Decision of the World Heritage Committee 43 COM 8

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/8,
2. Recalling Decision 42 COM 8, adopted at its 42nd session (Manama, 2018),
3. Reaffirming the overriding necessity to continue to work towards bringing greater convergence between the decisions taken by the Committee and the recommendations of the Advisory Bodies;
4. Expresses its appreciation for the work of the ad-hoc Working Group, the experts that have participated in the Tunis Meeting, the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre for their work on the ongoing reflection on the revision of the nomination process;
5. Also recalling that the Operational Guidelines set out the conditions for inscription on the World Heritage List, strongly reiterates that only meeting criteria is not enough to warrant inscription, as to be deemed of Outstanding Universal Value a site must also meet the conditions of integrity (and authenticity) and must have an adequate protection and management system to ensure its safeguarding, as outlined in paragraph 78 of the Operational Guidelines;
6. Recalling Decision 35 COM 12B, requests States Parties to refrain from providing additional information regarding nominations after the deadlines indicated in the Operational Guidelines, as this information is not able to be evaluated by the Advisory Bodies;
7. Taking note of the discussions during the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee concerning the referral mechanism, requests the review of the referral procedure and its application be included for examination in the framework of the ongoing reflection on the revision of the nomination process;
8. Recommends that consideration is given to using the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention in 2022 to undertake a reflection on the Global Strategy.