News

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Statement from the Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee on the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand
On behalf of the World Heritage Committee, I was deeply saddened by the news of the earthquake that has caused loss of life and the destruction of the beautiful city of Christchurch.  I send my sincere condolences and sympathy to the people ...

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sustainable Indicators in World Heritage Urban Areas, Mexico City, Mexico
A mission was organized from the 30th January - 5th February 2010 in view of strengthening Spanish Funds-in-Trust technical cooperation, focusing on the Spanish Funds-in-Trust programme for indicators of sustainable development at World Heritage ...

Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Publication of the Comparative Analysis on Archaeology of Hunter-gatherers. Archaeological sites of the Chinchorro Culture
The International Meeting "The Chinchorro Culture from a Comparative Perspective ", took place in Arica, Chile, 5-8 January, 2010. As a result of this meeting the World Heritage Centre is preparing a publication that will work in ...

Tuesday, February 22, 2011
UNESCO Special Envoy on Preah Vihear to meet with prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova's Special Envoy on the Preah Vihear Temple, Koïchiro Matsuura, will travel to Bangkok and Phnom Penh between 25 February and 1 March to discuss the safeguarding of the World Heritage site with the Thai ...

Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Lightning damages Pratapur Temple of Kathmandu Valley World Heritage site, Nepal
Pratapur Temple in the Swayambhu Monument Zone of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage site, Nepal suffered damage from a lightning strike at around 5 a.m. on 14 February, during a sudden thunderstorm. A team of engineers from the Department of ...

Thursday, February 10, 2011
UNESCO Director-General to send Special Envoy to Bangkok and Phnom Penh
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova regretted the continuing tension between Cambodia and Thailand over the issue of the Temple of Preah Vihear. "The world's cultural heritage should never be a cause for conflict," she said. She announced that ...

Tuesday, February 8, 2011
UNESCO to send mission to Preah Vihear
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today reiterated her call for calm and restraint around the Temple of Preah Vihear, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2008. A border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand caused several deaths ...

Sunday, February 6, 2011
Director-General expresses alarm over escalation of violence between Thailand and Cambodia
UNESCO Director- General Irina Bokova expressed her deep concern at the sudden escalation of tensions between Cambodia and Thailand on the issue of the Temple of Preah Vihear, inscribed on the World Heritage List. Reports indicate that troops ...

Thursday, February 3, 2011
Cultural heritage update for Egypt
UNESCO's Director-General Irina Bokova today received assurances from Egypt's new minister for antiquities Zahi Hawass that every possible measure was being taken to protect Egyptian cultural heritage. In a telephone conversation, the minister ...

Wednesday, February 2, 2011
World Wetlands Day is 2 February
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Secretariat to the World Heritage Convention, wishes to extend its best wishes to the Secretariat for the Ramsar Convention (Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) on World Wetlands Day, ...

Tuesday, February 1, 2011
UNESCO Director-General launches heritage and press freedom alert for Egypt
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today launched an appeal to protect cultural heritage and to respect freedom of expression in Egypt. "My compassion goes first to the victims of the civil unrest and their families," said Irina ...