1. Elects H. Exc. Mrs Aziza BENNANI (Morocco) as Chairperson of the 16th General Assembly;
2. Elects Raymond ASOMBANG (Cameroon) as Rapporteur of the 16th General Assembly;
3. Elects Austria and Japan as Vice-Chairpersons of the 16th General Assembly.

1. Having examined Documents WHC-07/16.GA/2A and WHC-07/16.GA/INF.2A
2. Adopts the Agenda included in the above-mentioned document.

1. Having examined Document WHC-07/16.GA/2B,
2. Adopts the timetable for the elections to the World Heritage Committee presented in the above-mentioned document.

1. Having examined Documents WHC-07/16.GA/3A and WHC-07/16.GA/INF.3A,
2. Recalling Resolution 15 GA 9, adopted at its 15th session (UNESCO, 2005), requesting to initiate a “process to discuss possible alternatives to the existing system of elections to the World Heritage Committee ” before its 16th session,
3. Keeping in mind the discussions held during the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee (Christchurch, 2007) and during the 16th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention (UNESCO, 2007),
4. Reiterating the need to ensure a more equitable representation of the different regions and cultures of the world, as well as a fair rotation in the composition of the Committee,
5. Emphasizing the need to envisage a less complex and less time-consuming voting method to better focus on other important issues for discussion,
6. Decides to intensify the examination of all possible alternatives to the current election system and to this end establishes an open-ended working group in order to make recommendations thereon, to inform the World Heritage Committee of its work, and to deliver its final report to the 17th session of the General Assembly in 2009;
7. Requests H. E. Mr. Kondo (Japan) to chair this working group in his personal capacity and the World Heritage Centre to give the necessary support to the working group;
8. Calls upon the World Heritage Committee to examine at its upcoming sessions the progress achieved by this working group and to make possible recommendations on it;
9. Further decides to inscribe this item on the agenda of its 17th session (October-November 2009) to examine possible modifications to its Rules of Procedure.

1. Decides to amend the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention as follows (new text proposed in bold):

            New Rule 12.5 :

            Subject to Rule 14.1, voting shall normally be either by a show of hands or by electronic means with each Member’s vote displayed on a screen.

2. Elects Barbados, as member of the World Heritage Committee on the reserved seat for State Parties without properties on the World Heritage List;
3. Elects as members of the World Heritage Committee, the following eight States Parties:

• Australia
• Bahrain
• Brazil
• China
• Egypt
• Jordan
• Nigeria
• Sweden

2. Having examined Document 34C/REP/13,
3. Takes note of the report of the Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee on the World Heritage Committee’s activities in 2006-2007.

1. Having examined Document WHC-07/16.GA/5,
2. Taking note of Decision 31 COM 19, adopted at the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee (Christchurch, 2007),
3. Takes note of the results-based Action Plan to implement the main recommendations of the Management Audit of the World Heritage Centre;
4. Welcomes the proposals of the Director-General of UNESCO to improve the administrative flexibility of the World Heritage Centre, clarify its organizational structure, and create posts, on an experimental basis, by combining multiple sources of financing;
5. Requests the Director-General to prepare, for consideration at the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee, an assessment, including a risk analysis, about the potential impact of the proposals to use the World Heritage Fund as a guarantee for the creation or abolition of permanent posts;
6. Urges the Director-General to pursue the implementation of this Action Plan and other recommendations of the Management Audit; and taking into account its analysis by IOS;
7. Requests that the World Heritage Committee be kept informed about the implementation of the Action Plan and that a progress report be submitted to the 17th session of the General Assembly in 2009.

3. Having examined Document WHC-07/16.GA/6,
4. Requests the World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with the Advisory Bodies, to report at its 17th session in 2009, on the progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the 2007 Management Audit, in relation to the work and relationships with the Advisory Bodies;
5. Calls upon the World Heritage Committee to review the proposed protocols of roles and responsibilities indicated in the Management Audit and submit its comments on them to the General Assembly at its 17th session in 2009.

1. Having examined the accounts of the World Heritage Fund for the financial period ending 31 December 2005 approved by the Comptroller (see Section I of the Document WHC-07/16.GA/INF.7) in conformity with the Financial Regulations of the World Heritage Fund that stipulate that the accounts of the Fund shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention (Article 6, paragraph 6.4),
2. Approves the accounts of the World Heritage Fund for the financial period ending 31 December 2005 (see Section II of the Document WHC-07/16.GA/INF.7);
3. Takes note of the accounts of the World Heritage Fund for 2007, established by the Comptroller (see Section III of the Document WHC-07/16.GA/INF.7).

1. Decides to set at one per cent of the contribution to the regular budget of UNESCO for the calculation of the amount of the contributions to be paid to the World Heritage Fund by States Parties for the financial period 2008-2009.

1. Recalling Decision 31 COM 20A of the World Heritage Committee, which urges States Parties in arrears to pay their overdue contributions to the World Heritage Fund,
2. Encourages States Parties to make voluntary donations to the World Heritage Fund in addition to their contributions;
3. Takes note of Document WHC-07/16.GA/INF.8 on the Statement of compulsory and voluntary contributions to the World Heritage Fund.

9. Having examined Document WHC-07/16.GA/9,
10. Takes note of the progress report on the implementation of the Global Strategy for a credible, representative and balanced World Heritage List from 2003 to 2007 presented in this document, and expresses its deep concern for the limited results achieved so far;
11. Calls upon the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and other partners to significantly increase their support to States Parties, particularly in less developed countries, in the identification of cultural, natural and mixed properties as well as the harmonization of their Tentative List taking into account the existing studies;
12. Requests the World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with the Advisory Bodies, to prepare an in-depth analysis of the representation of the regions in order to identify the obstacles and challenges for achieving the objectives of the Global Strategy for a credible, representative and balanced World Heritage List;
13. Encourages having a special focus on the need for action in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and also exploring the possibilities of strengthened development cooperation;
14. Urges the World Heritage Committee, at its 33rd session in 2009, based on the analysis described in paragraph 4 and taking into account the spirit of the Convention, to recommend concrete actions that might be taken to redress the present imbalance to be examined by the General Assembly at its 17th session in 2009;
15. Requests the World Heritage Centre to compile all reports from sub-regional meetings and thematic studies and to make them available on a specific web page of the World Heritage Centre’s website;
16. Invites the States Parties to share their national experiences concerning the preparation of Tentative Lists with other countries, in particular in the harmonization of Tentative Lists;
17. Calls upon States Parties to cooperate with other States Parties which so request on the preparation of nominations for the World Heritage List, and especially encourages South-South and North-South-South cooperation initiatives;
18. Requests the World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with the Advisory Bodies to provide to the next session of the General Assembly in 2009 a report on the implementation of this Resolution.
19. Requests the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre to develop additional technical and policy guidance for Serial and Transboundary nominations and in particular for their identification and management;

7. Having examined Document WHC-07/16.GA/10,
8. Recalling Decisions 30 COM 7.1 and 31 COM 7.1, adopted respectively at the 30th (Vilnius, 2006) and 31st (Christchurch, 2007) sessions of the World Heritage Committee,
9. Taking into account the relevant issues identified in the recent Thematic Debate of the Executive Board on UNESCO’s role in addressing climate change within its mandated areas of competence and also noting the upcoming meetings on climate change in Bali in December 2007 (Thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 13) and the third meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 3), Bali, Indonesia, 3 to 14 December 2007) and in Denmark in 2009 (Fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 15) and the fifth meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 5), Copenhagen, Denmark, 30 November 2009 - 11 December 2009);
10. Adopts the “Policy Document on the Impacts of Climate Change on World Heritage Properties” and strongly recommends its use by all concerned, together with the report on “Predicting and Managing the impacts of climate change on World Heritage” and the “Strategy to Assist States Parties to Implement Appropriate Management Responses” contained in World Heritage Paper No: 22;
11. Encourages UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to disseminate widely the Policy Document, the Report and Strategy, referred to in paragraph 2 above, and other relevant publications to all concerned, including the general public, and promote their application;
12. Requests the World Heritage Committee to institute a mechanism for the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to periodically review and update the Policy Document, and other related documents, so as to make available the most current knowledge and technology on the subject to guide the decisions and actions of the World Heritage community.
13. Urges the States Parties to participate in the United Nations climate change conferences with a view to achieving a comprehensive post-Kyoto agreement, and to fund and support the research needs as identified in the adopted Policy document.
14. Further requests the Director-General and the World Heritage Committee to strengthen its relations with all organizations working with climate change particularly the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) secretariats, and specifically with regards to the effect of climate change on World Heritage properties, with a view to delivering as one UN.

1. Having examined Document WHC-07/16.GA/11,
2. Welcomes the information provided on the development of a revised recommendation of the conservation of historic urban landscapes;
3. Invites the Director-General of UNESCO to inform the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, at its 17th session in 2009, on the further activities undertaken and progress made with regard to this initiative.

5. Having examined Document WHC-07/16.GA/12,
6. Takes note of the information provided in the above-mentioned document;
7. Welcomes the launching of a new Series of World Heritage Resource Manuals;
8. Invites the Director-General of UNESCO to inform the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, at its 17th session in 2009, on the further activities undertaken and progress made with regard to the Series of World Heritage Resource Manuals;
9. Calls upon States Parties to cooperate with other States Parties which so request on the formulation of management plans for World Heritage properties.