The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/13,
Part One: Final reports on the World Heritage Fund for the biennium 2022-2023
2. Takes note of the Financial Report for the biennium 2022-2023, which ended on 31 December 2023, as presented in Annexes I and II of document WHC/24/46.COM/13;
3. Recalls that the payment of assessed compulsory and voluntary contributions is, as per Article 16 of the World Heritage Convention, an obligation incumbent on all States Parties which have ratified the Convention and calls upon all other States Parties, which have not yet paid the totality of their assessed contributions, including for 2024, and including voluntary contributions in accordance with Article 16.2 of the Convention, to ensure that their contributions are paid at their earliest convenience;
4. Thanks those States Parties which have already made supplementary voluntary contributions in recent years and also calls upon all other States Parties to consider making voluntary contributions as well as supplementary unrestricted voluntary contributions to the World Heritage Fund in accordance with the Roadmap for the Sustainability of the World Heritage Fund, with the target of 10 or more States Parties doubling their annual contributions;
Part Two: Report on the implementation of the World Heritage Fund for the biennium 2024-2025
5. Takes note of the report on the implementation of the World Heritage Fund for the biennium 2024-2025;
6. Recognizing the need for additional human resources at the World Heritage Centre, calls upon States Parties to allocate voluntary contributions to the human resources sub-account of the World Heritage Fund;
7. Recalling paragraph 168bis of the Operational Guidelines, thanks those States Parties which have already made voluntary contributions to the sub-account dedicated to the evaluations of nominations to support the submission of Preliminary Assessment requests and nomination dossiers, and calls on all other States Parties to consider making such voluntary contributions;
Part Three: Follow-up to Decision 45 COM 15
8. Recalling its Decision 45 COM 15,
9. Recalls that sustainability of the World Heritage Fund and the overall funding of World Heritage are strategic issues and a shared responsibility which concern all States Parties and relevant partners, affecting the overall credibility of the World Heritage Convention, not least the effectiveness and efficiency of World Heritage protection;
10. Recalling its Decision 42 COM 14, paragraph 17, reiterates its invitation to all States Parties to support fund-raising events dedicated to the implementation of the Convention, and also encourages all States Parties to assist the World Heritage Centre in its fund-raising activities, in the form of secondments dedicated to fund-raising or in-kind/pro-bono consultancy in this field;
11. Requests the World Heritage Centre to present, at its 47th session, a progress report on the implementation of the 3 medium-term measures of the “Roadmap for the sustainability of the World Heritage Fund” adopted in 2017;
12. Invites the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to better present and provide additional financial information, in order to allow meaningful and detailed analysis of the average cost of evaluations and monitoring activities, and include in future reports to the World Heritage Committee historical trends dealing with these average costs.
Decision 46 COM 13
Presentation of the final accounts of the World Heritage Fund for the biennium 2022-2023, Report on the execution of the budget for the biennium 2024-2025, Follow-up to Decision 45 COM 15
Documents
WHC/24/46.COM/17
Decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session (New Delhi, 2024)
Context of Decision
WHC-24/46.COM/13Other Documents (2)
Amended draft decision 46 COM 13 Budget Working GroupProjet de décision amendé 46 COM 13 Groupe de travail du budget