Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam

a) Political instability;

b) Inclination of the Minaret;

c) Lack of management plan.

• Lack of legal protection;
• Lack of an effective monuments protection agency;
• Lack of adequate protection and conservation personnel;
• Lack of a comprehensive management plan.

a) Increased capacity of the staff of the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture in charge of the preservation of the property ensured;

b) Precisely identified World Heritage property and clearly marked boundaries and buffer zones;

c) Long-term stability and conservation of the Minaret of Jam ensured;

d) Site security ensured;

e) A comprehensive management system including a long-term conservation policy developed and implemented.

a) Development of adequate capacity of the staff of the Ministry of Information and Culture by developing and implementing an adequate training programme in conservation and management;

b) Precise identification of the World Heritage property and clearly marked boundaries and buffer zones by:

(i) Undertaking topographic and archaeological surface surveys and re- defining core and buffer zones, as well as identifying zones affected by illicit excavations;

(ii) Marking of the core zone as "World Heritage protected area";

(iii) Officially revising the boundaries of the World Heritage property according to the results of the relevant surveys in order to complement the already identified outstanding universal value;

c) Long-term consolidation and conservation of the Minaret and the archaeological remains by:

(i) Completing the documentation and recording of the Minaret and the archaeological remains;

(ii) Undertaking soil investigation in the vicinity of the monument in order to obtain information on the cause of the inclination of the Minaret and to define the long-term consolidation measures;

(iii) Regular and systematic monitoring of the Minaret's inclination;

(iv) Establishing a full inventory of decoration including digitalization and reference system for all eight sides of the base of the Minaret;

(v) Implementing emergency restoration of the surface decoration of the Minaret;

d) Ensuring site security by:

(i) Exerting strict control of illicit excavations and protecting the site against looting, notably through hiring of an adequate number of trained site guards;

(ii) Implementing measures for enforcing the 2004 Preservation Law for Cultural and Historical Monuments;

e) Development and implementation of a management system by undertaking appropriate training for the staff of the Ministry of Information and Culture in charge of the property.

Total amount provided to the property: USD 845,000 provided by the Government of Italy and USD 138,000 by the Government of Switzerland. 

The State Party submitted a report to the World Heritage Centre on 27 February 2008 which describes the successful implementation of the emergency work carried out in 2007 to protect the Minaret from the nearby rivers' erosion following the destruction of the protective gabions by the heavy floods in Spring 2007.

This emergency work included the construction of a wall for stabilizing the bank of the river immediately below the Minaret, was mainly financed by the State Party, with an amount of USD 200,000 from the National budget, and was co-financed under the UNESCO World Heritage Centre/Italy and Swiss Funds-in-Trust projects for Jam.

The report submitted by the State Party also mentions the needs for consolidation and conservation of the property, including archaeological activities. However, no reference is made in the report to other aspects of the Decision adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 31st session (Christchurch, 2007), such as the development of staff capacity, site security and a management plan, as well as possible plans for the construction of a bridge in the vicinity of the property.

Due to the current deteriorating security situation in the country, no UNESCO expert mission could be undertaken for the continuation of consolidation and conservation activities.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies commend the State Party for the efforts and resources which have been deployed to safeguard the property in the face of extreme challenges.