3rd Roundtable of African Ministers on World Heritage in Africa

On the occasion of the 38th Session of the World Heritage Committee (Doha, Qatar), the World Heritage Centre and the African World Heritage Fund are organizing a Roundtable Discussion for African Ministers responsible for World Heritage with the Director General of UNESCO on 21 June.

This Roundtable Discussion will allow African Ministers to share their views on the accomplishments, challenges and concerns regarding the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in the Africa region. In particular, Ministers can express their views on the progress their countries have made towards the five objectives of the Action Plan for World Heritage in the Africa Region (2012-2017), which was developed following the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Africa Region, and aims to:

• Improve the representation of African heritage sites on the World Heritage List through the preparation of successful nomination dossiers;
• Improve the state of conservation at World Heritage properties, by effective risk management, increased community involvement and direct economic benefits to local communities;
• Effectively manage existing properties by recognising, documenting and formalising traditional management systems and fully incorporating them into existing management mechanisms;
• Develop and implement strategies to enable States Parties to effectively address the challenge of balancing heritage conservation and development needs;
• Establish, and implement, necessary mechanisms for heritage conservation, protection and management in pre-conflict, conflict and post-conflict situations.

A small exhibition outside of the auditorium will also provide an opportunity to showcase the African World Heritage Fund’s contribution to improving the conservation of World Heritage in Africa, as well as the progress made in Mali for the reconstruction of the damaged cultural heritage.

For more information on this event, please contact the Africa Unit of the World Heritage Centre (Ms. Karalyn Monteil, k.monteil@unesco.org).