Decision 39 COM 7B.56

Archaeological Site of Cyrene (Libya) (C 190)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.2, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. Takes note with great concern of the information provided by the State Party in its report on the state of conservation of the property;
4. Urges the State Party to reinforce the protection of the property by implementing, to the best extent possible, the recommendations of the technical workshops organized by UNESCO and its partners in order to define emergency protection and risk mitigation measures for the safeguarding of Libya’s cultural heritage;
5. Requests the State Party to provide the World Heritage Centre, as soon as the security situation permits, with more detailed information on the state of conservation of the property as well as with a precise mapping of the different violations at the site, and notably the urban encroachment, looting and vandalism;
6. Also requests the State Party to pursue the establishment of a dialogue between the responsible national and local authorities as well as the involvement of local communities in the protection of the property, in addition to the development of awareness raising initiatives at national level;
7. Further requests the State Party to invite a joint UNESCO/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the site as soon as possible and make sure that the elements requested in paragraph 5 of the present decision are submitted to the World Heritage Centre before the visit of the mission;
8. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, 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.