Travel, accommodation and allowance funding for five Least Developed Countries in the Pacific (Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu) to attend the Pacific World Heritage Workshop in Suva, Fiji
Fiji
Objectives
The Pacific World Heritage Workshop to be held in Suva, Fiji, from 25 to 30 November 2013 was the fifth of its kind. It aimed at gathering the Pacific countries and island territories to discuss the World Heritage programme in the Pacific, and more specifically the progress in implementation of the Pacific World Heritage Action Plan (2010-2015), and to elaborate the next Action Plan. It would be held just prior to the 9th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas organized by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (Suva, Fiji, 2-6 December 2013).
The objective of this assistance was to strengthen the capacities of cultural heritage experts in five Least Developed Countries in the Pacific by supporting their participation in the Pacific World Heritage Workshop.
Results
This project funded the participation in the Pacific World Heritage workshop of a cultural heritage expert from each of the following countries: Samoa, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. All of these are Small Islands Developing States, remote, vulnerable to environmental challenges such as climate change and generally small in size, at least in terms of land surface.
Approximately 60 participants attended the Pacific World Heritage workshop (Suva, Fiji, 27-30 November 2013), representing the countries of the Pacific region, ICOMOS International, ICOMOS Pacifika and IUCN Oceania, as well as regional Pacific agencies. More than 20 observers took part in the discussions, such as the French Embassy in Suva, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Heritage Institute for Training for Asia and the Pacific (WHITRAP), as well as the organisations involved in culture and heritage activities in Fiji.
During this workshop, a regional World Heritage Action Plan for the Pacific (2016-2020) was developed. This workshop helped to enhance regional cooperation through the Pacific World Heritage Network. It included a capacity-building component, with several thematic issues such as conservation and management, climate change, risk preparedness and sustainable tourism presented by experts and regional partners and discussed in roundtables and working groups.