Decision 43 COM 5E

Report on strengthening of dialogue between the Advisory Bodies and States Parties

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/5E,
2. Recalling Decisions 39 COM 5C, 39 COM 13A (Bonn, 2015), 40 COM 5B (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 41 COM 5B, 41 COM 7, 41 COM 11 (Krakow, 2017), 42 COM 5B and 42 COM 9A (Manama, 2018),
3. Also recalling paragraphs 71, 72, and 73 of the Operational Guidelines, encouraging States Parties to seek early advice from the Advisory Bodies for the preparation and update of their Tentative Lists and paragraph 74 highlighting the importance of capacity building for Tentative List preparation,
4. Recognizing that the question of dialogue has long been a matter of reflection between the stakeholders involved in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, and further recalling in this regard the “Thinking Ahead” initiative (2012-2015) to improve dialogue, communication and transparency among States Parties and Advisory Bodies notably, with the objective of enhancing the credibility of the Convention,
5. Calls upon States Parties preparing to revise their Tentative Lists and undertaking Tentative List harmonization processes to engage in dialogue with the Advisory Bodies at the earliest possible stage of the process;
6. Also calls upon States Parties to comply with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, and inform the Committee at the earliest stage possible, and before any irreversible decisions are made, of their intention to undertake or to authorize major restorations or new constructions which may affect the Outstanding Universal Value of a property, to ensure that dialogue may take place at the appropriate time;
7. Requests the Advisory Bodies to prepare specific capacity building modules on the nomination and management planning processes, pending the availability of sufficient funds, and also requests interested States Parties to contribute financial resources towards the creation and implementation of such modules by the Advisory Bodies, the World Heritage Centre and Category 2 Centres;
8. Further requests the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and the States Parties to continue to develop innovative ideas to promote and strengthen dialogue which can be implemented on a trial basis to ensure their effectiveness and absence of unintended negative consequences and recommends that these be taken into account in the framework of the Reactive Monitoring process, as well as in the framework of the reform of the nomination process;
9. Invites the Advisory Bodies to engage in effective and constructive dialogue with States Parties in the preparation of Tentative Lists, in the nomination process, including before the publication of recommendations, and post inscription (including monitoring missions), with the aim of achieving more effective credibility, transparency and better implementation of the Convention and Sustainable Development Goals.