Decision : CONF 002 XIV.1-4
Revision of the Operational Guidelines

XIV.1 The former Rapporteur of the Committee introduced the working document WHC-93/CONF.002/11 consisting of a revised text of the Operational Guidelines concerninq the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. This text took into consideration the request of the Committee, expressed at its session in Santa Fe in 1992, that the Strategic Orientations be incorporated in the Guidelines, together with the proposals made by two States Parties, Italy and the United States of America. He explained that the Bureau, at its seventeenth session (Paris, June 1993) examined the proposed modifications which had been submitted and which concerned paragraphs: 3, 6, 39, 40, 41, 43, 53, 55, 58, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 78, 79, 83, 88, 89, 94, 103, 112, 113, 114, 117 and 118. The Bureau recommended adoption of this text by the Committee.

XIV.2 After discussion, the Committee adopted the Operational Guidelines as amended by the Bureau with the following additional changes:

Paragraph 14, the following sentence should be added at the end of the paragraph: "Participation of local people in the nomination process is essential to establish, as much as possible, the shared responsibilities between them and the State Party regarding site maintenance, but should not prejudice future decision-making by the Committee".

Paragraph 55: The timetable for the processing of nominations will remain the same in 1994 as in previous years and should be examined in detail at the next session of the Committee.

Paragraph 75: Requests for emergency assistance may be sent to the World Heritage Centre at any time using Form WHC/5. The World Heritage Centre should consult to the extent possible relevant advisory bodies and then submit these requests to the Chairperson who has the authorization to approve emergency requests up to an amount of US$50,000 whereas the Bureau can approve requests up to an amount of US$75,000.

Paragraph 83: The Delegate of Colombia proposed that point 5 of para. 83 of the revised Operational Guidelines should take into account the costs of monitoring for the States Parties particularly the developing countries. She suggested deleting the last sentence of this paragraph which reads: "This analysis will be taken into account for the evaluation of the request", pointing out that the provision of the state of conservation report should be optional rather than an obligatory requirement. This proposal was adopted by concensus.

Paragraph 89: The last paragraph should read as follows: "However no more than 20% of the total annual assistance budget including technical cooperation and training (but excluding emergency assistance and preparatory assistance, for which separate rules have been established) may be allocated by the Chairperson."

Paragraph 118: "The World Heritage Committee has recognized the collective interest that would be advanced by closer coordination of its work with other international conservation instruments. These include the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the 1954 The Haque Convention, the 1970 UNESCO Convention, the Ramsar Convention, and CITES, as well as other regional conventions and future conventions that will pursue conservation objectives, as appropriate. The Committee will invite representatives  of the intergovernmental bodies under related conventions to attend its meetings as observers. Similarly, the Secretariat will appoint a representative to observe meetings of the other inter-governmental bodies upon receipt of an invitation. The Secretariat will ensure through the World Heritage Centre appropriate coordination and information-sharing between the Committee and other conventions, programmes and international organizations related to the conservation of cultural and natural heritage."

XIV.3 The Committee decided that a section on monitoring should be included in the operational Guidelines and asked the World Heritage Centre to undertake in 1994 the necessary work in cooperation with the advisory bodies.

XIV.4 The text of the revised Operational Guidelines as adopted by the Committee should be prepared and distributed by the World Heritage Centre to all States Parties early in 1994 in English and French.