Sub-Regional meeting on the Caribbean Action Plan for World Heritage 2014-2019
The Sub-Regional meeting on the Caribbean Action Plan for World Heritage 2014-2019 will take place in Havana (Cuba) from 26 to 28 November 2014, as a follow-up to the adoption by the World Heritage Committee of the Action Plan for World Heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean Region (Decision 38 COM 10B.4). This meeting is jointly organized by the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO Offices in Havana and Kingston, and in cooperation with UNESCO Office in Port au Prince, with the financial support of the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust at the World Heritage Centre.
The meeting will be attended by representatives of 22 Caribbean Member and Associated States, the 3 advisory bodies to the World Heritage Committee (ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM) and Caribbean universities, as well as UNESCO Offices in Havana, Kingston and Port-au-Prince, and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. In the framework of the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a representative of Pacific Heritage Hub, hosted by the University of the South Pacific, will participate in the meeting, which will also contribute to strengthening South-South cooperation.
The objectives of this meeting are:
- To develop and approve a Sub-regional Action Plan for the Caribbean (2014-2019), based on the Regional Action Plan for Latin America and the Caribbean, approved by States Parties in Brasilia in April 2014 and by the World Heritage Committee in Doha in June 2014;
- To discuss and approve the follow-up action to the second phase of the Caribbean Capacity Building Programme, as part of the Sub-regional Action Plan for the Caribbean 2014-2019 to strengthen professional capacities at the sub regional level for better implementing the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the of World Cultural and Natural Heritage;
- To enhance the cooperation with the Caribbean University Network.
Havana (Cuba)
Decisions (1)
The World Heritage Committee,
- Having examined document WHC-14/38.COM/10B,
- Recalling Decision 37COM 10A adopted at the 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
- Congratulates the States Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean region for their efforts to continue follow-up actions to the exercise of the second cycle of the Periodic Reporting exercise for Latin America and the Caribbean, and adopts the 2014-2024 regional Action Plan;
- Notes with appreciation the support of the Government of Brazil and the National Institute for Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) in organizing the regional meeting “Towards defining an Action Plan for World Heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean”, in close cooperation with the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO Office in Brasilia, the Advisory Bodies and the category 2 centres of the Region;
- EncouragesStates Parties and all other World Heritage partners and stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean to cooperate actively to ensure the implementation of the Action Plan, which reflects regional priorities to include, but not limited to, education and public awareness, disaster risk management, integrated heritage management, and sustainable tourism in World Heritage properties;
- Calls upon the States Parties from the Region to support the implementation of the 2014-2024 Action Plan and also encourages them to provide technical and financial resources at national level for its implementation;
- Further encourages States Parties to continue working, in close cooperation with the World Heritage Centre, Advisory Bodies and the Region’s category 2 centres, to develop sub-regional action plans, based on the Action Plan and taking into consideration and building upon the achievements of the previous plan with a focus on the specific needs of each sub-region;
- Acknowledges the progress made by the States Parties of Mexico and Brazil in effectively establishing the UNESCO category 2 centre for the World Heritage in Zacatecas, Mexico, as well as the UNESCO Lucio Costa category 2 centre of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and strongly encourages them to continue their efforts in cooperation with the World Heritage Centre, States Parties and Advisory Bodies to initiate a capacity-building programme for the management and conservation of World Heritage in the region;
- Also calls upon States Parties from other regions to support the efforts of the Latin American and the Caribbean Region in implementing the Action Plan, in the spirit of the international cooperation promoted by the World Heritage Convention;
- Reminds States Parties which have not already done so to submit their Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value by 1 February 2015 at the latest, as well as clarifications of boundaries by 1 December 2014 at the latest;
- Requests the World Heritage Centre to provide information on the progress made in the implementation of the regional Action Plan and sub-regional action plans at its 40th session in 2016.