Note: the following reports on the World Heritage properties of the Syrian Arab Republic need to be read in conjunction with Item 36.
The World Heritage Committee,
- Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7A.Add,
- Recalling Decisions 41 COM 7A.49, 41 COM 7A.50 and 41 COM 8B.51, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
- Taking into account Decision 42 COM 7A.36 on the World Heritage properties of the Syrian Arab Republic,
- Reiterates its request to the State Party to limit restoration works to first aid interventions until the security situation improves and allows conducting detailed studies and extensive field work, and also discussions on defining optimal approaches;
- Reiterates its encouragement to the State Party to implement the recommendations of the UNESCO technical assistance workshop of 2016, and in particular the emergency consolidation measures;
- Calls on all UNESCO Member States to support emergency safeguarding measures, including through the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund;
- Requests that the invited joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission be carried out to proceed to a comprehensive assessment of 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;
- Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2019, 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;
- Decides to retain the Site of Palmyra (Syrian Arab Republic) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.