South Sudan ratifies the World Heritage Convention
On 9 March 2016, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan officially deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage with the Director-General of UNESCO.
South Sudan become the 192nd State Party to the World Heritage Convention on 9 June 2016, when the Convention entered into force for this country. To date, 46 countries in the Africa region are party to the World Heritage Convention. By ratifying the Convention, South Sudan joins the large international community committed to protecting cultural and natural sites of outstanding universal value.
Following this latest ratification, UNESCO organized a technical workshop from 8 to 13 June 2016 in the country’s capital, Juba, to support the process of preparing South Sudan’s World Heritage Tentative List.
UNESCO experts will continue working closely with the national team of focal points and site managers. Over the next three months, the June workshop will be followed by distance mentoring as the focal points liaise with natural and cultural site managers, university experts and researchers to gather and prepare the information necessary for the submission of South Sudan’s Tentative List.
UNESCO and the national authorities plan to organize a final Multi-Stakeholder Evaluation and Validation Workshop of the draft Tentative List for South Sudan in mid-September 2016.
For more information on capacity-building activities for the region, please visit http://www.unesco.org/new/en/nairobi/about-this-office/single-view/news/the_government_o0066_south_sudan_prepares_its_world_heritage_te/#.V2eub_mLS72
South Sudan