The World Heritage Committee,
- Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/11,
- Recalling Decisions 35 COM 12B, 37 COM 13, 39 COM 12 and 40 COM 12 adopted at its 35th (UNESCO, 2011), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013), 39th (Bonn, 2015) and 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) sessions respectively;
- Thanks the Government of Australia for their commitment and financial contribution in view of the development of a Policy document for a better implementation of the World Heritage Convention;
- Commends the Working Group of experts and the World Heritage Centre for the preparation of the draft Policy Compendium;
- Also commends the World Heritage Centre for successfully carrying out an inclusive online consultation with World Heritage stakeholders and welcomes the positive feedback received;
- Takes note with appreciation of the first draft Policy Compendium and requests the World Heritage Centre and the Working Group of experts to continue the work of Phase 2 of elaborating the Policy Compendium, and organize inclusive consultations with key stakeholders as appropriate;
- Reiterates that Phase 2 is to be organized in line with the brief provided by the Scoping Study and also requests that the World Heritage Centre and the expert Working Group, in the course of their work, explore possible gaps where policy may need to be developed or refined; considering the broad target audience and the need for a user-friendly and easily accessible tool, further requests that introductory presentations under each major topic be included; and requests furthermore that the final Policy Compendium be submitted for examination and approval to the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd session in 2019;
- Also takes note of the recommendation for the development of the Policy Compendium as an online tool and furthermore requests that the World Heritage Centre continue to explore the feasibility of this option and calls upon States Parties to provide extra-budgetary funds to finance this initiative.
