Decision 44 COM 7B.2

Historic Town of Grand-Bassam (Côte d’Ivoire) (C 1322rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.67, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Welcomes the State Party's reactivity following the floods, by putting in place a crisis management system, by relocating the affected populations and by requesting the organization of a UNESCO emergency mission;
4. Notes the implementation of the project to reopen the Comoé River as part of the project to safeguard and enhance the Cocody bay and the Ebrié lagoon (PABC), regrets that this project was not submitted to the World Heritage Centre in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, and requests the State Party to submit the PABC to the World Heritage Centre, as soon as possible, for review by the Advisory Bodies so that solutions can be found to adapt the approach to the recommendations provided in the report of the emergency mission of October 2019, and more particularly to:
   1. Submit to the World Heritage Centre, before any intervention, the dykes project with its different height scenarios for evaluation by the Advisory Bodies,
   2. Carry out a visual and heritage impact study of the civil engineering project planned for a height of 6 metres;
5. Expresses its deep concern at the acceleration of the degradation of the state of conservation of several heritage buildings, including the courthouse, the lighthouse and the former post and customs hotel and, while welcoming the cooperation initiatives taken by the State Party in favour of heritage restoration, in particular through public/private partnership agreements, also requests the State Party to:
   1. Consider these initiatives in a planned manner, with particular emphasis on group operations,
   2. Strengthen these initiatives by:
      1. Consolidation and updating of the inventory of existing heritage,
      2. Establishment of in-depth architectural and cultural diagnoses,
      3. Strengthening of the monitoring and control of town planning and construction rules and the application of regulations by all concerned public and private actors,
      4. Capacity building for heritage and construction professionals,
      5. Establishment of a monitoring committee for restoration work;
6. Further requests the State Party to strengthen the management of the site, by giving more resources to the Heritage House and to relocate it in a heritage building, thus giving it an emblematic and exemplary character at the heart of the site;
7. Also welcomes the draft revision of the conservation and management plan (including a risk management plan) and encourages the State Party to finalize it;
8. Thanks the Government of Norway for its financial support for the implementation of a support programme for the preservation of the property, which includes in particular the inventory work, the finalization of the management plan, the revision and publication of an interventions guide on the property and the establishment of a monitoring committee for restoration work;
9. Also encourages the State Party to strengthen measures to safeguard and promote the intangible heritage of the N'zima community;
10. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, 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 46th session.