Decision 45 COM 7B.123

Aksum (Ethiopia) (C 15)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add.2,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7B.[3] adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
3. Expresses its deep concern over reports of violence against civilians, looting of cultural artefacts and goods, as well as damage to structures in the property;
4. Also notes with relief that the conflict was formally declared ended in November 2022;
5. Calls on all parties who were party to the conflict, as well as the international community, to ensure the safeguarding of the property, assist in the return of cultural artefacts and goods to the property and protect its archaeological and built attributes;
6. Requests again, in light of various accounts of reports on looting, destruction and damage in the Tigray region, that the State Party:
   1. Assesses in detail, and in close cooperation with the World Heritage Centre and the Secretariats of all relevant UNESCO Culture Conventions, the impact of the conflict on the cultural heritage of the region, and in particular on the conservation and management of the property,
   2. Ensures the safeguarding of the property through protective measures,
   3. Engages, where necessary, in undertaking an emergency response through targeted actions, including by creating a full inventory of cultural artefacts and goods of the property and their state of conservation;
7. Also requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the state of conservation of the property and identify measures needed to ensure the conservation management and protection of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, as soon as the security situation allows;
8. Calls for an increased mobilization of the international community to provide financial and technical support to the State Party, including through International Assistance, to implement the short- and medium-term measures to improve the state of conservation of the property;
9. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2024, a report on the state of conservation of the property, including - as requested in Decision 44 COM 7B.3 - a state of conservation and damage assessment of the archaeological and built attributes of the property, an assessment of the damage to or loss of cultural artefacts and goods at the property, an update on progress on the implementation of past requests and on the steps taken to implement the recommendations above mentioned, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session.