Draft Policy Guidelines

WHC-13/37.COM/13

The World Heritage Committee at its 35th session (UNESCO, 2011) decided to “establish a four-year cycle for updating the Operational Guidelines and that the Operational Guidelines should be restricted to operational guidance, and that a new document, ‘Policy Guidelines’, be developed as a means to capture the range of policies that the Committee and the General Assembly adopt” (Decision 35 COM 12B, point 11). It was therefore decided to “develop ‘Policy Guidelines’ for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, drawing in part on the results of expert meetings and consultative bodies” (Decision 35 COM 12B, point 12).

This document presents the process concerning the elaboration of the Policy Guidelines, general considerations related to its status, issues discussed including resource constraints and links to the Operational Guidelines, as well as examples of text to be included in future Policy Guidelines.