The General Assembly,
- Having examined Document WHC-13/19.GA/4,
- Recalling the amendments to Draft Resolution 19 GA 4 proposed by Brazil and other States and the debates held at the 19th General Assembly,
- Also recalling its Resolution 18 GA 8 and the World Heritage Committee’s decision 35 COM 12B encouraging States Parties members of the Committee not to submit nominations during their mandate,
- Further recalling Article 9.3 of the World Heritage Convention which stipulates that “States members of the Committee shall choose as their representatives persons qualified in the field of the cultural or natural heritage”,
- Bearing in mind that Rule 17 of the Rules of Procedure requires a two-third majority to amend the Rules of Procedures,
- Decides to fully apply Article 8, paragraph 2, of the World Heritage Convention which stipulates that “Election of members of the Committee shall ensure an equitable representation of the different regions and cultures of the world";
- Also decides to establish an open-ended working group of limited duration of one year with an equitable participation of all regions, which would meet in Paris, with extrabudgetary resources;
- Requests the open-ended working group to make proposals to amend the Rules of Procedures in order to achieve the goal of an equitable geographical and cultural representation, including through allocation of seats by region (defined with reference to UNESCO’s electoral groups) on the World Heritage Committee, as well as other measures;
- Further decides to hold an extraordinary session of the General Assembly in Paris, no later than November 2014, financed by extrabudgetary resources, to examine a draft resolution concerning the proposals referred to in paragraph 8, to be applied at the 20th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention;
- Calls upon States Parties to contribute to the organization of the extraordinary session of the General Assembly with extrabudgetary resources and also requests the Director-General to organize the extraordinary session of the General Assembly in a cost-efficient way.