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World Heritage Committee

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Logoof theUNESCOWorld Heritage Committee

TheWorld Heritage Committeeis a committee of theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizationthat selects the sites to be listed as UNESCOWorld Heritage Sites,including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.[1]It comprises representatives from 21state parties[2][1]that are elected by theGeneral Assembly of States Partiesfor a four-year term.[3]These parties vote on decisions and proposals related to theWorld Heritage Conventionand World Heritage List.

According to the World Heritage Convention, a committee member's term of office is six years. However many States Parties choose to voluntarily limit their term to four years, in order to give other States Parties an opportunity to serve.[3]All members elected at the 15thGeneral Assembly(2005) voluntarily chose to reduce their term of office from six to four years.[3]

Deliberations of the World Heritage Committee are aided by three advisory bodies, theIUCN,ICOMOSandICCROM.[4][5]

Sessions[edit]

See also:List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription

The World Heritage Committee meets once a year for an ordinary session to discuss the management of existingWorld Heritage Sites,and accept nominations by countries.[3]Extraordinary meetings can be convened at the request of two-thirds of the state members.[6]Meetings are held within the territory of state members of the World Heritage Committee at their invitation. Rotation between regions and cultures is a consideration for selection and the location for the next session is chosen by the committee at the end of each session.[6]

Session[7] Year Date Host city
1 1977 27 June–1 July FranceParis
2 1978 5 September–8 September United StatesWashington, D.C.
3 1979 22 October–26 October EgyptCairo&Luxor
4 1980 1 September–5 September FranceParis
5 1981 26 October–30 October AustraliaSydney
6 1982 13 December–17 December FranceParis
7 1983 5 December–9 December ItalyFlorence
8 1984 29 October–2 November ArgentinaBuenos Aires
9 1985 2 December–6 December FranceParis
10 1986 24 November–28 November FranceParis
11 1987 7 December–11 December FranceParis
12 1988 5 December–9 December BrazilBrasília
13 1989 11 December–15 December FranceParis
14 1990 7 December–12 December CanadaBanff
15 1991 9 December–13 December TunisiaCarthage
16 1992 7 December–14 December United StatesSanta Fe
17 1993 6 December–11 December ColombiaCartagena
18 1994 12 December–17 December ThailandPhuket
19 1995 4 December–9 December GermanyBerlin
20 1996 2 December–7 December MexicoMérida
21 1997 1 December–6 December ItalyNaples
22 1998 30 November–5 December JapanKyoto
23 1999 29 November–4 December MoroccoMarrakech
24 2000 27 November–2 December AustraliaCairns
25 2001 11 December–16 December FinlandHelsinki
26 2002 24 June–29 June HungaryBudapest
27 2003 30 June–5 July FranceParis
28 2004 28 June–7 July ChinaSuzhou
29 2005 10 July–17 July South AfricaDurban
30 2006 8 July–16 July LithuaniaVilnius
31 2007 23 June–1 July New ZealandChristchurch
32 2008 2 July–10 July CanadaQuebec City
33 2009 22 June–30 June SpainSeville
34 2010 25 July–3 August BrazilBrasília
35 2011 19 June–29 June FranceParis
36 2012 25 June–5 July RussiaSaint Petersburg
37 2013 17 June–27 June CambodiaPhnom Penh
38 2014 15 June–25 June QatarDoha
39 2015 28 June–8 July GermanyBonn
40 2016 10 July–20 July TurkeyIstanbul
41 2017 2 July–12 July PolandKraków
42 2018 24 June–4 July BahrainManama
43 2019 30 June–10 July AzerbaijanBaku
44 2020–21 16 July–31 July 2021
Originally scheduled for 2020. Postponed to an extended 2021 session due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[8] 		ChinaFuzhou
45 2022–23 10 September–25 September 2023
Originally scheduled for 19 June–30 June 2022 inKazan,Russia. Postponed to an extended 2023 session due to theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[9][10] 		Saudi ArabiaRiyadh
46 2024 21 July–31 July IndiaNew Delhi

Bureau[edit]

At the end of each ordinary session, the committee elects a chairperson, five vice-chairpersons and aRapporteurfrom those members whose term will continue through the next session.[6]These are known as the Bureau, and their representatives are responsible for coordinating the work of the World Heritage Committee, including fixing dates, hours and the order of business meetings.[1]

Voting[edit]

Each state member of the World Heritage Committee has one vote. Decisions require a simple majority with abstentions counted as not voting. Votes are delivered by a show of hands unless a secret ballot is requested by either the chairperson or two or more states members.[6]

Members[edit]

Current members of theUNESCOWorld Heritage Committee:

Member state[11] Mandate
Argentina 2021–2025
Belgium 2021–2025
Bulgaria 2021-2025
Greece 2021–2025
India 2021–2025
Italy 2021–2025
Jamaica 2023–2027
Japan 2021–2025
Kazakhstan 2023–2027
Kenya 2023–2027
Lebanon 2023–2027
Mexico 2021–2025
Qatar 2021–2025
Rwanda 2021–2025
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2021–2025
Senegal 2023–2027
South Korea 2023–2027
Turkey 2023–2027
Ukraine 2023–2027
Vietnam 2023–2027
Zambia 2021–2025
Total 21

Criticism[edit]

Increasing politicization of World Heritage Committee decisions to the detriment of conservation aims has been alleged, particularly with regard to new nominations for the World Heritage List, but also with the consideration of sites for the List of World Heritage in Danger.[12][13]In 2010, states parties including Hungary, Switzerland and Zimbabwe submitted an official protest against such politicization.[5]

An external audit requested by the World Heritage Committee for itsGlobal Strategy of the World Heritage Listconcluded in 2011 that political considerations were indeed influencing decisions.[5]It observed that the composition of committee representatives had shifted from experts to diplomats in spite of World Heritage Convention Article 9 and found that opinions from advisory bodies often diverged from World Heritage Committee decisions.[5]

In 2016, Israel recalled its UNESCO ambassador after the World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution in a secret ballot that referred to one ofJerusalem's holiest sites, theTemple Mount,only as a "Muslim holy site of worship", not mentioning that Jews and Christians venerate the site.[14][15]

The committee has also been criticized with alleged racism, colorism, and geographic bias for favoring the inscription of sites in Western and industrialized countries over sites belonging to so-called "third-world" countries. A large proportion of the world heritage sites are located in Europe, Eastern Asia, and North America, where populations notably have lighter skin.[16][17][18][19]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcUNESCO."The World Heritage Committee".UNESCO.Retrieved27 June2019.
  2. ^According to the UNESCO World Heritagewebsite,States Partiesare countries that signed and ratifiedThe World Heritage Convention.As of March 2013, there were a total of 170 State Parties.
  3. ^abcd"The World Heritage Committee".UNESCO World Heritage Site.Retrieved14 October2006.
  4. ^UNESCO World Heritage Centre."Advisory Bodies".UNESCO World Heritage Centre.Retrieved27 June2019.
  5. ^abcdOffice of the External Auditor for the United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (2011)Independent Evaluation by the UNESCO External Auditor, Volume 1: Implementation of the Global Strategy for the Credible, Balanced and Representative World Heritage List.UNESCO Headquarters, Paris.
  6. ^abcdUNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the World Natural and Cultural Heritage (2015) Rules of Procedure. World Heritage Centre, Paris. Download available athttps://whc.unesco.org/en/committee/(27 June 2019)
  7. ^"Sessions".UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  8. ^UNESCO (16 July 2021)."Extended 44th World Heritage Committee session opens in Fuzhou, China".UNESCO.Retrieved23 July2021.
  9. ^"UNESCO indefinitely postpones planned world heritage meeting in Russia".The Art Newspaper.22 April 2022.Retrieved24 April2022.
  10. ^"Saudi Arabia to host UNESCO's World Heritage Committee meetings in September".Saudi Gazette.24 January 2023.Retrieved25 January2023.
  11. ^"46th session of the World Heritage Committee".World Heritage Site.2024.Retrieved28 December2023.
  12. ^Meskell, Lynn (Winter 2014)."States of Conservation: Protection, Politics, and Pacting within UNESCO's World Heritage Committee".Anthropological Quarterly.87:217–243.doi:10.1353/anq.2014.0009.S2CID143628800.
  13. ^"UNESCO's world heritage sites: A danger list in danger".The Economist.26 August 2010.Retrieved27 June2019.
  14. ^Greshko, Michael (12 October 2017)."U.S. to Withdraw From UNESCO. Here's What That Means".National Geographic. Archived fromthe originalon 21 March 2020.Retrieved21 March2020.
  15. ^Tress, Luke (26 October 2016)."UNESCO adopts another resolution ignoring Jewish link to Temple Mount".The Times of Israel.Retrieved21 March2020.
  16. ^Eliot, et al (2012). World heritage: Constructing a universal cultural order. Poetics Journal.
  17. ^Djurberg, et al (2018). Reforming UNESCO's World Heritage. The Globalist.
  18. ^Keough (2011). Heritage in Peril: A Critique of UNESCO's World Heritage Program. Global Studies Law Review.
  19. ^Steiner, et al (2011). Imbalance of World Heritage List: "Did the UNESCO Strategy Work?". University of Zurich.

External links[edit]

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