Periodic Reporting 2nd Cycle: Africa (2011)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/10A,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 10B.2 adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Welcomes the progress made in the follow-up of the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Africa region;
4. Thanks the Governments of China, Flanders (Belgium), the Netherlands, Hungary, Norway, the European Union and the African World Heritage Fund for their contributions towards supporting follow-up activities to the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting in Africa;
5. Commends the States Parties of the Africa Region who have been actively implementing the Action Plan, and encourages States Parties, which have not already done so, to establish their National World Heritage Committees and to develop their National Action Plans and Budgets;
6. Calls upon States Parties to continue to support financially and technically the implementation of the Action Plan for the Africa region through follow-up activities in cooperation with the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), including through the African World Heritage Day in fostering support for the Action Plan for the Africa region;
7. Further reminds States Parties who have not already done so, to submit their Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value by 1 February 2020 at the latest, as well as clarifications of boundaries by 1 December 2019 at the latest;
8. Notes with appreciation the follow-up activities to the Ngorongoro Declaration, and also commends the World Heritage Centre for addressing the urgent need to build African capacities in a sustainable way through the involvement of African educational institutions in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and sustainable development as well as the AWHF, the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies and their partners, for the continued implementation of the World Heritage nomination support programme in Africa;
9. Requests the World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies, the AWHF, and with the support of States Parties, to continue its efforts to coordinate and implement the Regional Capacity-Building Programme according to the Action Plan 2012-2017;
10. Also requests the World Heritage Centre to present a progress report on the implementation of the Action Plan for the second cycle of Periodic Reporting for the Africa region at its 45th session, in 2021.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/10B,
2. Recalling Decision 36 COM 10A, Decision 37 COM 10C.2 and Decision 38 COM 10B.2 adopted at its 36th session (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 37th session (Phnom-Penh, 2013) and 38th session (Doha, 2014) respectively;
3. Welcomes the progress made in the follow-up of the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Africa Region, while expressing its concerns regarding the weak implementation rate of the regional Action Plan by African States Parties;
4. Notes with appreciation the financial contribution of the Governments of Norway, Flanders (Belgium), Spain, South Africa and the Netherlands, IUCN, the UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme, the MAVA Foundation, the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) as well as the host countries of all capacity-building workshops to activities carried out in the framework of the implementation of the Action Plan for the Africa Region and its regional capacity-building programme;
5. Calls upon States Parties to financially and technically support the implementation of the Regional Action Plan for the Africa Region through follow-up activities with the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and the African World Heritage Fund;
6. Commends the States Parties of the Africa Region who have been actively implementing the Action Plan; and requests States Parties, who have not already done so, to establish their National World Heritage Committees and to develop their National Action Plans and Budgets, as well as to inform the World Heritage Centre when they are operational;
7. Further reminds States Parties which have not already done so to submit their Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value by 1 February 2016 at the latest, as well as clarifications of boundaries by 1 December 2015 at the latest;
8. Also requests the World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies, and with the support of States Parties, to continue its efforts to coordinate and implement the Regional Capacity-Building Programme according to the Action Plan 2012 – 2017;
9. Further requests the States Parties, in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, to pay special attention to the management of properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger;
10. Furthermore requests the World Heritage Centre to present a progress report on the implementation of the Action Plan for the Africa Region at its 40th session in 2016.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC-11/35COM/10A,

2. Recalling Decisions 33 COM 11C and 34 COM 10B.1, adopted respectively at its 33rd session (Seville, 2009) and 34th session (Brasilia, 2010);

3. Expresses its sincere appreciation to the States Parties from the Africa region for their efforts in preparing and submitting their Periodic Reports;

4. Notes with satisfaction that all the 44 States Parties of the Africa region participated in the completion of Section I of the Periodic Reporting questionnaire and that all 78 World Heritage properties in the region were reported on;

5. Commends the Governments of Senegal, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia and South Africa for respectively hosting various meetings for the Periodic Reporting exercise;

6. Thanks the Governments of Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and France, as well as the African World Heritage Fund and the Nordic World Heritage Foundation for their support;

7. Also thanks in particular, the Regional Coordinator, all Focal Points and site managers for their commitment and participation throughout the periodic reporting exercise;

8. Also notes the successful use of the electronic tool and the ensuing pertinent documentation gathered in the World Heritage Centre database for future monitoring and follow-up;

9. Welcomes with satisfaction the synthesis report of the Africa region States Parties and encourages the development of a regional Action Plan as agreed by the States Parties at the final Regional meeting in South Africa and thanks the government of Denmark for its support towards this process;

10. Strongly encourages publication of the synthesis report of the Africa region States Parties to ensure its wide distribution in the region, and calls on the international community to support this action;

11. Decides that significant modifications to boundaries and changes tocriteria (re-nominations) requested by States Parties as a follow-up to theSecond Cycle of the Periodic Reporting Exercise will not fall within the limit of two nominations per State Party per year imposed byParagraph 61 of the Operational Guidelines, while they will still fall within the overall limit of forty-five complete nominations per year.This decision shall apply for the 1February2012 and 1February2013 deadlines for the Africa region, after which time the normal limit established in Paragraph 61 will be resumed;

12. Further notes the States Parties' request for concerted efforts to effectively address the conflicting interests of conservation and development needs and requests the World Heritage Centre to organise, in partnership with the African World Heritage Fund, a special meeting on managing the impacts of development activities and resource extraction in and around World Heritage properties in the Africa region;

13. Recognises the valuable role played by local communities, including indigenous peoples, in the management of cultural and natural heritage properties in Africa and also requests that research programmes on African World Heritage properties should also focus on the involvement of the local communities in their implementation and derivation of direct benefits;

14. Takes note of the initial work undertaken by the two regional training institutions, Ecole du Patrimoine Africain and Centre for Heritage Development in Africa, to propose a Capacity Building Strategy, and calls on the international community to continue the support to these two institutions so that they can continue to play a vital role in the implementation of the Convention in the region;

15. Encourages States Parties to focus on national train-the-trainers programmes to ensure that the impacts of the global World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy are maximised at national level while fully involving young professionals in these activities for long term sustainability;

16. Also welcomes the role that the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) has been playing in the implementation of its mandate and calls upon African States Parties to reinforce their financial and human resource support for the Fund;

17. Also calls upon African State Parties to avail themselves of the opportunities for International Assistance as offered by the African World Heritage Fund;

18. Further requests the States Parties to continue to work closely with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to further develop the regional and sub-regional Action Plans into an operational Regional Programme including priorities, time tables, and budgetary implications for the African States Parties, tailored to sub-regional needs, and finally requests the World Heritage Centre to present the Action Plan, the Africa Nature and Africa 2020 programmes to the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-10/34.COM/10B and Information Document WHC-10/34.COM/INF.10B,

2. Recalling Decision 33 COM 11C adopted at its 33rd session (Seville, 2009),

3. Takes note of the information provided on the progress accomplished in the preparations of the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in Africa and the final report on the implementation of the Africa 2009 programme;

4. Commends the States Parties of the Africa region which have hosted meetings in the Periodic Reporting exercise, in particular Senegal, Kenya, Cameroon, Namibia and South Africa, for their active involvement;

5. Thanks the Governments of Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, France, and South Africa, as well as the African World Heritage Fund and the Nordic World Heritage Foundation for their financial and technical support;

6. Also thanks the Advisory Bodies and regional training institutions in Africa for their support and encourages them to continue to assist the process;

7. Encourages the States Parties of the Africa Region to continue preparing all the missing retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage properties situated in their territories, and to submit them at the latest by 31 August 2010 for examination at the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2011;

8. Requests the States Parties of the Africa Region to complete and submit the Periodic Report Questionnaires at the latest by 30 September 2010;

9. Also requests the World Heritage Centre to submit a Final Report on the results of the second cycle of the Periodic Reporting for Africa for examination at its 35th session in 2011.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-09/33.COM/11C,

2. Recalling Decisions 31 COM 10 and 32 COM 11A, adopted respectively at its 31st session (Christchurch, 2007) and its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008);

3. Takes note of the results of activities in preparation for the launching of the Second cycle of Periodic Reporting, and in particular the workshop for the preparation of draft Statements of Outstanding Universal Value organized in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (March 2009) ;

4. Expresses its thanks to the Swiss Government and the African World Heritage Fund for their financial support in the preparation of the exercise for the Second cycle of Periodic Reporting;

5. Requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to pursue the implementation of the Regional Programme for Africa, and encourages them to continue seeking funding for its implementation;

6. Requests those States Parties of the Africa region that have not yet responded to the questions raised in the framework of the retrospective inventory to provide all clarifications and documentation requested before 1 February 2010 ;

7. Also requests States Parties of the Africa region to revise or prepare all the missing Statements of Outstanding Universal Value concerning properties located on their territory and to submit them by 1 February 2010 for examination at the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2011;

8. Urges States Parties of the Africa region to actively participate in the second cycle of Periodic Reporting and to take the opportunity to strengthen their management capacities for World Heritage properties;

9. Invites States Parties, the African World Heritage Fund, the World Heritage Centre and all the actors involved in the conservation and management of African natural and cultural heritage to develop a fund-raising strategy to boost the financial resources required for the implementation of World Heritage Convention in Africa and encourages twinning programmes for specific action in capacity building and periodic reporting ;

10. Also invites African States Parties to host regional and sub-regional meetings foreseen in the framework of the second cycle of Periodic Reporting and thanks the State Party of Kenya for its offer to host the sub-regional meeting for Eastern Africa;

11. Also requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to provide assistance to African States Parties in the preparation of the Periodic Report;

12. Decides to launch a second cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Africa region and also decides to allocate USD 150,000 for the implementation of activities foreseen in this framework;

13. Warmly acknowledges the work of the Africa 2009 and Africa Nature programmes;

14. Supports a follow-up programme for Africa 2009 and requests a report to be presented to the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session in 2010, to be integrated in the periodic reporting for Africa;

15. Further requests the World Heritage Centre, in consultation with the Advisory Bodies and the States Parties, to develop programme activities based on the results of the Africa 2009 and African Nature programmes;

16. Requests furthermore the World Heritage Centre to keep it informed of progress achieved in the Periodic Reporting exercise at its 34th session in 2010.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/5C and WHC-04/7 EXT.COM/INF.11,

2. Recalling its Decision 26 COM 20, adopted at its 26th session (Budapest, 2002),

3. Notes with satisfaction the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations of the Periodic Report for Africa;

4. Thanks the Italian Government for its prompt and generous contribution to the implementation of the first session of Modules II & III of the Africa Regional Programme 2004-2007, as well as the governments and institutions detailed in the Annex for their contribution to the conservation of World Heritage Sites in Africa;

5. Invites the Director of the World Heritage Centre, in consultation with the Advisory Bodies, to take into account, in the implementation of the training component of the Africa Regional Programme, the diversity of languages as well as the need to ensure an appropriate balance between natural and cultural heritage, with a view to promoting integrated programs;

6. Takes note of the meeting of African experts on the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and on the State of Conservation of World Heritage sites in Africa planned for March 2005 in Cape Town, South Africa;

7. Calls upon the State Parties to the Convention, UNESCO, the World Heritage Centre and other partners to support this initiative;

8. Requests the Director of the World Heritage Centre to report at its 29th session (Durban, 2005) on the results and progress accomplished in the implementation of the recommendations of both the Periodic Report for Africa and the Africa Regional Programme. 

ANNEX to the Decision 7 EXT.COM 5C

List of Governments and Institutions that have contributed to the Africa Regional Programme and to the conservation of World Heritage properties in Africa:

• Belgium, Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Federal Science Office;
• France – UNESCO Cooperation Agreement;
• Global Environment Facility (GEF)/ Small Grants Programme;
• Italy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• Japan, Funds-in-Trust-Agreement with UNESCO;
• Finland, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Netherlands, Funds-in Trust-Agreement with UNESCO;
• Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD);
• Nordic World Heritage Foundation;
• Portugal, Funds-in-Trust Agreement with UNESCO;
• Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
• Swedish National Heritage;
• United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF).
• United Nations Foundation (UNF)