Open-ended Working Group of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention in conformity with Decision 45 COM 11

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/11,
2. Recalling Decision 45 COM 11 adopted at its extended 45th session (Riyadh, 2023),
3. Having examined the Background document prepared by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (April 2024),
4. Reaffirming that the conservation of cultural and natural heritage is at the core of the Convention, and equal attention needs to be given to inscription, protection and conservation, and management,
5. Also reaffirming the need to reduce the gaps, enhance representativity of heritage with Outstanding Universal Value, achieve a balanced and credible World Heritage List and to support the aspirations of non-represented and under-represented States Parties on the World Heritage List,
6. Requests the Advisory Bodies to undertake a review and an update of the 2004 Gap Analyses, including a consultative process, pending necessary financial support, to report about the progress, including a roadmap, to the 47th session and to submit the updated Gap Analyses, including an action plan for implementation, to its 48th session;
7. Also requests the World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with the Advisory Bodies and Category 2 Centres, to review existing and proposed new capacity building programmes and propose a mechanism to strengthen their funding and coordination including sustainability of results, focusing on Africa and SIDS, as well as under-represented and non-represented States Parties for the preparation of the Tentative Lists, nominations and long-term conservation, and ensure more awareness raising of stakeholders and decision makers on the processes and requirements of the Convention, and invite the States Parties to contribute financially to this end;
8. Strongly encourages States Parties to regularly revise their Tentative Lists to include under-represented categories of sites, and also recalling Paragraph 73 of the Operational Guidelines, encourages State Party dialogue at regional, sub-regional and inter-regional level;
9. Further requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, in consultation with Category 2 Centres, to present a proposal for the revision and simplification of the Nomination Format, and the corresponding revisions in the Operational Guidelines, also exploring options for developing an online platform for the submission of nomination dossiers, at its 47th session;
10. Requests furthermore the World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies to update the Manual for Preparing Nominations, pending necessary financial support, and to submit it to its 48th session;
11. Further recalling the “Declaration of principles to promote international solidarity and cooperation to preserve World Heritage”, endorsed by the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention in 2021, also strongly encourages Committee Members to refrain from having nominations examined during their mandate;
12. Also encourages an equal geographic representation of experts from all regions in the Advisory Bodies, including their inclusion in all stages of the evaluation and advisory processes, and an increased engagement of regional experts and Category 2 Centres for sustainable capacity building activities;
13. Recommends to carry-out an in-depth reflection on heritage in Africa, and the other regions, on understanding and application of authenticity as expressed by the 1994 Nara Document on Authenticity and the 1964 Venice Charter on conservation and restoration, to reinforce the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and present a progress report to the Open-ended Working Group and to the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee;
14. Takes note of the intention by the State Party of Kenya to host a meeting in Kenya in May 2025 on the topic of heritage and authenticity in Africa;
15. Also recommends the establishment of an AFRICA 2035 Programme similar to the AFRICA 2009 Programme, with strategic objectives, inter alia, to reinforce the achievements of the AFRICA 2009 Programme, the Youth Heritage Africa Programme, to train young Africans on the dynamics of the inscription of sites on the World Heritage List, and to strengthen site management and conservation systems in the face of climate change in collaboration with ICCROM, the World Heritage Centre and other partners, including the Category 2 Centres;
16. In line with the Resolution 12 GA 30-48 adopted by the 12th General Assembly of States Parties and Paragraph 59 of the Operational Guidelines, further strongly encourages the States Parties with successful World Heritage nominations, to explore opportunities to link each of their nominations with one nomination presented by a State Party whose heritage is under or non-represented; this entails full support for the whole process of the preparation of the nomination file, until the submission of both nominations preferably at the same cycle of evaluation;
17. Urges States Parties to develop genuine cooperation to reduce the imbalance of the List, by assisting a State Party that so requests in the process of preparing a nomination dossier;
18. Further recommends to explore the funding possibilities, including through the World Heritage Fund, to support the implementation of the above-mentioned programme and activities;
19. Decides to extend the mandate of the Open-ended Working Group until the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/11.Rev,
2. Expresses its appreciation to the Ad-hoc Working Group for its efforts and takes note of its recommendations;
3. Recalling Decisions 40 COM 11, 42 COM 12A, 43 COM 8, 43 COM 12, 44 COM 8, 44 COM 11 and 44 COM 12 adopted at its 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 42nd (Manama, 2018), 43rd (Baku, 2019) and extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) sessions respectively,
4. Taking into account the heavy budget constraints of the World Heritage Fund and the need for an effective management of the increasing size of the List and the call for a more balanced World Heritage List, considering the aspirations of non-represented and under-represented States Parties and regions on the World Heritage List;
5. Taking note of the Global Strategy adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 18th session (Phuket, 1994) to provide a broad framework for an analysis and action programme to reduce the gap in regional representation to achieve a balanced and credible World Heritage List, considering the aspirations of non-represented and under-represented States Parties and regions on the World Heritage List;
6. Decides to create an Open-ended Working Group of States Parties to the Convention, transfer the mandate of the Ad-hoc Working Group to it and allow all States Parties to the Convention to continue contributing to the discussions in order to:
   1. Consider the necessary improvement aiming at reducing the gap of the representation of States Parties on the World Heritage List and enhancing the balance of the List,
   2. Propose solutions to the technical evaluation requirements, including improving capacity building activities,
   3. Explore the possibility of using additional service providers,
   4. Propose sustainable solutions to the financial requirements of the nomination process to implement the above including the Preliminary Assessment,
   5. Consider the mandate and working methods for an extension of this Open-ended Working Group, with a view to starting a fundamental reflection on the operation of the World Heritage Convention;
7. Also decides that the Open-ended Working Group shall work in consultation with the World Heritage Centre, Advisory Bodies and, as appropriate, relevant stakeholders, and submit its report and recommendations to the 46th session of the Committee;
8. Calls upon States Parties to the Convention to voluntarily contribute to the creation of this Open-ended Working Group through voluntary contributions;
9. Also takes note of the Committee consensus in favour of Saudi Arabia assuming the chairpersonship of the Open-ended Working Group.