Decision 31 COM 17

Reflection on the election of the members of the World Heritage Committee

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-07/31.COM/17,
2. Recalling the Resolution adopted by the 15th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention asking the Secretariat to initiate a process until the General Assembly in 2007 to discuss possible alternatives to the present election system;
3. Recalling Decision 30 COM 18B, adopted at its 30th session (Vilnius, 2006);
4. Taking note that only 19 out of 183 States Parties commented on Document WHC-06/30.COM/18B;
5. Reaffirming the necessity to secure a more equitable representation of the different regions and cultures of the world, as well as a fair rotation in the membership of the Committee;
6. Recalling nevertheless the need to maintain professional expertise in the field of cultural and natural heritage amongst its members in accordance with Article 9.3 of the World Heritage Convention;
7. Highlighting the necessity to consider a less time-consuming and less complicated voting system to better focus on other important issues in the proceedings of the General Assembly;
8. Respecting the request by many States Parties for additional time to allow a further reflection;
9. Requests the Secretariat to include the views expressed by the Committee at its 31st session in the report to be submitted to the 16th session of the General Assembly of States Parties;
10. Taking into account the tenour of the debate and the resolutions taken by the 16th session of the General Assembly on this issue decides, if appropriate, to discuss the creation of an open-ended Consultative Body on this subject at its 8th extraordinary session in October 2007 with a view to presenting a report at the 32nd session of the Committee in 2008;
11. Encourages the Director-General to equip one of the UNESCO Headquarters meeting rooms with a more flexible electronic balloting system, allowing the selection of several candidates at once.