The millennial temples of Angkor with their monumental architecture, infinitely fine bas-reliefs, enduring spiritual significance and complex irrigation system constitute one of the most impressive success stories of the World Heritage Convention. The symbol of a whole nation, the 400km2 site lay fallow in the early 1990s. While monks continued to pray at many temples in the site, ...

Two World Heritage sites in Azerbaijan and three in Belgium have been given "enhanced protection" status by the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which held its eighth meeting at UNESCO Headquarters from 18-19 December 2013. The properties, which have been granted this status, are the Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah’s Palace and ...

Happy New Year from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)World Heritage fosters sustainable development. For SIDS, sustainable development is not a choice, but a question of survival.-->

The proceedings of the International Colloquium on the conservation of World Heritage Earthen Architecture have been published in the latest edition of the UNESCO World Heritage Paper Series: Earthen Architecture in Today’s World, thanks to the generous support of the Italian Funds in Trust to UNESCO. The Colloquium took place at UNESCO Headquarters on 17 and 18 December 2012 - the ...

The World Heritage site in Bamiyan has received further support today with the Government of the Republic of Korea committing to provide US$5.4 to build a museum and cultural centre. The signing of the agreement saw the participation of H.E. Dr. Sayed Makhdoum Raheen, Minister of Information and Culture, H.E. Mr. Cha Youngcheol, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Afghanistan, and Mr. ...

UNESCO dispatched an expert mission to the Philippines from 4 to 11 December following the massive earthquake and powerful typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which successively struck the central region of the country in October and early November 2013. The goal of the mission was to assist the Government and people of the Philippines in assessing the impact of the disasters on immovable, movable, and ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Panasonic Corporation have released the 2014 World Heritage calendar. Featuring stunning photographs of World Heritage sites from around the world, this popular calendar can be used in paper, online and tablet app versions. UNESCO and Panasonic have been creating wall calendars since 1995 and a web version since 2010. The wall calendar includes brief ...

Ádám Riba, from Hungary, the laureate of this year’s Panasonic Eco Picture Diary award, was one of the 28 children from 11 countries who were given a three-day trip to Paris and a visit to UNESCO for their participation in the Eco Picture Diary on 5 December. Three-hundred thousand children from all over the world took part in the contest which requires children ...

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today paid tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday night, 5 December. “Nelson Mandela was truly a giant among men,” Irina Bokova said. “He not only changed South Africa’s history, he changed the world and made it a better place. He taught us all a lesson on the power of peace and  reconciliation;  the importance of ...

Available for iPad, Android and Kindle Fire tablets, this new app allows you to download World Heritage magazine. Lavishly illustrated, and published quarterly since 1996 in English, French and Spanish, World Heritage is UNESCO’s official publication devoted to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List and their conservation. With the app, not only can you read exclusive articles ...

Published on the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, this thematic collection of case studies provides a thorough understanding of World Heritage sites and their Outstanding Universal Value in the context of sustainable development. It is now available in French and Korean versions. The case studies describe twenty-six thematically, typologically and regionally diverse World ...

A massive earthquake and powerful typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) successively struck central Philippines in October and early November 2013, causing catastrophic destruction and human loss. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has expressed its deepest sympathy to the Government and people of the Philippines for their tragic losses, and conveyed its commitment to support their recovery ...

The 24 members of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will meet in Baku (Azerbaijan) from 2 to 7 December 2013 for the eighth ordinary session to review the progress made by the States Parties on the legal, regulatory and institutional measures taken to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage in their countries. Over ...

Are you a youth organization and want to sensitize young people about the value of World Heritage sites?  Or are you an NGO and wish to organize an action camp to preserve and promote a World Heritage site, with young international volunteers? Here is a way to do so! We are pleased to announce the call for proposals for the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) 2014. This year the campaign ...

On 27 November, Swiss watch manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre, a partner of the World Heritage Centre, donated 30,000 Euros for the preservation of Cocos Island National Park. This World Heritage marine site is located 550 km off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and is the only island in the tropical eastern Pacific with a tropical rainforest. The donation will be used to improve the conditions ...

UNWTO is the specialized agency of the United Nations in charge of promoting a responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. A new memorandum of Understanding was signed by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, in the margins of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination in New York. The Agreement provides a framework for ...

On 19 November, representatives of the 190 States Parties to the 1972 World Heritage Convention elected 12 new members to the 21-member intergovernmental Committee in charge of managing UNESCO’s World Heritage List and implementing the Convention. The new members of the World Heritage Committee, elected for four years, are: Croatia, Finland, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, ...

Celebrating 40 years of the World Heritage Convention, the proceedings of the Closing Event of the Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, has been published. This electronic publication provides the vivid record of the three-day landmark event, which was organized jointly by the Government of Japan and UNESCO World Heritage Centre, in Kyoto, Japan, 6-8 November ...

This manual provides guidance for States Parties and all those involved in the care of World Heritage cultural properties on how to comply with the requirements of the World Heritage Convention. It also aims to help States Parties to ensure that heritage has a dynamic role in society and harnesses, but also delivers to others, the mutual benefits that such a role can create. Managing ...

The significant number of reports prepared by UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee represents an exceptional documentation on conservation issues, one of the most comprehensive monitoring systems of any international conventions, through a global network of hundreds of sites. The Information System is a comprehensive database on the state of conservation of World ...