The World Heritage Committee’s 44th session opened today in Fuzhou (China) at the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Center, and continues online until 31 July. During the session, the 21-member Committee will notably examine the state of conservation of 255 sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List, 53 of which also figure on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
In her opening address, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said, “As the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 Convention approaches, this session is an opportunity to look at the implementation of the Convention with our eyes wide open, from the listing processes and conservation monitoring to its impact on local populations.”
The importance of preserving World Heritage was stressed by His Excellency Mr Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, who, in his message of congratulation, said “To better preserve, inherit, and harness these valuable treasures is our collective responsibility.”
The World Heritage Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and supports countries around the world in the preservation of World Heritage sites. This year’s session combines the work of 2020 and 2021, as the annual meeting scheduled for 2020 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key points to be covered include updating the Policy Document on the impacts of Climate Change on World Heritage, and the successful completion of periodic reporting, a core conservation monitoring mechanism, in countries in the Africa and Arab regions.
On 18 July, 10:00 am CEST (UTC+2, Paris Time), Mr Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant-Director General for Culture, Mr Tian Xuejun, Chairperson of the 44th session and Ms Mechtild Rössler, Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, will host a press conference that will be streamed online.
Starting on 24 July, the World Heritage Committee will review nominated sites for the UNESCO World Heritage List, beginning with nominations that could not be reviewed last year. There are currently 39 sites proposed for inscription on the World Heritage List (six natural and 33 cultural).
1 INTRODUCTION
The People’s Republic of China has the pleasure of hosting the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee. The session is organized by UNESCO in cooperation with the Host Country, the People’s Republic of China. The session will be presided over from Fuzhou by His Excellency Mr. Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education and Chairperson of the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO, Chairperson of the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee. The opening and closing ceremonies of the session will be held in Fuzhou and will be livestreamed for all participants (see below in point 4) The extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee will be held online from 16 to 31 July 2021, with a break on 20 July 2021. The daily plenary sessions of the Committee will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Paris time); please note that Paris is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+2). The Bureau sessions will take place on 16 July 2021 from 3 to 4 p.m. and every day from 18 to 30 July 2021, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (Paris time). The Provisional Agenda as well as the Provisional Timetable, adopted by the 14th and the 15th Extraordinary sessions of the World Heritage Committee respectively, are detailed in documents WHC/21/44.COM/3A and WHC/21/44.COM/3B, available at the dedicated web page https://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/44COM.
The information document is hereby presented to give practical information and provide with protocols for the conduct of the online meetings to ensure that the participants have all the required information to conveniently participate. These protocols are suggested in conformity with the Committee’s Rules of Procedure (hereinafter referred to as “RoP”) and taking into consideration the relevant General recommendations adopted by the Executive Board in its Decision 209 EX/ 30 in June 2020.
2 PURPOSE
The World Heritage Committee is comprised of representatives from 21 States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage elected by the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention.
The current composition of the Committee is as follows: Australia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Hungary, Kirghizstan, Mali, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Africa, Saint-Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, Uganda.
Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Tian Xuejun (China)
Rapporteur: Ms. Miray Hasaltun Wosinski (Bahrain)
Vice-Chairpersons: Bahrain, Guatemala, Hungary, Spain, Uganda
For further information, please visit https://whc.unesco.org/en/committee/
The essential functions of the Committee are:
i. To identify, on the basis of nominations submitted by States Parties, cultural and natural properties of Outstanding Universal Value which are to be protected under the Convention, and to inscribe those properties on the World Heritage List;
ii. To monitor the state of conservation of properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, in liaison with States Parties; decide which properties included in the World Heritage List are to be inscribed on or removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger; decide whether a property may be deleted from the World Heritage List;
iii. To examine requests for International Assistance financed by the World Heritage Fund.
3 SESSION ORGANIZERS
The organizers of the extended 44th session of the Committee are ready to assist you for any questions you may have on the session.
Host country: Chairperson
H.E. Mr. Tian Xuejun
Vice Minister of Education and Chairperson of the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO Chairperson of the extended 44th session of World Heritage Committee
Email: chair@44whcfuzhou2021.cn
Phone: +86（10）66096649
UNESCO: Secretary of the World Heritage Convention
Ms. Mechtild Rössler
Director World Heritage Centre
Email: m.rossler@unesco.org
Phone: +33145681104
Postal address: UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, 75007 Paris, France
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