Conservation of Ancient Siva devale No 01 Within the World Heritage site of Polonnaruwa Ancient City

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/14,
2. Decides to approve the following International Assistance requests:
   1. “Conservation and management of Sudanese style mosques in northern Côte d’Ivoire” (Côte d’Ivoire) for an amount of US$ 85,058 under the Conservation and Management-Culture budget, replacing the “per diem” amounts of US$ 8,000 and US$ 5,000 (corresponding to the defrayment for the participants in the workshops) by the fixed amounts of US$ 1,800 and US$ 1,125 respectively,
   2. “Preparation of a Conservation Management Plan for the Asante Traditional Buildings of Ghana” (Ghana) for an amount of US$ 43,678 under the Conservation and Management-Culture budget, the US$ 1,700 foreseen for the DSA for the international experts being reallocated to cover the DSA of an additional seven cultural officers, under whose jurisdiction the Ashanti Traditional Buildings are located, and three conservators in the Upper West and Central regional offices of Ghana Museums and Monuments Board,
   3. “Training program about the preparation of site conservation plan” (Egypt) for an amount of US$ 56,504 under the Conservation and Management-Culture budget; the status of the national experts will be clarified prior to the establishment of the contract, since the World Heritage Fund cannot cover salaries of a government’s employees,
   4. “Condition assessment of shipwrecks within the Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site” (Marshall Islands) for an amount of US$ 70,000 under the Conservation and Management-Culture budget (i.e. without the amounts dedicated to diving equipment (US$ 3,000) and marine park fees (US$ 1,800)),
   5. “Conservation of Ancient Siva Devale No 01 within the World Heritage site of Polonnaruwa Ancient City” (Sri Lanka) for an amount of US$ 47,500 under the Conservation and Management assistance-Nature budget as authorized by Paragraph 240 of the Operational Guidelines,
   6. “Raising awareness of the population of the Park to the seismic threats to the Department of the North and the installation of a system of conservation, maintenance of the monuments and a compilation of technical specifications for earthquake-resistant reinforcement of the vernacular architecture of the PNH CSSR” (Haiti) for an amount of US$ 33,325 under the Conservation and Management-Culture budget; at the time of the implementation of the activity, the use of International Assistance funds should focus primarily on the attributes of the Outstanding Universal Value, in close consultation between the State Party, the Secretariat (World Heritage Centre and the UNESCO Office in Port-au-Prince) and the Advisory Bodies;
3. Having noted the lack of funding under Preparatory Assistance and the amount left under the “Conservation and Management Assistance” category, authorizes the transfer of US$ 119,500 from the Conservation and Management Assistance budget to the Preparatory Assistance budget;
4. Welcomes the review of the International Assistance 2016-2021 focusing on Conservation and Management Assistance and Emergency Assistance and takes note of the outcomes and the benefits that International Assistance has brought to Africa, LDCs and to local communities, and the role it has played in furthering sustainable development in the context of World Heritage properties; and invites States Parties benefitting from International Assistance to submit full reports on the interventions and outcomes;
5. Encourages States Parties considering preparation of International Assistance requests to contact the World Heritage Centre for advice either on the topic and/or on the technicalities of their International Assistance requests well ahead the annual deadline of 31 October.