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| | 6th Extraordinary Session of the World Heritage Committee - UNESCO, 17 March 2003
18-03-2003 - Opening the 6th Extraordinary Session of the World Heritage Committee at UNESCO Headquarters today, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, stressed the importance of the meeting’s deliberations and decisions for the future of the World Heritage system. He noted that most of the critical issues revolve around the process of revising the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Emphasizing how crucial it is to complete the revision process and secure the adoption of the revised Operational Guidelines in the near future, Mr Matsuura expressed the hope that the Session will provide clear policy directions enabling the Secretariat to finalise the Guidelines, in consultation with the Advisory Bodies - ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM. “Revised Guidelines will provide the policy framework for all endeavours by States Parties for the protection of World Heritage”, he said. |
The Director-General stated that the procedures for inscribing World Heritage sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger and for deleting sites from the World Heritage List should be included in the Guidelines so that full use is made of all the tools given by the World Heritage Convention for the conservation of World Heritage. He applauded the proposal made at the Committee’s last meeting in Budapest that a certain proportion of the World Heritage Fund be allocated to assistance for sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. “This proposal seems very positive. It reasserts that inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger is a call for special measures to safeguard a property. It should also ensure the necessary resources for this purpose”, he said.
Mr Matsuura also highlighted how important it was for the Committee to determine clear procedures for emergency nominations to, and inscriptions on, the World Heritage List and, if necessary, the List of World Heritage in Danger: “When the world requires urgent action to save its treasures, it must know that it can look to UNESCO to move swiftly and efficiently. I believe that this can only be achieved if we have streamlined and mutually agreed operating procedures at our disposal.”
The Director-General observed that UNESCO is undergoing an important phase in its history: “We are engaged in an intensive process of strengthening existing instruments for the protection of cultural heritage and are embarking on the development of new instruments to protect heritage in its diversity”. Thus, on the one hand, UNESCO is preparing for the 2nd Protocol of the 1954 Hague Convention to enter into force. On the other hand, a Draft Declaration on the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage will be presented to the 167th session of the Executive Board in September 2003 and to the General Conference next October.
Noting that “approaches to heritage are evolving and interest in heritage is spreading”, the Director-General referred to the Second Session of the Intergovernmental Experts Meeting for the drafting of a standard-setting instrument for the protection of intangible cultural heritage, held two weeks ago. He said that “good progress was made in reaching an agreed definition of intangible cultural heritage and a delineation of the field of application of a Convention in this area”. Following a third meeting in June, the Director-General said, he plans to present a preliminary Draft Convention to the Member States for their consideration at the next General Conference.
Mr Matsuura observed that growing interest in culture and heritage is being shown by agencies whose responsibilities are not directly focused on these areas. For example, a useful informal meeting, attended by representatives of several UN agencies plus the World Bank, was held here at UNESCO last week on the theme of “Cultural Heritage: Anchoring Cultural Diversity in Sustainable Development”.
Finally, the Director-General saw another sign of the growing interest in heritage in the invitation he has received to address the 58th session of the United Nations General Assembly next October, when he will present a report on the UN Year for Cultural Heritage.
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Office of the Spokeswoman
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