Decision 46 COM 6A

World Heritage-related Capacity-Building activities and Follow-up to the World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/6A,
2. Recalling Decision 45 COM 6 adopted at its extended 45th session (Riyadh, 2023),
3. Recalling the outcomes of the 2023 independent evaluation of the World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy (WHCBS) and the evaluators’ guidelines for the revision of the WHCBS, and also recalling its request that the World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with the Advisory Bodies, develop a new WHCBS for the decade 2025-2035 for review at its 47th session, if funding allows,
4. Commends the progress made by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies, the States Parties, the Category 2 Institutes and Centres under the auspices of UNESCO related to World Heritage, as well as the UNESCO Chairs with the implementation of the 2011 WHCBS;
5. Takes note of the progress made with the revision of the WHCBS;
6. Takes note of the progress made with the implementation of the regional and thematic capacity-building strategies and initiatives, and calls upon States Parties and all concerned partners and stakeholders, including the Advisory Bodies, to support and follow up on the implementation of the strategies and initiatives developed for each regional and thematic area;
7. Thanks the governments of Australia, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland for the continued financial support they extended to the WHCBS and the World Heritage Leadership Programme, and also thanks the States Parties of Belgium, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, and Oman for supporting World Heritage capacity-building activities, notably in the Africa region;
8. Encourages States Parties and other stakeholders to continue supporting the implementation of the WHCBS by providing financial support and/or reinforcing the human resources of the institutions involved;
9. Reiterates its call upon all States Parties to provide dedicated voluntary contributions under the World Heritage Fund and/or extra-budgetary support to the World Heritage Centre and the World Heritage Leadership programme for capacity building;
10. Noting that insufficient funding has been provided for the revision of the WHCBS thus far, reiterates its appeal for States Parties to contribute dedicated financial resources to that effect;
11. Finally requests the World Heritage Centre and ICCROM to submit a progress report on the World Heritage-related capacity-building activities and the WHCBS, for examination at its 47th session.