News

The ‘Culture, Tourism and COVID-19: Recovery, Resiliency and Rejuvenation’ global debate takes place on 28 September, 2020, 13.30-15.00 CET. The debate is organized by UNESCO, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property ...

The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention set forth the procedures for the protection and conservation of World Heritage properties, the inscription of properties on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, the granting of International Assistance under the World Heritage Fund, and the mobilization of national and international ...

In the framework of the new communication strategy with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), the World Heritage Centre (WHC), the Africa and Arab State units, and the AWHF held an online quarterly meeting on 22 September 2020. The AWHF presented its Work plan for the 16 activities (from now until the beginning of 2021) including Online Nomination Training for African Countries, Training ...

UNESCO will host the last of three ResiliArt online debates dedicated to Lebanon, ResiliArt Lebanon: Bridging the Past and Future through Built Heritage, on 24 September, from 6 pm to 7.30 pm (CET). It will bring together experts and actors in the field of built heritage to discuss the impact of the 4 August blast on the architectural and urban heritage of Beirut, and ways to implement a ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Audrey Azoulay, strongly condemned the killing of two employees of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) on 17 September 2020 at the Adusa post of the entrance to the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, a property inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  "In a global context already weakened by a health ...

‘Le Pôle international francophone de formation et d’échanges des gestionnaires de sites patrimoniaux’ is offering training for French speaking site managers in 2022. The Call for applications is open until 15 November 2021. The 8th edition of intensive international training for site managers "Building together the future of heritage sites: developing and implementing sustainable management" ...

World Cleanup Day harnesses the power of people around the world to cooperate and collaborate to clean our environment, including UNESCO World Heritage sites. This effort involves all levels of society – from citizens to business, to government to reduce the harmful effects of pollution in communities all over the world. Pollution is a global problem requiring a global solution, even in the ...

Unprecedented fires are blazing through the Pantanal, threatening numerous endangered species and the highly valuable ecosystem. The Rapid Response Facility, a joint initiative of UNESCO and Fauna and Flora International (FFI), is supporting firefighting activity in the Pantanal Biosphere Reserve to prevent fires from spreading into the Pantanal Conservation Area World Heritage site. The ...

The African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) is coordinating the Modern Heritage of Africa (MoHoA) Programme in collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to define, identify, ...

Three participants from Ethiopia, together with 16 other representatives from Anglophone Africa, are taking part in an online World Heritage Nomination Workshop for Advanced Dossiers under the framework of the World Heritage Nomination Capacity Building Programme from 10 to 17 September 2020. The  online workshop, which was organized by the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), International ...

Two World Heritage properties in Madagascar - Tsingy de Bemaraha Integrated Nature Reserve and the Belo-sur-Mer Kirindy-Mitea Biosphere Reserve - received financial support for COVID-19 recovery and emergency response from the programme #SOSAfricanHeritage funded by the German Commission for UNESCO. The grants follow submission of two project proposals by Madagascar National Parks entitled ...

Following a devastating fire on 5 June 2020 at the World Heritage property of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi in Uganda, UNESCO, through the Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF), is providing financial and technical assistance to support the urgent procurement and installation of a firefighting system at the property, as well as training in fire prevention and disaster risk management for the ...

Heavy rainfall over the past week in Sudan has resulted in extensive flooding, destroying homes, infrastructure, farms and livelihoods of communities. This situation, which might make it increasingly difficult to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, has prompted the declaration of a three-month state of emergency in the country. UNESCO is closely monitoring the situation of two World Heritage ...

Within the framework of the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the inscription of the Mayan Site of Copán on the World Heritage List, the Honduran authorities and the UNESCO Multi-Country Office in San José organized the debate “The Role of World Heritage for Sustainable Development in the Framework of the Post-COVID-19 Crisis: The Example of the Mayan Site of Copán.” This event was an ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the Call for Projects for the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Campaign 2021 ‘Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage’. This Call is an invitation for all interested organizations and institutions to apply for the WHV 2021 Campaign with their proposed projects, and join the selected organizations/institutions of the WHV 2020 ...