News

Istanbul, Turkey, 15 July—The World Heritage Committee, meeting for its 40th session since 10 July, this morning inscribed four new sites in China, India, Iran and Micronesia on the World Heritage List. Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia in the Federated States of Micronesia was inscribed both on the World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The new ...

Istanbul, Turkey, 14 July—The World Heritage Committee today placed the five World Heritage sites of Libya on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of damage caused by the conflict affecting the country and the threat of further damage it poses. The five sites are: Archaeological Site of Cyrene, Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna, Archaeological Site of Sabratha, Rock-Art Sites of ...

Istanbul, Turkey, 13 July — The World Heritage Committee has decided to add Uzbekistan’s Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz to the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the over-development of tourist infrastructure in the site. The Committee expressed concern over the destruction of buildings in the centre of the World Heritage site’s Medieval neighbourhoods and the construction of modern ...

Istanbul, Turkey, 13 July—The World Heritage Committee has decided to remove Georgia’s Historical Monuments of Mtskheta site from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee’s decision reflects recognition of Georgia’s efforts to improve the safeguarding and management of the site, which had been on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 2009. It had been put on the List in ...

Istanbul, Turkey, 13 July—The World Heritage Committee has added the Old Towns of Djennéthe List of World Heritage in Danger due to insecurity, which is affecting the area and preventing the implementation of protective measures for the Malian World Heritage site. The Committee has expressed concern over the property, which is situated in an area affected by insecurity. This situation is ...

Istanbul, 10 July - The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee opened today in Istanbul (Turkey) under the chairmanship of Lale Ülker, Ambassador, Director General of Cultural Affairs and Promotion Abroad of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The opening ceremony was an opportunity to stress that World Heritage, which is now, more than ever, the subject of numerous threats, must ...

Istanbul, July 10 - The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today appointed Turkish musician Kudsi Ergüner, UNESCO Artist for Peace, at a ceremony held had the Congress Center in Istanbul (Turkey) following the opening ceremony of the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee, which ends on 20 July. Kudsi Ergüner is named in recognition of his efforts to promote the universal values ...

[in French only] Il faudrait construire 90 000 logements par jour, d’ici à 2030, pour répondre aux besoins de 3 milliards de personnes selon UN-Habitat. Face à ce défi, l’architecture de terre propose un certain nombre de solutions. Souvent sous-estimée comme matériau de construction, la terre est pourtant utilisée encore aujourd’hui par plus d’un tiers de la population mondiale. Elle offre ...

From 23-25 June 2016, UNESCO brought together site managers from natural and cultural heritage sites in Tanzania, which are recognized as World Heritage and/or Man and Biosphere Reserves (MAB), community representatives, private partners and national authorities for a workshop to raise capacities in planning and writing project proposals. A total of 35 participants gathered near Kilimanjaro ...

This workshop is part of UNESCO’s ongoing efforts to address the priorities of the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting for the Africa region, which called for increased capacity-building in dealing with risks and threats to heritage properties at both site-level and regional-level, The training course was co-organized by the African World Heritage Fund, a UNESCO category 2 centre, in ...

Cultural heritage around the world suffers from intentional attacks, collateral damage, looting and the effects of natural disasters.  Reaching affected sites and areas quickly to monitor the situation, plan for restoration and prevent further loss often proves very difficult. Thanks to a partnership between UNESCO and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), ...

The World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the winners of the #OurWorldHeritage photo and story competition. The Instagram campaign aimed to invite people to share their unique World Heritage stories and experiences with the rest of the global community. Over the course of the competition, more than 1800 posts with the hashtag #OurWorldHeritage were published on social media. Even ...

The World Heritage Committee will examine proposals to inscribe 29 sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its 40th session (10 to 20 July), which will be chaired by Ambassador Lale Ülker, General Director for Overseas Promotion and Cultural Affairs at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The session will be held at the Istanbul Congress Centre. The Committee will examine the ...

On 9 March 2016, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan officially deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage with the Director-General of UNESCO. South Sudan become the 192nd State Party to the World Heritage Convention on 9 June 2016, when the Convention entered into force for this country. To date, ...

Over the last several weeks, the World Heritage Centre has received numerous messages from citizens and NGOs expressing their concerns regarding the development of the Vienna Ice Skating Rink, the Hotel Intercontinental and the Konzerthaus site, and other conservation issues within the boundaries of the property. It should be noted that the competent authorities of the State Party of the ...

“The destruction of heritage is inseparable from the persecution of people. This is why we consider the protection of cultural heritage today as far more than a cultural issue. This has become a humanitarian imperative, and a security issue,” stated UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova today in The Hague during the Europe Lecture 2016, organised by the European Lecture Foundation in ...

At its 40th session to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 10 to 20 July 2016, the World Heritage Committee will examine the state of conservation of a number of World Heritage properties.  The full reports on 152 properties are now publicly available through the World Heritage Centre’ State of conservation Information System at the following Web address: https://whc.unesco.org/en/soc As part ...

Following South Sudan’s ratification of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in January 2016, UNESCO organized a technical workshop from 8 to 13 June 2016 in Juba to support the process of preparing South Sudan’s World Heritage Tentative List. Over ten representatives from ministries responsible for natural and cultural heritage, NGOs, and Juba University participated in the workshop, which ...

UNESCO’s Director-General condemns the Destruction of Nabu Temple in Nimrud “The recent destruction of Nabu Temple is a new deliberate attack against the Iraqi people and against the shared values of humanity” said the Director General of UNESCO. “I condemn in the strongest manner this new crime and reiterate UNESCO’s determination to do whatever is needed to support the national responsible ...

We are living in a time of unprecedented change. As we celebrate our marine treasures this World Oceans Day, we at UNESCO are also reflecting on the work needed to sustain them as sea levels rise, and the water grows warmer and more acidic. This year, the effects of climate change have been multiplied by a strong El Niño that has brought record-breaking temperatures to much of the Pacific ...