A capacity-building project to enrich World Heritage information management tools and techniques in the Arab States Region, from adequate documentation of sites, to use of recording tools, management planning, and information exchange
The World Heritage Convention is the flag-ship of UNESCO's efforts in the conservation of both cultural and natural sites around the World. The convention 'was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972' (WHC 2004). Currently, 'more than 170 countries have adhered to the Convention, making it one of the most universal international legal instruments for the protection of the cultural and natural heritage'.
In the past years, the World Heritage Centre has conducted a series of regional periodic reporting implemented to evaluate the application of the Convention in the protection of the enlisted sites. These reports provided the committee with assessments on 'the legislative and administrative provisions they have adopted and other actions which they (the State Parties) have taken for the application of the Convention, including the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties located on its territories' (Extract of paragraph II.B.69 of the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention).
In the Arab region, this reporting cycle has demonstrated an increasing number of critical issues in implementing the convention and managing world heritage sites, among the most relevant issues revealed:
These statements are based on the badly or not existing definition of territorial boundaries and buffer zones of the sites that prevents control of the deterioration factors of the sites (urban expansion, road systems, agriculture etc.). Furthermore, hardly any site has coherent and on-going documentation and monitoring systems' (Extract of paragraph 1.4. Management and conservation of the World Heritage Sites - Document WHC-03/27.COM/INF.20A : Regional Program for the Arab States).
The World Heritage Committee [72],
1. Takes note of document WHC-03/27.COM/20A.1.
[72] See also Decision 27 COM 2.
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