V.198 The Secretariat informed the Bureau of the content of the reports received since the last session of the Committee (Cairns, 2000) from the two consultants contracted by the Centre over the past year to co-ordinate and advise on the activities for the rehabilitation of Islamic Cairo.
V.199 On the issue of urban rehabilitation, the Bureau noted the intention of the Egyptian authorities to organize, in collaboration with the Centre, a seminar in Cairo to review and discuss current projects, strategies and on-going studies, particularly concerning the central area of the Al Muaiz Street. Among these studies are a comprehensive Project for the Rehabilitation of Islamic Cairo, undertaken by the General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP)– Ministry of Housing, and a rehabilitation plan for the monuments of the city, being developed by the newly established Centre of Studies and Development for Historic Cairo (CSDHC) – Ministry of Culture.
V.200 The World Heritage Centre’s consultants reported that a large number of restoration projects are being implemented by the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The Bureau noted the concern of ICOMOS with respect to the need to ensure that recognized standards of conservation are fully respected, given the special importance of many of these monuments.
V.201 The Bureau recommended that, as soon as the two studies to be prepared by GOPP and CSDHC are available, the Egyptian authorities organize, in close co-ordination with the Centre, a seminar to review all existing proposals and establish clear and concrete guidelines for a rehabilitation plan of the Al Muaiz Street area.
V.202 The Bureau also recommended that the mission foreseen by an ICOMOS expert be dispatched as soon as possible, to monitor the implementation of the conservation works occurring within the historic city.