Meeting for the Preparation the Draft Third Cycle Action Plan for the Arab States Region
On 20 and 21 July 2020, World Heritage Focal Points and Site Managers from 19 countries of the Arab States region, Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Convention, the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), World Heritage experts, UNESCO Field Offices, and the World Heritage Centre (WHC) participated in a virtual meeting.
The meeting, organized within the framework of the Third Cycle for Periodic Reporting on the application of the World Heritage Convention, aimed at presenting the outcomes of the Periodic Reporting questionnaires and initiate a discussion towards the elaboration of a six-year Action Plan for the region.
Over the course of the 2-day meeting, heritage experts, ARC-WH and the WHC presented the outcomes of the report, specific themes for the elaboration of the Action Plan, its monitoring indicators and the way forward for the presentation of the final document to the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session.
Participants from the 19 countries of the region expressed their views on the reports outcomes and highlighted priorities related to management systems and plans, risk preparedness and recovery, sustainable tourism strategies, policies for Heritage and Environmental Impact Assessments, the integration of sustainable development in the governance for World Heritage, synergies with other UNESCO Conventions and mechanisms, gender and youth engagement, community participation, regional and international cooperation and capacity building.
The meeting, originally foreseen to take place in March 2020 in Bahrain, was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. This online meeting was organised by the World Heritage Centre, in close cooperation with the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH).
Periodic Reporting is one of the core conservation monitoring mechanisms of the World Heritage Convention. Every six years, the States Parties are invited to submit to the World Heritage Committee a Periodic Report on the application of the World Heritage Convention in their territory (https://whc.unesco.org/en/periodicreporting/).
Decisions (1)
The World Heritage Committee,
- Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/10C,
- Recalling Decision 44 COM 10A adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/Online, 2021),
- Welcomes the progress made in the follow-up on the implementation of the Third Cycle Regional Action Plan for the Arab States (2021-2027);
- Expresses its appreciation to the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH) for its follow-up on the implementation of the Action Plan for the Arab States (2021-2027);
- Invites the States Parties to support the implementation of the Action Plan for the Arab States (2021-2027), and to continue their collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and ARC-WH in implementing the related activities;
- Acknowledges with appreciation that the Strategy for World Heritage in Africa was informed by an inclusive consultation process, which included the seven Arab States located in the African Continent, and that it is aligned with the regional Action Plans for Africa and the Arab States;
- Also acknowledges with appreciation that the outcomes of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022 (Mexico City, 2022), and the reflections of international conference The Next 50 - The Future of World Heritage in Challenging Times, Enhancing Resilience and Sustainability (Delphi, 2022), have been taken into consideration in the implementation of activities carried out thereafter;
- Reminds the States Parties of the Arab States region, which have not already done so, to submit their Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value by 1 February 2024 at the latest, as well as clarifications of boundaries by 1 December 2023 at the latest;
- Reiterates its request to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to monitor the implementation of the Regional Action Plan in view of preparing a mid-cycle assessment report to be presented to the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session.