Decision 38 COM 7B.7

Old City of Sana’a (Yemen) (C 385)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.58, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Acknowledges the continuing vulnerability of the property as a result of the extreme conditions that have prevailed in Sana’s over the past four years;
4. Nonetheless welcomes the positive progress that has been possible and in particular the adoption of a new law in August 2013 on the protection of historic sites, monuments, cities and their urban and cultural heritage; the Prime Minister’s Decree for the endorsement of the urgent executive plan for Sana’a; the one year moratorium on new construction within the property and on issuing any new contracts; and notes the submission of an International Assistance Request to develop a Conservation Plan for the property;
5. Also welcomes the support of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) for capacity building work with the General Organisation for the Preservation of the Historic Cities of Yemen (GOHPCY); but acknowledges the urgent need of further resources to implement conservation measures and to re-structure the management of the property;
6. Reiterates its call to the international community to support the State Party, in co-operation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, in any way possible for priority conservation, management measures and capacity building programmes;
7. Expresses its concern at the apparent lack of engagement of GOPHCY in the major project to rehabilitate the water and sewage system being developed by the Sana’s Secretariat and on the potential negative structural impacts that this project could have on individual buildings and on archaeology;
8. Requests the State Party, as a matter of urgency to supply full details of this project, including the Heritage Impact Assessment and appropriate risk mitigation measures, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before any work commences; and recommends that GOPHCY is fully integrated into the structure of this project;
9. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to evaluate the state of conservation of the property and identify measures needed to reverse the decay and ensure the conservation and protection of the property, as soon as the security situation allows;
10. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.