World Heritage Committee

The World Heritage Committee is the group which decides on the places to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It makes sure that the agreements in World Heritage Convention are followed. It also decides how the money in the World Heritage Fund is spent. The committee has 21 members who are elected from the 188 countries that have agreed to the World Heritage Convention.[1]

According to the World Heritage Convention, committee members are elected for six years, however many of the representatives choose to be on the committee for only four years. This gives more countries a chance to take part.[1] At the 15th General Assembly (2005) all the committee members agreed to serve for only four years.[1]

Session

The World Heritage Committee meets many times a year to discuss the management of existing World Heritage Sites, and to look at possible new sites. A special meeting, known as the World Heritage Committee Session, takes place each year where sites are added (inscribed) to the World Heritage List.

The annual session takes place in cities all over the world. With the exception of meetings held in Paris, where the UNESCO headquarter office is located, only countries who are members of the World Heritage Committee have the right to hold a Session. The cities are decided by the Committee.

Session Year Date Host city State party
1 1977 27 June–1 July Paris   France
2 1978 5 September–8 September Washington, D.C.   United States
3 1979 22 October–26 October Cairo & Luxor   Egypt
4 1980 1 September–5 September Paris   France
5 1981 26 October–30 October Sydney   Australia
6 1982 13 December–17 December Paris   France
7 1983 5 December–9 December Florence   Italy
8 1984 29 October–2 November Buenos Aires   Argentina
9 1985 2 December–6 December Paris   France
10 1986 24 November–28 November Paris   France
11 1987 7 December–11 December Paris   France
12 1988 5 December–9 December Brasília   Brazil
13 1989 11 December–15 December Paris   France
14 1990 7 December–12 December Banff   Canada
15 1991 9 December–13 December Carthage   Tunisia
16 1992 7 December–14 December Santa Fe   United States
17 1993 6 December–11 December Cartagena   Colombia
18 1994 12 December–17 December Phuket   Thailand
19 1995 4 December–9 December Berlin   Germany
20 1996 2 December–7 December Mérida   Mexico
21 1997 1 December–6 December Naples   Italy
22 1998 30 November–5 December Kyoto   Japan
23 1999 29 November–4 December Marrakech   Morocco
24 2000 27 November–2 December Cairns   Australia
25 2001 11 December–16 December Helsinki   Finland
26 2002 24 June–29 June Budapest   Hungary
27 2003 30 June–5 July Paris   France
28 2004 28 June–7 July Suzhou   China
29 2005 10 July–17 July Durban   South Africa
30 2006 8 July–16 July Vilnius   Lithuania
31 2007 23 June–1 July Christchurch   New Zealand
32 2008 2 July-10 July Quebec City   Canada
33 2009 22 June-30 June Seville   Spain
34 2010 25 July-3 August Brasília   Brazil
35 2011 19 June-29 June Paris   France
36 2012 25 June-5 July Saint Petersburg   Russia

World Heritage Committee Media

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The World Heritage Committee". UNESCO World Heritage Site. Retrieved 2006-10-14.

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