Decision 44 COM 7B.14

Babylon (Iraq) (C 278)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 43 COM 8B.13, adopted at its 43rd session (Baku, 2019),
3. Takes note of the progress accomplished by the State Party in continuing with some conservation activities and in the presentation of the property;
4. Reiterates its request to the State Party to continue working on the issues noted by the Committee at the time of inscription of the property on the World Heritage List, including by:
   1. Developing and finalizing the comprehensive conservation plan for the property, and within this, addressing the various risk factors identified in the risk map provided (including through proposing concrete measures towards their effective reduction and mitigation as well as the establishment of a priority intervention scheme for the most urgent conservation measures needed),
   2. Augmenting the Management Plan to include the comprehensive conservation plan, to allow the management team to focus on priority, emergency interventions, and providing detailed implementation-oriented guidance as well as quality indicators for its successful implementation,
   3. Researching further the relationships between the Neo-Babylonian capital and its wider landscape, in particular towards the Euphrates River, and based on the outcomes of this research, considering further extending the buffer zone in order to address actual and potential future challenges, which can be identified in the wider setting of the archaeological city,
   4. Communicating to visitors the three-dimensional boundary concept and the explicit exclusion of 20th century additions from the property;
5. Reminds the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for evaluation by the Advisory Bodies, detailed information of any ongoing and future works at the property or its buffer zone, that may affect the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, in conformity with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
6. Welcomes the willingness of the State Party to host as soon as possible a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Advisory mission to assist the State Party to develop a phased and costed action plan for the conservation of the property;
7. 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.