Decision 41 COM 7B.77

Historic Cairo (Egypt) (C 89)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 39 COM 7B.50, adopted at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015),
3. Notes the progress that has been made by the State Party in conformity with the recommendations of the Committee and of the 2014 Advisory mission in terms of putting in place both short and long term measures to address the urgent problems facing the urban fabric of the Old City and its socio-economic structures;
4. Also notes the immediate measures on the control of conservation and demolition of structures, on urban regeneration strategies for specific areas, and on awareness raising, as well as the revival of work on major conservation projects, and the planning of new ones;
5. Welcomes the steps that have been taken to start and plan a major Urban Regeneration of Historic Cairo Project (URHC), under the control of the Ministry of Antiquities, and the scope of its urban, cultural, economic and social goals aimed at revitalising the Old City structures, and a one year work programme to undertake studies and define an overall Master Plan;
6. Given the challenges to be faced to halt and reverse the decline of the property, urges the State Party to take all needed measures to halt the rapid deterioration observed at the property, while the new administrative and management measures are being put in place, and closely monitor the situation;
7. Encourages the State Party to give high priority to the work of the newly-established URHC project; and requests the State Party to submit the draft Master Plan and established benchmarks in order that progress can be monitored and defined over time;
8. Also welcomes proposals for a new management structure that envisage a legally appointed body that could be instrumental in driving the URHC project forward and also requests the State Party to provide further details about this structure;
9. Further requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to consider the progress with the development of the Master Plan and the impact of the new policy and recent administrative measures;
10. Recalls that the State Party needs to submit all construction projects to the World Heritage Centre for review, in conformity with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, including for the planned al-Azhar pedestrians’ crossing bridge;
11. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2018, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd session in 2019.