3. Elects Mr. Dawson MUNJERI, Zimbabwe, as Chairperson of the 17th General Assembly,
4. Elects Ms. Dagnija BALTIŅA, Latvia, as Rapporteur of the 17th General Assembly,
5. Elects Malaysia and Argentina as Vice-Chairpersons of the 17th General Assembly.

2. Having examined Document WHC-09/17.GA/2A,
3. Adopts the Agenda included in the above-mentioned Document.

2. Having examined Document WHC-09/17.GA/2B.rev,
3. Adopts the timetable of the 17th session of the General Assembly.

5. Having examined Documents WHC-09/17.GA/3A and WHC-09/17.GA/INF.3A,
6. Recalling Resolutions 15 GA 9 and 16 GA 3A, adopted respectively at its 15th and 16th sessions, requesting to initiate a «process to discuss possible alternatives to the existing system of elections to the World Heritage Committee» and to establish an open-ended Working Group in order to make recommendations on this issue,
7. Noting that capacity building would enhance expertise of the States Parties and would encourage the latter to present their candidature to the Committee,
8. Recognizing that a greater role for State Party Observers in the work of the Committee would facilitate their potential candidature for a seat in the Committee in the future,
9. Thanking H.E. Ambassador Kondo and the open-ended Working Group for the reflection on the procedures of election of World Heritage Committee members for the work accomplished,
10. Decides to amend its Rules of Procedure as follows (amendments are underlined):
    

Rule 13 – Procedures for the presentation of candidatures to the World Heritage Committee[1]

13.1 – The Secretariat shall ask all States Parties, at least three months prior to the opening of the General Assembly, whether they intend to stand for election to the World Heritage Committee. If so, its candidature should be sent to the Secretariat at least six weeks prior to the opening of the General Assembly.

13.2 Members of the World Heritage Committee may stand again for election after a gap of 4 years after the expiry of their mandate;

Rule 14 - Election of members of the World Heritage Committee

14.1 a) The election of members of the World Heritage Committee shall be conducted by secret ballot whenever five or more delegations having the right to vote so request, or if the Chairperson so decides.

 b) In case one or more electoral group(s), as defined by the UNESCO General Conference at its most recent session[2], might have no State Party in the composition of the next Committee[3], one seat per such electoral group(s) shall be reserved.

c) Notwithstanding, at each election, one seat shall be reserved for States Parties with no property on the World Heritage List.

d) Ballot(s) for reserved seat(s) shall precede the ballot(s) for the remaining seats to be filled. Unsuccessful candidates in a ballot for any reserved seat shall be eligible to stand for election in subsequent ballot(s).

 Remain unchanged : 14.2; 14.3, 14.4, 14.5, 14.6, 14.7.

14.8 In all ballots, the candidate(s) obtaining in the first round, an absolute majority (more than half of the valid votes cast by States Parties present and voting) shall be declared elected in the sequential order of the number of votes obtained from the highest to the lowest, up to the number of seat(s) to be filled. If there still remain seat(s) to be filled, there shall be a second round.

14.9 In the second round, the candidate(s) obtaining the greatest number of votes, up to the number of seat(s) to be filled, shall be declared elected.

14.10 If in the second round, two or more candidates obtain the same number of votes, and, as a result, the number of these candidates is greater than the remaining number of seats to be filled, there shall be an additional round of voting restricted to those candidates who obtained the same number of votes. If in this additional round of voting, two or more candidates obtain the same number of votes, the Chairperson shall decide by drawing lots among them in order to allocate the remaining seat(s).

14.11 After each round, the Chairperson shall announce the results.

The texts of present rules 14.9, 14.10 and 14.11 are deleted

[1] Resolution 13 GA 9 (paragraph 6) invites the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, to voluntarily reduce their term of office from six to four years.

[2] It being understood that “Group V” shall consist of two separate groups for the African and Arab States.

[3] "That is to say, that either there is no State Party in the composition of the Committee from a given electoral group at the beginning of the ordinary session of the General Conference, or that the term of office of all States Parties from a given electoral group expires at the end of the ordinary session of the General Conference.

3. Elects the United Arab Emirates (State Party with no property on the World Heritage List) as a member of the World Heritage Committee;
4. Elects the Russian Federation (Electoral Group which might have no State Party in the composition of the next Committee) as a member of the World Heritage Committee;
5. Elects the following eleven States Parties as members of the World Heritage Committee: Cambodia, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Iraq, Mali, Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland and Thailand.

2. Having examined Document WHC-09/17.GA/4,
3. Takes note of the report of the Intergovernmental Committee for the protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage on its activities (2008-2009).

3. Having examined the accounts of the World Heritage Fund for the financial period ending 31 December 2007 approved by the Comptroller (Document WHC-09/17.GA/INF.5, Sections I and II) 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),
4. Approves the accounts of the World Heritage Fund for the financial period ending 31 December 2007 (Document WHC-09/17.GA/INF.5, Sections I and II);
5. Takes note of the accounts of the World Heritage Fund for 2009, established by the Comptroller (Document WHC-09/17.GA/INF.5, Section III).

1. Decides to set at 1% the percentage for the calculation of the amount of the contributions to be paid to the World Heritage Fund by States Parties for the financial period 2010-2011.

1. Takes note of the decisions of the Committee concerning the contributions of States Parties and of their status of implementation;
2. Also takes note of Document WHC-09/17.GA/INF.6 on the status of compulsory and voluntary contributions to the World Heritage Fund;
3. Requests the World Heritage Committee to submit all possible options for equitable additional voluntary contributions to the World Heritage Fund to the General Assembly at its 18th session in 2011, as requested in Decision 33 COM 16B;
4. Further requests the World Heritage Centre to report to the General Assembly at its 18th session in 2011 about the impact of currency fluctuation on the World Heritage Fund and further report on possible remedial measures to cope with this issue.

1. Having examined Document WHC-09/17.GA/7,
2. Takes note with satisfaction of the progress achieved so far in implementing the main recommendations of the management audit of the World Heritage Centre;
3. Calls upon the World Heritage Centre to continue to implement the recommendations of the management audit;
4. While noting the positive efforts made in addressing the recommendations of the audit, calls upon the World Heritage Centre to continue to address the issues for further improvements in personnel requirements, taking into account geographical representation, and report back to the General Assembly at its 18th session in 2011;

2. Having examined Document WHC-09/17.GA/8,
3. Takes note of the information provided in the above-mentioned document;
4. Welcomes the preparation and dissemination of the publications planned within the Series of World Heritage Resource Manuals;
5. Encourages States Parties to contribute extra-budgetary funding to support the publication of titles within the Series.

1. Having examined Documents WHC-09/17.GA/9 and WHC-09/17.GA/INF.9
2. Noting that the World Heritage Convention is approaching universal ratification and that its 40th anniversary is to be celebrated in 2012 and, therefore, that it is appropriate to reflect on the successes of the Convention and also how it can best be implemented to meet the emerging challenges and opportunities it faces while also increasing its relevance and engagement with communities around the world,
3. Considering the results of the Workshop to reflect on the Future of the World Heritage Convention, which took place from 25 to 27 February 2009 at UNESCO Headquarters, and taking into account the subsequent discussions of the consultative group established by the World Heritage Committee during its 33rd Session, held in Seville in June 2009;
4. Welcomes the progress report on the implementation of the Global Strategy for a Credible, Representative and Balanced World Heritage List from 1994 to 2009 (Document WHC-09/17.GA/9 Part III) while observing that improved indicators and analysis would be necessary for future reports of progress achieved in the framework of the Global Strategy;
5. Notes that the draft vision presented to the General Assembly (Document WHC-09/17.GA/INF.9) should take into account suggestions made during the debate on this issue at the 17th session of the General Assembly so that it could be used as a basis for further discussion by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th and 35th sessions and by the General Assembly of States Parties at its 18th session in 2011;
6. Calls upon States Parties to cooperate in continuing the process of reflection on the future of the World Heritage Convention, addressing inter alia the following important topics:
   1. the relationship between the World Heritage Convention, conservation and sustainable development;
   2. the credibility of the public image of the Convention, awareness raising and community involvement in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention;
   3. capacity building for States Parties, particularly for developing countries and other stakeholders, to implement the World Heritage Convention;
   4. strategic management and the Global Strategy for a Credible, Representative and Balanced World Heritage List;
   5. the efficiency and transparency of decision-making of the statutory organs of the World Heritage Convention;
   6. working relationships with other relevant Conventions and UNESCO programmes;
7. Welcomes the development of a draft Action Plan, recognizing that further work is required to both prioritize actions, as well as develop an effective implementation of the Plan;
8. Requests that the views of all States Parties related to the identification of priorities in the Action Plan be solicited by the World Heritage Centre prior to the 34th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2010;
9. Further requests that discussion take place during the 34th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2010 involving all interested States Parties to the Convention to prioritize the actions in the Action Plan based on input from States Parties, to reorganize it on the basis of the strategic objectives (5 Cs) and to report back to the General Assembly of States Parties at its 18th session in 2011;
10. Invites States Parties to take the initiative in convening expert meetings on the above issues with a view to identifying key policy questions for discussion during the 34th and 35th sessions of the World Heritage Committee and submit them for consideration and adoption by the General Assembly at its 18th session in 2011;
11. Welcomes the offer of Australia and Bahrain to host an expert meeting in Bahrain on the decision-making procedures of the statutory organs of the World Heritage Convention to identify opportunities for increasing the efficiency and transparency of these procedures, and requests the World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with these two States Parties, to launch and facilitate consultations on the meeting's scope and agenda for discussion by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session in 2010;
12. Also welcomes the offer of Brazil to host in 2010 an expert meeting on the relationship between the World Heritage Convention, conservation and sustainable development;
13. Further welcomes the offer by Australia and Japan to host such a meeting pursuant to paragraph 14 of the Decision 33 COM 14A.2 in Document WHC-09/17.GA/INF.9 including the issues of Tentative Lists and International Assistance for improving the process of nominations;
14. Calls upon the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and other partners to increase significantly their support to States Parties, particularly less developed countries, in the identification of cultural, natural and mixed properties for Tentative Lists as well as in the harmonization of their Tentative Lists taking into account existing relevant studies;
15. Requests the World Heritage Centre to convene in 2010, through extra-budgetary funding, a meeting of the existing unesco category 2 centres active on World Heritage issues together with representatives of relevant UNITWIN networks, UNESCO Chairs, other regional and national research centres at the regional and national levels and graduate programmes in order to facilitate their activities and to strengthen their regional relevance;
16. Also requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to help facilitate the above activities and to provide the General Assembly at its 18th session in 2011 with a summary of the work undertaken in relation to the reflection on the future of the Convention, including an independent evaluation by UNESCO’s external auditor on the implementation of the Global Strategy from its inception in 1994 to 2011 and the Partnership for Conservation Initiative (PACT), based on indicators and approaches to be developed during the 34th and 35th sessions of the World Heritage Committee.