Decision 31 COM 19

Presentation of the report on the management audit of the World Heritage Centre

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-07/31.COM/19B,
2. Recalling Decision 30 COM 6 and 30 COM 12 adopted at its 30th session (Vilnius, 2006);
3. Takes note of the recommendations presented in the Management Audit of the World Heritage Centre and the preliminary comments of the Director-General as well as the observations made by the Internal Oversight Service on the Audit;
4. Notes the assessment of the Audit which recognizes that the World Heritage Centre is a centre of excellence in its areas of competence and that the programme it implements is one of the most visible programmes of UNESCO;
5. Recalls that the main task of the World Heritage Centre is its role as Secretariat of the World Heritage Committee and to help implement the World Heritage Convention;
6. Notes the observations made by the Internal Oversight Service on the Audit, including the lack of precision of certain sets of data presented, the omission of the efficiency question in the use of resources, the insufficient mapping of the World Heritage Centre’s workload, and the lack of information on temporary, consultant and field office staff, which are important elements to clarify in order to determine whether the World Heritage Centre is appropriately resourced to carry out its responsibilities;
7. Notes that more detailed information is needed regarding the mapping of the Centre’s workload, its regional distribution and the consequences of the high proportion of personnel in temporary contracts;
8. Requests that more attention be paid to the development of a more long-term and stable workforce that reinforces the human capital of the World Heritage Centre;
9. Welcomes the Director-General’s proposal to consider the World Heritage Centre as a pilot exercise to build an analytical accounting system for UNESCO as a whole;
10. Welcomes the Director-General’s proposal to enable the World Heritage Centre, where appropriate, to use budgets from different sources in a complementary and efficient way to deliver the identified results;
11. Recommends strongly the Director-General, in recognition of the inter-sectoral character of the World Heritage Centre, which reflects its responsibilities for cultural and natural heritage sites, to reinstate its operational autonomy which at present does not sufficiently exist and further recommends the Director-General to take the measures necessary to ensure its operational autonomy;
12. Urges the Director of the World Heritage Centre to take action, on the basis of the Audit’s findings and the views expressed at the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee, to reinforce the effectiveness and efficiency of the World Heritage Centre, in a manner consistent with Paragraph 27 of the Operational Guidelines that requires close co-operation with other sectors and field offices of UNESCO, and further urges the Director of the World Heritage Centre to:
    1. improve the accounting and budgetary management and internal control mechanism,
    2. strengthen management process,
    3. clarify the organizational structure and personnel requirements within the World Heritage Centre, including a mapping of the workload and innovative proposals for the engagement of non permanent staff,
    4. delineate the respective roles of the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies,
    5. develop and implement a strategy for knowledge management and information sharing,
    6. prepare guidelines for carrying out World Heritage missions;
13. Invites the Director of the World Heritage Centre to present to the Sixteenth session of the General Assembly of the States Parties a results- based plan implementing paragraph 12;
14. Calls on the Director of the World Heritage Centre to present a progress report on the implementation of this decision to the Committee at its 32nd session in 2008.