- The Fourth General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage met at Unesco Headquarters in Paris on 28 October 1983 during the 22nd session of the General Conference.
- Sixty-four of the seventy-five States which were parties to the Convention as at 28 October 1983 and which thus had the right to vote, were represented at the meeting, namely : Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany (Fed. Rep. of), Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, India, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, United Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zimbabwe.
- Representatives of the following States not Parties to the Convention also participated as observers in the General Assembly; Austria, China, Finland, Gabon, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands and Sweden. Representatives of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and the Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), of the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) also attended the meeting in an observer capacity.
- The list of participants to the General Assembly is given in annex 1 to this document.
- In accordance with the Rules of procedure of the General Assembly the Secretariat of the Assembly was assumed by the Secretariat of UNESCO .
- In opening the meeting on behalf of the Director-General, the Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr. Makaminan Makagiansar, noted with pleasure the success of the Convention which 76 States had so far ratified or accepted : 51 properties had been inscribed on the World Heritage List since the last General Assembly, bringing to 136 the number of sites and monuments inscribed. This list had been drawn up with all due impartiality by the Committee which had been able, with the help of ICOMOS and IUCN, to define criteria and procedures for the evaluation of nominations. The Assistant Director-General then underlined the importance of public information activities designed to associate the public as widely as possible with the conservation of the world heritage and he described the activities undertaken in this regard by UNESCO as well as several initiatives of States Parties. With respect to technical co-operation activities from which 31 States Parties had already benefitted, Mr. Makagiansar indicated that the World Heritage Fund had contributed $ 1,100,000 for the training of specialists, $ 1,200,000 for safeguarding works, $ 300,000 for emergency assistance and approximately $ 100,000 for preparatory assistance. In concluding, the Assistant Director-General for Culture expressed his concern at the delays in the payment of mandatory and voluntary contributions of States, which had reached such a level that they risked to impede the implementation of the Convention, at a time when the threats to the heritage from the aggressions of the modern world were on the increase.
Resolution 4 GA 1-6
Opening of the General Assembly by the Director-General or his representative
Resolution Code
4 GA 1-6
Year
1983
Documents
CLT-83/CONF.022/6
Summary Record