The Committee elected Mr. Francesco Francioni (Italy) as Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee and Mr. Noel Fattal (Lebanon) as Rapporteur. The Vice-Chairs elected were: Benin, Ecuador, Japan, Morocco and the United States of America.
The Second General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972) met in Paris on 24 November 1978.
Of the 40 States which were Parties to the Convention as at 24 November 1978, and thus had the right to vote, the following 34 States were represented at the meeting :
Algeria
Jordan
Argentina
Morocco
Australia
Nepal
Bolivia
Niger
Brazil
Nigeria
Bulgaria
Norway
Canada
Pakistan
Costa ...
2 GA 7
Election of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons and Rapporteur of the General Assembly and adoption of the Rules of Procedure
7. The General Assembly then adopted its Rules of Procedure and elected by acclamation . Punisa A. Pavlovic as Chairman, the representatives of .Ecuador and Norway as Vice-Chairmen, and Mr. Tidjani Hamet (Niger) as Rapporteur.
8. The agenda of the meeting was approved unanimously by the General Assembly which devoted two sessions to the election of members of the Committee and to the determination of the amount of the contribution to the World Heritage Fund.
9. Twenty-one State Parties had presented their candidature for election to the World Heritage Committee : Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Idea, Cyprus, :Ethiopia, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, Senegal, Sudan, Switzerland, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zaire.
10. The Chairman explained to the General Assembly the procedure to be followed for the election of members of the Committee. As a result of the increase in the number of States having ratified or accepted the Convention, the number of members of the ...
2 GA 17
Determination of the amount of the contributions to the World Heritage Fund in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of the World Heritage Convention
17. The General Assembly then considered Item 7 of the Agenda, and decided unanimously that the amount of the contribution foreseen in Article 16, paragraph 1, of the Convention would be fixed at of the contribution of States Parties to the Regular Budget of the Organization for 1979-1980. In-reply to a question raised by one of the delegates, the Deputy Assistant Director-General (Operational Activities) of the Sector of Culture and Communication, explained that the amounts of the contributions to the World Heritage Fund indicated in the annex to document CC-78/CONF.011/4 had been ...
18. The observer from Guatemala announced to the General Assembly that his government had decided to ratify the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and that he was depositing that day with the Secretariat two nominations for inclusion in the World Heritage List relating to Tikal National Park and the Old City of Guatemala.19. One delegate underlined the importance of the work already accomplished by the Committee and invited the delegations to take note of two fundamentally important documents which could serve as a basis for future action to ...
3 BUR XI.19
Nomination submitted by Yugoslavia of the Kotor natural and historical region to the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger
The Bureau decided to recommend that this site be entered on the two lists provided that the Committee agreed with a special procedure for the emergency inscription of properties on the World Heritage List.
The Bureau decided that the technical cooperation request should be examined after the Committee had taken decisions on the above mentioned matters.
The Bureau noted that the Secretariat had received a request for $60,000 for technical co-operation for Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal. However, this request had been received after the deadline and had not been fully processed. The Bureau consequently decided to examine it at a later session.
Sites: Sagarmatha National Park
After examining the request, the Bureau decided to grant to Ecuador funds amounting to $12,000 in connection with the organization of a ten-day seminar in the Galapagos for national park personnel.
Sites: Galápagos Islands
The third session of the World Heritage Committee was held in Cairo, Egypt (22 October 1979) and in Luxor, Egypt (23-26 October) at the kind invitation of the Egyptian Government. The meeting was attended by the following States members of the World Heritage Committee: Australia, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Iran, Italy, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Senegal, Switzerland, United States of America and Yugoslavia.
Representatives of the International Centre for Conservation (ICCROM), of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) attended the meeting in an advisory capacity.
Observers from three States Parties to the Convention which were not members of the Committee, namely Canada, Federal Republic of Germany and Honduras also attended the session, as well as observers from two other international organizations: the Organization for Museums, Monuments and Sites of Africa (OMMSA) and the International Union of Architects (IUA).
The full list of participants will be found in Annex I to this report.
The Chairman, Mr. David Hales, declared the session open and proposed that items 2 to 4 of the Provisional Agenda be considered before the inaugural ceremony.
This Proposal was accepted by the Committee which proceeded to examine the Provisional Agenda prepared for the meeting. The Chairman proposed that:
i) an additional item be added to the agenda as item 5, namely"Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and action to be taken thereon";
ii) items 5 and 6 of the Provisional Agenda be examined as one item, and
iii) item 14 should be reworded as follows "Support services to the Secretariat and to the advisory international organizations".
With those modifications, the ...
The Committee had before it a recommendation from the Bureau that the Committee's Rules of Procedure be amended to provide for the replacement of the Rapporteur when the Rapporteur was unable to act at any session of the Committee or part thereof or was unable for any reason to complete his term of office (document CC-79/CONF.003/2). The procedure proposed for the replacement of the Rapporteur was identical to that foreseen in the Rules of Procedure for the replacement of the Chairman.
After examining the Bureau's proposal, the Committee therefore decided to amend its Rules of Procedure by inserting immediately after Rule 14 an additional Rule providing for the replacement of the Rapporteur. Rules 15 to 37 would be re-numbered accordingly.
Dr. Shehata Adam (Egypt) was elected as Chairman of the Committee by acclamation. The Committee then elected by acclamation the following States members of the Committee as Vice-Chairmen: Bulgaria, Nepal, Panama, Senegal and United States of America and Mr. Michel Parent (France) as Rapporteur.
In a reply to a member of the Committee, Dr. Shehata Adam, in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee, stated that States members of the Bureau would be invited to designate as their representatives at meetings of the Bureau persons qualified in both the natural and the cultural heritage, so that a proper balance would be maintained.
The Committee was honoured by the presence of H. Exc. Mrs. Jihan El-Sadat, First Lady of Egypt and of H. Exc. Dr. Mansour Hassan, Minister of Presidency, Information and Culture, who both addressed the meeting during the inaugural ceremony; the representative of the Director General, Mr. G. Bolla, and the Chairman of the Committee also addressed the meeting.
3 COM VI.12
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
In reporting to the Committee on activities undertaken during the previous year, the former Chairman, Mr. David Hales, focussed on significant successes noted by the Committee and he also referred to serious problems for the future. He drew attention to the increase in the number of ratifications or acceptances of the Convention which totalled 48, to the substantial increase in the number of fellowships provided under the World Heritage Fund as well as in the assistance provided for the protection of sites. Mr. Hales also laid stress on the vast increase in the number of nominations ...
3 COM VI.13
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
The Rapporteur then proceeded to report on the last two sessions of the Bureau. The written report of the 2nd session, which took place in Paris from 28-30 May 1979, gave rise to no comments from the members of the Committee.
3 COM VI.14
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
The report on the third session of the Bureau which took place in Cairo on 21 October 1979 was read before the Committee. Those points raised by the Bureau which called for decisions by the Committee and which were not the subject of an item on the Agenda were then taken up by theCommittee.
3 COM VI.15
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
Thus, with respect to paragraph 16 of the report on the different types of recommendation formulated by the Bureau to the Committee on nominations, the Committee decided to adopt for its third session the procedure proposed by the Bureau which is as follows: nominations would not be examined by the Committee: (a) when the deadlines for their submission had not been respected, (b) when their proper processing had not been possible and (c) when it was evident that the supporting documentation was incomplete and/or inadequate; on the other hand those nominations which raised problems of ...
3 COM VI.16
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
The Committee agreed with the proposal or the Bureau that in the case of properties which fully met the criteria for inclusion in the World Heritage List and which had suffered damage from disasters, the normal deadlines for the submission and processing of dossiers may be waived by the Bureau.
3 COM VI.17
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
The Committee also shared the concern of the Bureau at the establishment in the United Kingdom of an organization bearing the name of "World Heritage Association" and of a Fund called "Heritage Trust". The Committee felt strongly that the use in names of the term "World Heritage" should be strictly limited to those activities directly related to the Convention and considered that the use of these terms in the titles of other organizations could only lead to confusion which would be regrettable. It therefore requested the Chairman to write to the above-mentioned Association, expressing the ...
3 COM VI.18
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
Following the recommendation of the Bureau, the Committee decided to set up three working groups, as follows:
A. On criteria for the evaluation of cultural property and the processing of nominations, composed of:
Australia, Bulgaria (Chairman), Ecuador, France, Iran, Italy, Panama, United States of America, Canada (observer), ICOMOS and OMMSA.
B. On the management of the Convention and its financial implications, composed of:
Australia, France, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal (Chairmen), Switzerland, United States of America, Yugoslavia, ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM.
C. On criteria for the ...
3 COM VII.19
Draft agreement between the World Heritage Committee and States receving technical co-operation
After examining the document before it, the Committee approved, as recommended by the Bureau, the revised draft text as prepared by the Secretariat. Furthermore, it decided to delegate authority to the Chairman to sign such agreements on its behalf. However, in exceptional cases or where necessary for practical reasons, the Committee authorized the Chairman to delegate authority for this purpose to a member of the Secretariat, to be designated by him.
3 COM VIII.20
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
The document on this item which proposed a procedure with respect to the deletion of properties from the World Heritage List was introduced by Mr. Bolla who drew attention to the different stages in the proposed procedure. A wide exchange of ideas ensued, during which several participants expressed the hope that the State Party on whose territory the property was located would inform the Secretariat of the Committee if any property inscribed on the List had seriously deteriorated and others drew attention to the obligation contracted by the States Parties under the Convention to properly ...
3 COM VIII.21
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
With respect to the source of information on the deterioration of a world heritage site, the Committee presumed that it would in most cases be the State Party on whose territory the property was located which would transmit such information to the Secretariat. However, information on the deterioration of a site may be made available by other sources and it would be for the Secretariat to check, as far as possible, on the source of the information and on the substance in consultation with the State Party concerned. The Committee requested the Secretariat in such cases to inform the ...
3 COM VIII.22
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
After some discussion, the Committee retained the proposal that decisions such as the sending out of fact-finding missions should be taken by the Committee, except in the case where emergency action was necessary, when the Bureau would be authorized to request the Secretariat to take such measures. It was understood that in all cases, the State Party concerned would be consulted. The question of organizing regular inspection missions was also raised, but the Committee felt that each action should not be taken, particularly in view of the States' obligations to adequately preserve ...
3 COM VIII.23
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
The representative of ICOMOS proposed that ICOMOS should be consulted on the choice of experts to be sent on fact-finding missions in connection with the state of preservation of cultural properties. In reply, Mr. Bolla indicated that ICOMOS was regularly consulted on the roster of experts maintained by the Secretariat but that any obligation for the Secretariat to consult ICOMOS, in addition to the State Party which was always consulted on the choice of experts, would invariably lead to delays in the sending out of missions.
3 COM VIII.24
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
The Committee adopted the procedure proposed by the Secretariat subject to amendments to stage A on the source of information on the deterioration of a property and subject to reference to cases where the necessary corrective measures for threatened natural sites have not been duly taken (see paragraph 40 below). It was decided to incorporate this procedure in the "Operational Guidelines". The full text of the procedure is to be found in Annex II to this report.
Following the recommendation of the Bureau, the Committee approved the draft form for requests concerning preparatory or emergency assistance and fellowships as annexed to document CC-79/CONF.003/8.
The Committee took note of the report of the Secretariat on public information activities undertaken during the preceding year. This report called for decisions by the Committee on the publication of the World Heritage List and on the proposal received from the Swedish firm, Upsala Ekeby, to produce glass and silverware commemorating the World Heritage Convention.
On the publication of the World Heritage List, the Committee decided:
(a) to retard the publication of the List in order to include the properties placed thereon at its third session;
(b) that the List of World Heritage in Danger and the List of properties for which international assistance has bean granted would be published as appendices of the List;
(c) that the list of properties for which international assistance has been granted would include reference to properties for which technical assistance has been granted but would make no mention of preparatory assistance;
(d) to ...
The proposal from Upsala Ekeby to produce glass and silverware gave rise to considerable discussion, since it raised the principle of using tho World Heritage Emblem and depictions of World Heritage Sites for commercial purposes. There was some reticence among members of the Committee to authorize any commercial company to use the Emblem or pictures of the sites for such purposes. On the other hand the Committee underlined the need to create a world-wide interest in the Convention and recognized the importance of publicity. The Committee therefore decided:
(a) that the World Heritage ...
After examining the proposals of the Secretariat for promotional activities for 1980 (document CC-79/CONF.003/6.2) the Committee authorized the Secretariat to proceed with the following activities within a total budget of $36,900:
Estimated cost($)
(a) creation of a photo library of world heritage sites 9,600
(b) slide series and sound-track 7,000
(c) poster 7,500
(d) postcards 4,000
(e) journalists' seminars 2,800
(f) postage stamps 6'000// $36,900
In response to a question from a member of the Committee who sought to avoid the publication of information on cultural and natural world heritage sites in separate publications, Mr. Batisse indicated that the Secretariat was studying the possibility of enlarging the scope of the Cultural Heritage bulletin to cover not only cultural sites but also natural heritage sites.
The question was raised as to whether the Committee would authorize States Parties to the Convention to produce material bearing the Emblem such as postage stamps and postcards for publicity purposes and for raising financial contributions to the Fund. The Committee was of the opinion that States Parties were free to use the Emblem for such purposes, and could make additional voluntary contributions to the Fund by this means.
3 COM XI.(b).37
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of natural properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations by IUCN
In view of the difficulty of assessing nominations without an adequate inventory, the Committee decided to encourage States Parties to prepare such inventories. It was furthermore decided to ask IUCN to prepare a proposal for the next meeting of the Bureau relating to the methodology and cost of preparing an inventory on a global basis.
3 COM XI.(b).38
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of natural properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations by IUCN
The Committee decided to instruct IUCN to use great caution in the application of criterion (iv) when it was the sole criterion for recommending sites for the World Heritage List. The sites nominated under this criterion should be habitats where "significant populations" or "concentrations of populations" of rare or endangered species of plants or animals survive, that is, sites representing in some way "superlative situations".
3 COM XI.(b).40
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of natural properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations by IUCN
The Committee noted that several areas nominated which meet the criteria may be marginal because of the inability of States, for various reasons to apply the rigid management criteria which they believe is necessary. The Committee was concerned that this could lead to further deterioration of these sites if corrective measures were not implemented. The Committee therefore decided to amend the "Operational Guidelines" by adding a sub-paragraph (vi) to paragraph 11 as follows:
"Where the intrinsic qualities of a World Heritage site are threatened by action or works of man and yet meet the ...