The World Heritage Convention: Thinking Ahead (2012)

The World Heritage Committee,

1.   Having examined Document WHC-12/36.COM/9A,

2.   Recalling Decision 35 COM 9A adopted at its 35th session (UNESCO, 2011) and Resolution 18 GA 8 of the 18th session of the General Assembly (UNESCO, 2011),

3.   Notes that the World Heritage Centre in close collaboration with the Advisory Bodies, produceda working document on the recommendations of the independent evaluation by UNESCO’s external auditor with a prioritized list of recommendations in the framework of the objectives of the Strategic Action Plan, adopted in Resolution 18 GA 11, and considering Decisions 35 COM 12A to 35 COM 12E, which also indicated financial implications, and the allocation of responsibility between States Parties, the General Assembly, the World Heritage Committee, the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre;

4.   Also notes that the World Heritage Centre, provided the document to all States Parties through Circular Letters dated 1 February 2012 and 24 April 2012;

5.   Acknowledges with appreciation the financial support of the States Parties of Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands towards the travel support for experts and meeting other costs of the open-ended working group held at UNESCO 15-16 May 2012; 

6.   Takes note of the Implementation Plan concerning the Global Strategy prepared by the first meeting of the open-ended working group and that a second meeting on the PACT Initiative is scheduled to take place prior to the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee;

7.   Welcomes that implementation has commenced on a number of recommendations and reiterates its request to all States Parties to fully comply with the provisions of the World Heritage Convention;

8.   Decides to implement the recommendations within its mandate;

9.   Further notes that a number of recommendations concern revisions to the Operational Guidelines and to the Rules of Procedures of the World Heritage Committee;

10.  Also decides to include an item on Revisions to the Operational Guidelines and the Rules of Procedures on the agenda of its 37th session. 

The General Assembly,

1. Having examined Documents WHC-11/18.GA/11 and WHC-11/18.GA/INF.11,

2. Recalling Decisions 35 COM 12A, 35 COM 12B, 35 COM 12C, 35 COM 12D, and 35 COM 12E adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session (UNESCO, 2011),

3. Thanks the Working Group and its Chairperson, Mr Greg Terrill, for the leadership in elaborating the Vision and Action Plan in an open and participative way;

4. Adopts the Vision and Action Plan and requests the World Heritage Centre to disseminate it widely;

5. Recalls the request by the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee to the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to develop a draft Implementation Plan, including appropriate roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, an implementation schedule and list of priority actions, for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012;

6. Welcomes the activities proposed by States Parties to the Convention for the 40th anniversary and encourages all States Parties and partner organizations to promote the anniversary and sponsor further events to reach out to the broader public;

7. Also requests that an updated report of activities on the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention be included on the World Heritage Centre web-page and be provided for information to the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012;

8. Decides that outcomes and progress in the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan should be presented to the General Assembly at its 19th session for its consideration.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC-11/35.COM/9A and WHC-11/35.COM/INF.9A ,

2. Recalling Decision 34 COM 9A , adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010),

3. Also recalling Resolution 17 GA 9 , adopted by the 17th session of the General Assembly (UNESCO, 2009),

4. Requests the World Heritage Centre to transmit the documents to the 18th session of the General Assembly (UNESCO, 2011) for examination.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/12A,

2. Recalling Decisions 32 COM 10 adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008), 33 COM 14A.2 adopted at its 33rd session (Seville, 2009), 34COM 12 adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010) and Resolution 17 GA 9 adopted at the 17th General Assembly of States Parties (UNESCO, 2009),

3. Notes that the World Heritage Convention is fast approaching a number of important milestones, including its 40th anniversary in 2012, the potential inscription of the 1000th property to the World Heritage List, and near universal ratification and that it is therefore appropriate to reflect on the successes of the Convention and on how it can best evolve to meet emerging challenges;

4. Recognizes the ongoing open-ended and inclusive participation of States Parties, Advisory Bodies, various UNESCO related institutions, programmes and networks, and non-governmental organizations in promoting and implementing the World Heritage Convention, including in relation to the transparent process of reflection on the future directions of the Convention;

5. Also notes that documents relating to the process of reflection on the future of the World Heritage Convention continue to be available for States Parties and other interested organizations at https://whc.unesco.org/en/futureoftheconvention/;

6. Also recalling that a consultative body was established under Rule 20 of its Rules of Procedure, and welcomes the progress made on the reflection on the future of the Convention at the Committee's 35th session (UNESCO Headquarters, 2011);

7. Expresses its appreciation to States Parties, Advisory Bodies, UNESCO Category 2 Centres specializing in cultural and natural heritage, and non-governmental organizations for their written submissions on the overall framework and particular activities that could be contained within the Strategic Action Plan, as well as the Draft Vision;

8. Takes note of the positive progress made in developing the draft Strategic Action Plan and Vision to guide the implementation of the World Heritage Convention over the decade 2012-2022 and the need to continue to reflect on the draft Strategic Action Plan and Vision as well as the activities to be described within the Strategic Action Plan;

9. Requests the Chair of the Consultative Group and the World Heritage Centre to expeditiously streamline and further refine the draft Strategic Action Plan and Vision, taking into account the discussions at the 33rd, 34th and 35th sessions of the World Heritage Committee, written submissions received, as well as the discussions at the 17th General Assembly of States Parties;

10. Decides to transmit the streamlined and refined draft Strategic Action Plan and Vision to the 18th session of the General Assembly of States Parties for consideration;

11. Notes the independent evaluation of the Global Strategy and PACT initiative, and in particular its recommendations (Document WHC-11/35.COM/INF.9A) to be transmitted to the 18th session of the General Assembly of States Parties for careful examination and reflection and requests the World Heritage Centre to seek written comments from States Parties on this document expeditiously for distribution on the World Heritage Centre website at https://whc.unesco.org/en/futureoftheconvention/

12. Also notes the need to develop an Implementation Plan to operationalise the priorities detailed in the Draft Strategic Action Plan and Vision, as well as priorities for international assistance as outlined in paragraph 235 of the Operational Guidelines, and further requests the World Heritage Centre to work with the Advisory Bodies to develop a draft Implementation Plan, including potential sources of funding for actions included within it, for consideration by the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee (2012), drawing upon inter alia the external audits on the implementation of the Global Strategy from its inception in 1994 to 2011 and the Partnership for Conservation Initiative (PACT), other existing strategy documents (such as the World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy and the Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy), as well as the recommendations of the expert working group meetings held on:

• the global state of conservation challenges for World Heritage properties (Dakar, Senegal, 13-15 April 2011),
• decision-making procedures of the statutory organs of the World Heritage Convention (Manama, Bahrain, 15-17 December 2010),
• improvements to 'upstream processes' prior to consideration of nominations by the World Heritage Committee (Phuket, Thailand, 27-29 April 2010),
• the relationship between the World Heritage Convention, conservation and sustainable development (Paraty, Brazil, 29-31 March 2010);

13. Recommends the 18th session of the General Assembly takes note of documents WHC-11/35.COM/12A, WHC-11/35.COM/12B, WHC-11/35.COM/12C, WHC-11/35.COM/12D and WHC-11/35.COM/INF.7C, as part of a summary of the work undertaken in relation to the reflection on the future of the Convention.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/12B,

2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 10 adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, Canada, 2008), Decision 33 COM 14A.2 adopted at its 33rd session (Seville, Spain, 2009), 34 COM 12 adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, Brazil, 2010) and Resolution 17 GA 9 adopted at the 17th General Assembly of States Parties (UNESCO Headquarters, 2009);

3. Expresses its appreciation to the States Parties of Bahrain and Australia and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for organizing the expert meeting on the decision-making procedures of the statutory organs of the World Heritage Convention (Manama, Bahrain, 15-17 December 2010), and notes the report provided by the participants (Document WHC-11/35.COM/12B); 

Amendments to Rules of Procedure

4. Adopts the following amendments to its Rules of Procedure:

Rule 8.3. The United Nations and organizations of the United Nations system, as well as, upon written request, at least 15 days prior to the date of the session of the Committee, other international governmental and non-governmental organizations, permanent observer missions to UNESCO and non profit-making institutions having activities in the fields covered by the Convention, [according to criteria defined by the World Heritage Committee,] may be authorized by the Committee to participate in the sessions of the Committee as observers.

Rule 14. Duties of the Chairperson, [Vice-Chairpersons and Rapporteur]

14.1 In addition to exercising the powers which are conferred upon him elsewhere by the present Rules, the Chairperson shall open and close each plenary meeting of the Committee. He shall direct the discussions, ensure observance of these Rules, accord the right to speak, put questions to the vote and announce decisions. He shall rule on points of order and, subject to the present Rules, shall control the proceedings and the maintenance of order. He shall not vote, but he may instruct another member of his delegation to vote on his behalf. [He shall work, with the assistance of the vice-chairpersons at his discretion, to anticipate and address potentially contentious issues, including out of session.] He shall exercise all other functions given to him by the Committee.

14.2 [Should the Chairperson be absent during a meeting, or any part thereof, he shall be replaced by a Vice-Chairperson.] A Vice-Chairperson acting as Chairperson shall have the same powers and duties as the Chairperson.

14.3 The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, or Vice-Chairpersons, of a subsidiary body of the Committee shall have the same duties with regard to the bodies over which they are called upon to preside as the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairpersons of the Committee.

[14.4 In addition to exercising the powers which are conferred upon him elsewhere by the present Rules, the Rapporteur shall certify that the Secretariat has accurately recorded the Committee's decisions. He shall work with the Secretariat to monitor and record Committee debate on amendments.]

Rule 22. Order and time-limit of speeches

22.1 The Chairperson shall call upon speakers in the order in which they signify their wish to speak.

22.2 The Chairperson may limit the time allowed to each speaker if the circumstances make this desirable.

[22.3 The Chairperson, at his discretion, shall call on speakers from the Advisory Bodies and the Secretariat prior to the Committee taking a final decision.]

22.4 The representatives of organizations, individuals and observers referred to in Rules 6, 7 and 8 may address the meeting with the prior consent of the Chairperson.

[22.5 The Chairperson shall put Committee members' questions to a State Party once at the end of the Committee's debate on the property]

[22.6 Committee members shall not speak to World Heritage properties in their own territories, except at the explicit invitation of the Chairperson and in response to specific questions posed. Advocacy in favour of a particular proposal will not be entertained.]

22.7 Representatives of a State Party, whether or not a member of the Committee, shall not speak to advocate the inclusion in the World Heritage List of a property nominated, [the state of conservation of a property on their territory] or the approval of an assistance request submitted by that State Party, but only to deal with a point of information in answer to a question. This provision also applies to other observers mentioned in Rule 8.

Responsibilities of Statutory Organs

5. Requests the World Heritage Centre to present a study, for consideration at the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee (2012), on options for:

a) oversight and monitoring mechanisms for the statutory organs of the World Heritage Convention to ensure that actions associated with priority policy issues are implemented, and

b) enhancing the role of the Bureau in facilitating the work of the Committee (without it assuming a decision-making role);

Expert meetings

6. Also requests the World Heritage Centre to develop and present annually a consolidated list of all proposed meetings in order for the Committee to decide which to sanction on the basis of priorities and available resources (human and financial), and encourages the option to hold virtual meetings where appropriate;

7. Requests the World Heritage Centre to clarify the different types and categories of expert meetings and decides that all meetings attended by the Secretariat should be documented in the Report on the Secretariat's activities to the Committee;

Conduct of statutory meetings

8. Decides that policy discussions in the Committee should be organised to enable participation by all States Parties through the use of Consultative Groups, or the recognition of requests for interventions from non-members of the Committee on policy agenda items, at the discretion of the Chair;

9. Decides that three regular (not extended) sessions of the Committee should be held each biennium as follows:

a) Even years - host country; agenda: reports, budget, nomination and state of conservation reports,

b) Odd years - host country; agenda: reports, budget, nomination and state of conservation reports, and

c) Odd years - UNESCO Headquarters immediately after the General Assembly, (which should be held within the period of UNESCO's General Conference ); agenda: strategic and policy issues and as necessary, reports on the state of conservation needing urgent examination;

10. Recognizes the need to improve processes for monitoring the state of conservation of World Heritage properties as a means of reducing workload, and decides to default to a minimum two-year cycle for the examination of state of conservation reports for individual properties on the World Heritage List, and for the discussion of those inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, except for cases of utmost urgency;

11. Decides 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;

12. Decides to develop "Policy Guidelines" for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, drawing in part on the results of expert meetings and consultative bodies;

13. Decides to establish a standing consultative body for review of the Committee's biennial budget;

14. Recommends Committee members consider refraining from bringing forward new nominations that might be discussed during their term serving on the Committee, without prejudice to nomination files already submitted, deferred or referred during previous Committee sessions, or nominations from least represented States Parties and that this provision be implemented on an experimental basis and be reviewed at its 38th session in 2014;

15. Also recommends that States Parties already well represented on the World Heritage List should exercise restraint in bringing forward new nominations in order to achieve a better balance of the List;

16. Requests States Parties to consider refraining from providing additional information regarding nominations and/or state of conservation issues after the deadlines indicated in the Operational Guidelines, as this information is not able to be evaluated by the Advisory Bodies;

Capacity building for participation in statutory meetings

17. Requests the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies to:

a) Include the orientation/induction session for Committee members on the annual Committee agenda and invite the direct participation of the Chairperson and Rapporteur,

b) Cooperate to develop tools to support Committee members, including a guide to standard language adopted in decisions, an updated searchable database of decisions, simple explanations of key procedures (especially voting procedures) and a republished edition of the Basic Texts,

c) Assess the advantages and disadvantages of merging the referral and deferral options for consideration of a nomination into a single mechanism, and give consideration to elaborating a proposal for draft amendments to paragraphs 159 and 160 of the Operational Guidelines in this regard,

d) Provide a simple explanation for consideration at the 36th session of the Committee of the processes and methods used to evaluate nominations and the state of conservation of World Heritage properties,

e) Develop further capacity building activities for the Chairperson, Rapporteur and Committee members, including through the systematic explanation of documents to States Parties;

Guidance on draft decisions

18. Also requests the World Heritage Centre to ensure that draft decisions:

a) Are concise and focused on issues central to the Convention (notably on matters related to Outstanding Universal Value),

b) Be limited to consideration of priority issues, and

c) Include, for inscription of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger, a costed programme of operations needed, as relevant, based on the desired state of conservation for the removal of the property of the List of World Heritage in Danger, as required in article 11.4 of the Convention and encourages the use of the international assistance in meeting these needs;

19. Also decides to enhance consistency, and as a standard practice, draft decisions addressing:

a) Development threats, recommend use of Environmental Impact Assessment/Heritage Impact Assessment,

b) Lack of capacity, recommend assessments of management effectiveness,

c) Funding required for particular actions, recommend applications for International Assistance from the World Heritage Fund;

20. Requests the World Heritage Centre to develop standard modular costs for core activities for consideration at the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee, to enable the Committee to assess the costs and workload implications of decisions for all stakeholders (States Parties, Committee, Secretariat, Advisory Bodies) prior to adoption;

Transparency of documents and statutory meetings

21. Requests the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies to continue the reflection on the best way for the States Parties to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Advisory Bodies during the assessment of the nominations processes, and with the Advisory Bodies and the Secretariat during the reactive monitoring process;

22. Decides that World Heritage Committee meetings should be live-streamed over the web and requests the World Heritage Centre to strengthen relations with media, including through media briefings prior to the opening of Committee sessions, capacity building for journalists on World Heritage matters, regular interface between the media and the Chairperson during Committee sessions and media training for the Chairperson and representatives of the Advisory Bodies and decides to open the meetings to accredited journalists;

23. Requests the World Heritage Centre to transmit Advisory Body evaluation reports to the relevant States Parties as soon as they are finalised, to allow time for proper dialogue and to make working documents public, at the time of their distribution to the States Parties.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/12C,

2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 10 adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008), Decision 33 COM 14A.2 adopted at its 33rd session (Seville, 2009), 34 COM 12 adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010) and Resolution 17 GA 9 adopted at the 17th General Assembly of States Parties (UNESCO Headquarters, 2009);

3. Taking into consideration the findings and recommendations of the evaluation of the Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List (Final report of the Audit of the Global Strategy and the PACT initiative, Document WHC-11/35.COM/INF.9A),

4. Welcomes all the actions undertaken to improve the processes and practices prior to consideration by the World Heritage Committee of a nomination (the 'upstream processes') and expresses its appreciation to States Parties for their collaboration in the selection of the proposed pilot projects and to the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre that prepared the feasibility studies;

5. Takes note of the pilot projects that have been chosen to implement this experimental approach and requests the States Parties concerned to nominate focal points for this purpose;

6. Requests the States Parties concerned to fully collaborate, providing technical support and seek funding to implement the required actions, encourages them to seek assistance from the World Heritage Fund, if necessary and calls upon States Parties and the international community to provide technical and financial support to assist the States Parties concerned in the implementation of their pilot projects;

7. Decides that priority should be given to Preparatory Assistance requests submitted by concerned States Parties who do not have the necessary financial means;

8. Invites the Director General to use existing extra-budgetary funds to support the upstream processes and to seek new extra-budgetary funds for this purpose;

9. Also requests States Parties whose heritage is already well represented on the World Heritage List to consider linking each of their nominations with a nomination presented by a State Party whose heritage is un-represented or under-represented as foreseen in paragraph 59c of the Operational Guidelines, in the framework of the Global Strategy;

10. Further requests the Advisory Bodies to work with the States Parties concerned to place the work of the upstream process within the larger context of national capacity building, and where possible, link this work to the development of national capacity-building strategies foreseen within the World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy;

11. Requests furthermore the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre to report on the progress in implementing the pilot projects for consideration of the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC-11/35.COM/12D and WHC-11/35.COM/9B,

2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 10 adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008), Decision 33 COM 14A.2 adopted at its 33rd session (Seville, 2009), 34 COM 12 adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010) and Resolution 17 GA 9 adopted at the 17th General Assembly of States Parties (UNESCO Headquarters, 2009),

3. Notes that the World Heritage Convention is fast approaching a number of important milestones, including its 40th anniversary in 2012;

4. Takes note of the progress made in preparing for celebrating the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention under the theme "World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Local Communities";

5. Encourages States Parties to develop, support and carry out activities to promote the anniversary and to notify the World Heritage Centre of their intention to host events to celebrate the 40th anniversary as soon as practicable, and further encourages States Parties to mobilize various UNESCO related institutions, programmes and networks to join in celebrating the anniversary and reaching out to the broader public;

6. Invites the World Heritage Centre to implement the proposed programme of activities assisted by extrabudgetary funding available or to be identified;

7. Requests the World Heritage Centre, with the support of the Advisory Bodies, to develop, for further consideration the proposal contained in Document WHC-11/35.COM/12D on the establishment of a Site Management Network to facilitate exchange and sharing of information on best practice heritage management and further to explore ways of recognising and rewarding best practice through a one-off initiative at the closing event of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention (November 2012, Japan); also requests the World Heritage Centre to seek extrabudgetary funding to secure the necessary resources and technical support;

8. Notes that the World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy (WHC-11/35.COM/9B) includes several global activities for capacity building under the theme of World Heritage and Sustainable Development;

9. Requests the World Heritage Centre to research further the implications of and possible timing for an International World Heritage Day for raising awareness on World Heritage;

10. Acknowledges the statements made by the Representative of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) at its 34th and 35th sessions, held in Brasilia (Brazil, 2010) and Paris (UNESCO Headquarters, 2011), respectively, and notes that UNESCO is in the process of preparing a policy with regard to its programs on indigenous peoples; further notes that these considerations should be included in the theme of the 40th anniversary, "World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Local Communities";

11. Invites the World Heritage Centre to organise an exhibition paying tribute to Egyptologist Christiane Desroche-Noblecourt (1913-2011) and her role in saving the Nubian Temples in 1959, which gave rise to international cooperation for the safeguarding of monuments and the creation of the World Heritage Convention, provided extra-budgetary funds are identified for this purpose;

12. Requests the World Heritage Centre to report on the progress made to the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee (2012).

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/INF.7C,

2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 10 adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008), Decision 33 COM 14A.2 adopted at its 33rd session (Seville, 2009), 34 COM 12 adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010) and Resolution 17 GA 9 adopted at the 17th General Assembly of States Parties (UNESCO Headquarters, 2009),

3. Expresses its appreciation to the States Parties of Australia and Senegal and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for organising the expert meeting on global state of conservation challenges of World Heritage properties (Dakar, Senegal, 13-15 April 2011);

4. Notes the report provided by the participants at the above-mentioned expert meeting;

5. Invites contributions of relevant expertise and financial resources to assist States Parties implement decisions on the state of conservation of World Heritage properties;

6. Reiterates that nominations of properties for inscription on the World Heritage List must demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value in line with the criteria for inscription and comply with integrity/authenticity, protection and management requirements, as set out in the Operational Guidelines;

7. Requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to develop guidance, for consideration at the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee, to clarify:

a) The uses, limits and documentation requirements for traditional management (paragraphs 108 and following),

b) The need for Environmental Impact Assessments/Heritage Impact Assessments of potential developments' impact on Outstanding Universal Value, the range of proposed activities with a likely impact on Outstanding Universal Value to be reported on and the documentation required by the World Heritage Centre (Paragraph 172), and

c) Buffer zones or other protection mechanisms, noting the recommendations contained in document WHC-08/32.COM/7.1;

8. Requests that aspects concerning partnerships should be dealt with after the report of the external auditor on PACT at the 18th General Assembly of States Parties;

9. Requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to develop options to strengthen and improve the state of conservation reporting process, in particular  to increase dialogue with States Parties about World Heritage properties facing challenges;

10. Also requests the World Heritage Centre to formally notify States Parties of the state of conservation reports on World Heritage properties on their territory which will be the subject of examination by the Committee at the session indicated;

11. Also requests the World Heritage Centre to report at the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee on possible ways to encourage United Nations recognition for the protectors of World Heritage properties in conflict and post conflict zones, including through the use of blue/green berets or other appropriate insignia, and reminds States Parties to include details of Disaster Risk Reduction/Emergency Planning arrangements in their nomination dossiers and management plans;

12. Further requests the World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies, in addition to the presentation of state of conservation reports on individual properties, to prepare a thematic report on significant global and regional factors negatively impacting the Outstanding Universal Value of the properties, grouped according to the five categories of factors affecting the Outstanding Universal Value identified in the Periodic Report questionnaire, Section II, to ensure a greater coherence in the decision making on individual sites;

13. Requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to provide, in the state of conservation reports on individual properties, a link to an integrated online database compiling all relevant background information concerning the property (previous state of conservation reports and Committee decisions, desired state of conservation, corrective measures, International Assistance requests, etc.) necessary for well-informed decision-making, to be hosted on the World Heritage Centre's website;

14. Also requests the Advisory Bodies to develop a database of existing guidance on key factors negatively impacting on the Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage properties and tools for best management practice;

15. Recalling that being a signatory to the World Heritage Convention entails certain responsibilities, including a requirement to follow the Operational Guidelines, management of World Heritage properties according to the highest international standards, promotion of good governance and allocation of adequate funding for the protection of World Heritage properties, encourages States Parties to:

a) Develop adequate legislative frameworks to ensure compliance with the Operational Guidelines and set up a collaborative framework between agencies for the conservation of properties, including agencies in charge of the follow up of other conventions and international agreements,

b) Source assistance and support beyond what is available under the UNESCO World Heritage Fund, noting that tools, methodology and guidance are available both internationally and nationally from the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre and additional support should be sought from other donors, NGOs and international organizations,

c) Be proactive in relation to development and conservation of World Heritage properties by conducting a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) at the time of nomination to anticipate the impact of any potential development on the Outstanding Universal Value,

d) Ensure that EIA/HIA are conducted for development projects which could affect properties and that these specifically assess the impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of properties,

e) Involve indigenous peoples and local communities in decision making, monitoring and evaluation of the state of conservation of the properties and their Outstanding Universal Value and link the direct community benefits to protection outcomes,

f) Respect the rights of indigenous peoples when nominating, managing and reporting on World Heritage sites in indigenous peoples' territories;

g) Establish and promote horizontal cooperation and understanding among various institutions that have an impact on cultural and natural heritage, also including governmental institutions responsible for UNESCO programmes implementation on national level, economy, finance, regional development/ planning, tourism, social welfare as well as local authorities,

h) Follow the Recommendation concerning the Protection, at National Level, of the Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted simultaneously with the World Heritage Convention, by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972.