The World Heritage Committee

The World Heritage Committee meets once a year, and consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention elected by their General Assembly. At its first session, the Committee adopted its Rules of Procedure of the World Heritage Committee.

The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties. It has the final say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List. It examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties and asks States Parties to take action when properties are not being properly managed. It also decides on the inscription or deletion of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Extended 45th session
of the World Heritage Committee

10-25 September 2023
Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Bureau of the World Heritage Committee

The Bureau consists of seven States Parties elected annually by the Committee: a Chairperson, five Vice-Chairpersons, and a Rapporteur. The Bureau of the Committee coordinates the work of the Committee and fixes the dates, hours and order of business of meetings. The election of the new Bureau will take place at the end of the next session of the World Heritage Committee.

Chairperson: H.H Princess Haifa Al Mogrin (Saudi Arabia)
Rapporteur: Ms. Shikha Jain (India)
Vice-Chairpersons: Argentina, Italy, Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand

World Heritage Committee Members

According to the World Heritage Convention , a Committee member's term of office is for six years, but most States Parties choose voluntarily to be Members of the Committee for only four years, in order to give other States Parties an opportunity to be on the Committee.

The 21 States Parties of the current World Heritage Committee are the following:

Argentina Belgium Bulgaria Egypt Ethiopia Greece India Italy Japan Mali Mexico Nigeria Oman Qatar Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saudi Arabia South Africa Thailand Zambia

The "Five Cs"

Strategic Objectives of the World Heritage Convention

c
Credibility

Strengthen the Credibility of the World Heritage List, as a representative and geographically balanced testimony of cultural and natural properties of outstanding universal value.

c
Conservation

Ensure the effective Conservation of World Heritage properties.

c
Capacity-building

Promote the development of effective Capacity-building measures, including assistance for preparing the nomination of properties to the World Heritage List, for the understanding and implementation of the World Heritage Convention and related instruments.

c
Communication

Increase public awareness, involvement and support for World Heritage through communication.

c
Communities

Enhance the role of communities in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

Read more

chevron_right Budapest Declaration (2002)
chevron_right The "fifth C" (2007)

Rules of Procedure

Established under the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its seventeenth session on 16 November 1972. The Rules of Procedure were last revised by the World Heritage Committee at its thirty-ninth session (Bonn, 2015). The Rules of Procedure are periodically revised to reflect the decisions of the World Heritage Committee.

Rules of Procedure (July 2015)  Règlement Intérieur (juillet 2015)

Rules of Procedure: Historical Development

Ordinary sessions of the World Heritage Committee

45COM Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2023)
44COM Fuzhou, China/Online (2021)
43COM Baku, Azerbaijan (2019)
42COM Manama, Bahrain (2018)
41COM Kraków, Poland (2017)
40COM Istanbul, Turkey, July / UNESCO’s Headquarters, October (2016)
39COM Germany, Bonn (2015)
38COM Qatar, Doha (2014)
37COM Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2013)
36COM Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation (2012)
35COM UNESCO, Paris (2011)
34COM Brasília, Brazil (2010)
33COM Sevilla, Spain (2009)
32COM Quebec City, Canada (2008)
31COM Christchurch, New-Zealand (2007)
30COM Vilnius, Lithuania (2006)
29COM Durban, South Africa (2005)
28COM Suzhou, China (2004)
27COM UNESCO, Paris (2003)
26COM Budapest, Hungary (2002)
25COM Helsinki, Finland (2001)
24COM Cairns, Australia (2000)
23COM Marrakesh, Morocco (1999)
22COM Kyoto, Japan (1998)
21COM Naples, Italy (1997)
20COM Mérida, Mexico (1996)
19COM Berlin, Germany (1995)
18COM Phuket, Thailand (1994)
17COM Cartagena, Colombia (1993)
16COM Santa Fe, USA (1992)
15COM Carthage, Tunisia (1991)
14COM Banff, Canada (1990)
13COM UNESCO, Paris (1989)
12COM Brasilia, Brazil (1988)
11COM UNESCO, Paris (1987)
10COM UNESCO, Paris (1986)
09COM UNESCO, Paris (1985)
08COM Buenos Aires, Argentina (1984)
07COM Florence, Italy (1983)
06COM UNESCO, Paris (1982)
05COM Sydney, Australia (1981)
04COM UNESCO, Paris (1980)
03COM Luxor, Egypt (1979)
02COM Washington, D.C (1978)
01COM UNESCO, Paris (1977)

Extraordinary Sessions

18EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2023)
17EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2022)
16EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2021)
15EXTCOM Online (2021)
14EXTCOM Online (2020)
13EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2019)
12EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2017)
11EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2015)
10EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2011)
09EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2010)
08EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2007)
07EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2004)
06EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2003)
05EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (2001)
04EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (1999)
03EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (1999)
02EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (1997)
01EXTCOM UNESCO, Paris (1981)

More

All Committee Decisions
All Committee Sessions
All Bureau meetings
News (26)
Decisions (3)
Show 39COM 17 Election of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons and Rapporteur of the 40TH session of the World Heritage Committee (2016)
Show 37COM 18A Provisional Agenda of the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee (2014)
Show 06EXTCOM 3 Revision of the Rules of Procedure of the World Heritage Committee