The twenty-ninth General Conference of UNESCO, held in 1997, decided to activate Article 29 of the World Heritage Convention concerning the submission of Periodic Reports on the state of implementation of the World Heritage Convention (Section I) and the state of conservation of World Heritage properties (Section II). The periodic reports will also help focus the World Heritage Committee's as well as the State Party's future activities and funds, and strengthen sub-regional and regional co-operation between States Parties.
Within the framework of the Periodic Reporting exercise for Europe and North America, the World Heritage Centre is organising several meetings at sub-regional level to inform the States Parties on the procedures and formats for completion of their national reports. In cooperation with the ICTP Institute in Trieste, Italy, a workshop is being organised for the South Eastern European Region at the Institute's premises from 3 to 7 March 2004. Focal points from 10 European State Parties will attend this workshop, which will focus on the implementation of the Convention, the official format for completion of the reports and the electronic tool developed by the World Heritage Centre for filling in the report on-line.