as requested by the Committee since 2012;
10. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, an updated report by 1 December 2022, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session.