The World Heritage Fund, created in 1972 by the World Heritage Convention, receives most of its income from compulsory contributions from countries (States Parties), and from voluntary contributions. The total received each year is just under US$4 million, a modest sum considering the magnitude of world heritage needs.
Donations are important. Your donation can help make preservation of our world’s most precious sites possible. Click here to make a donation.
The World Heritage Fund is used to provide international assistance to States Parties in the following areas: preparatory assistance for the nomination of sites, training activities, technical cooperation, emergency assistance, or promotional and educational activities.
There are 21 Committee members represented by 21 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention.
Please refer to Rule 14 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly: "Election of the members of the World Heritage Committee"
No, there is no provision.
As per Rule 13.1 of the Rules of procedure of the General Assembly, candidatures should be sent to the Secretariat at least six weeks prior to the opening of the General Assembly.
As per Rule 13.4, this list of candidatures shall be finalised 48 hours before the opening of the General Assembly. No other candidatures nor payments of compulsory and voluntary contributions to the World Heritage Fund (for the purpose of presenting a candidature to the Committee) will be accepted in the 48-hour period prior to the opening of the General Assembly.
Candidatures should be sent to the following address:
The Director
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
7 place de Fontenoy
75352 Paris 07 SP, France
As per article 16.5 of the Convention:
"Any State Party to the Convention which is in arrears with the payment of its compulsory or voluntary contribution for the current year and the calendar year immediately preceding it shall not be eligible as a Member of the World Heritage Committee, although this provision shall not apply to the first election."
If you have a suggestion for a World Heritage site, you may wish to send your proposal to the UNESCO National Commission in the country concerned. To see the contact details of the National Commission, click on the name of the country in the list of States Parties.