Old City of Sana'a

• Modern constructions and uncontrolled expansion of commercial activities (issue resolved)
• Lack of a Safeguarding Plan (issue resolved)
• Fly-over bridge project (issue resolved)
• Uncontrolled vertical and horizontal additions
• Use of inappropriate building materials and techniques
• Densification of the historic fabric through occupation of green areas
• Functional decay of the residential neighborhoods. 

Total amount granted: 1988: USD 374,800, UNDP/UNESCO project in support of local staff training and fund-raising. 2004-2006: USD 60,000 for the Inventory of the historic city (Italian Funds-in-Trust)

The State Party submitted a report on 19 January 2014, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/385/documents. In 2013, due to the upheaval in the country, its report was submitted late and presented orally to the Committee.  Both reports underscore the dire economic and social crises that have afflicted the country since January 2011 but also suggest some progress, particularly since the end of 2012. Due to the unstable situation within Yemen, it has not yet been possible to organise the foreseen joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission.

In response to the World Heritage Committee’s specific requests, the State Party has reported in both reports as follows:

• Support of the International Community: Funds are urgently needed to implement conservation measures and to re-structure the management of the property.  Although a GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation) project has been established to support the General Organisation for the Preservation of the Historic Cities of Yemen (GOHPCY)’s capacity building, there has been no other external support. The State Party expresses a wish that the Committee might re-iterate its call to the international community to offer support.
• Piped water and Sewage project: A major project for rehabilitating the water and sewage network for Sana’a is being progressed by the Sana’a Secretariat without GOPHCY’s involvement and expresses concern over its possible effects on the property.  On 9 February 2014, GOPHCY wrote to the World Heritage Centre expressing worries and underlining that the project has been already tendered. In its reply, the World Heritage Centre asked the State Party to provide the relevant documents and plans as per the provisions of paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, in order to assist GOPHCY in seeking appropriate solutions to ensure that the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property is fully preserved, and called on the National Water and Sewerage Agency to collaborate with GOPHCY in order to include in the infrastructure project provisions regarding appropriate mitigation measures.
• Law of Protection of historic sites, monuments, cities and their urban and cultural heritage: A law on the Protection of historic sites, monuments, cities and their urban and cultural heritage was officially adopted in August 2013. Bylaw regulations are prepared and standards, measurements and guidelines for the maintenance, restoration and rehabilitation of the historic cities, sites and buildings are also being drafted.

The State Party also reports on the following:

• A Prime Minister’s Decree was issued in 2013 for the endorsement of the urgent executive plan for Sana’a;
• A rapid assessment of 70% of the historic building stock has been carried out by GOPHCY as a basis for urgent future interventions;
• A one year moratorium on new construction within the property and on issuing any new contracts has been agreed;
• A manual of preservation law is being elaborated with the support of GIZ;
• Support has been requested from the UNESCO Doha office for the revision of the GOPHCY cultural heritage strategy.

In March 2014, the State Party submitted an International Assistance Request to undertake the necessary field surveys and cartography in view of the preparation of the property’s Conservation Plan. In addition, ICCROM reports that it is working with the State Party on building long-term national capacity for conservation professionals through university programmes.

In spite of the extreme conditions that have prevailed over the past three years, some positive measures have been initiated and there has been a notable achievement in terms of the approval of a new Heritage Law and the Prime Minister’s Decree for the endorsement of the urgent executive plan for Sana’a and the one year moratorium on new construction within the property and on issuing any new contracts.

The support of GIZ has been instrumental for capacity building with GOPHCY, but the urgent need for further external support for conservation and for re-structuring the management of the property in order to allow more proactive work remains. The current project to rehabilitate water and sewage pipes for the city is clearly much needed to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants. It is nevertheless noted that this project appears to be implemented by the National Water and Sewerage Agency without the involvement of GOPHCY and without the appropriate risk mitigation measures and conservation-friendly approaches, and has already been tendered. This means that technical advice on the potential impacts of the project on structures of individual buildings and on embedded archaeology around the buildings appears currently not to be in place, and advice on how the project could be undertaken to minimise adverse impacts on cultural heritage and on the overall attributes of OUV is not provided. There is an urgent need for the management of the project to be re-structured to allow adequate technical advice from cultural heritage professionals. As no detailed plans have so far been supplied, these should be submitted at the earliest opportunity and a Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment should be undertaken before any detailed contracts are defined or let or any work commences.