Support for the Silk Roads World Heritage Sites in Central Asia (Phase II)

The UNESCO Japan Funds-in-Trust (Japan-FIT) project “Support for Documentation Standards and Procedures of the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination in Central Asia (Phase I)” (Feb 2011 – June 2014) made enormous progress in establishing standards of documentation and research necessary in finalizing the first two nominations of Silk Roads corridors examined at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee from 15-25 June 2014 in Doha, Qatar.

• “Silk Roads: Penjikent-Samarkand-Poykent Corridor”, jointly submitted by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan was referred
• “Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor”, jointly submitted by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was inscribed on the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi).

This UNESCO Japan-FIT Central Asian Silk Roads Phase II project aims to further enhance the capacities of the national authorities of the Central Asian Republics for the protection of cultural heritage, training them in further documentation and archaeological research, conservation and management planning to ensure the sustainable management of the Silk Roads corridors. Through 5 national annual workshops and 3 sub-regional workshops as well as an international coordination committee meeting (Fourth Meeting of the Coordinating Committee in Almaty, Kazakhstan, November, 2015), the project also aims to promote sustainable regional dialogue, cooperation and development amongst the Central Asian Republics—through the Silk Roads, an ongoing platform for cultural dialogue and exchange—also fostering international North-South-South partnerships for heritage conservation and sustainable development.

During the Fourth Meeting of the Coordinating Committee on the World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads, which took place from the 24^th to the 25^th November 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, UNESCO representatives and five Directors from the Monuments Department of the five Central Asian countries' Culture Ministry together with participants and members of the Silk Roads World Heritage Coordination Committee as well as international resources persons, officially launched the UNESCO/Japan-FIT project “Support for the Silk Roads World Heritage Sites in Central Asia” (Phase II, April 2015- April 2018).

Lead organization/sector
World Heritage Centre and UNESCO Field Offices in Central Asia

Donor country
Government of Japan

Total project cost
697,796 US$ (including 13% UNESCO programme support costs)

Associated Organization(s)

• Kazakhstan: Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences in partnership with the Archaeological Expertise Company;
• Kyrgyzstan: Institute of History and Cultural Heritage of the National Academy of Sciences;
• Tajikistan: Ministry of Culture and Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography;
• Turkmenistan: Ministry of Culture, Department of Monument Protection, in partnership with the Institute of History;
• Uzbekistan: Board of Monuments, in partnership with the Institute of Fine Arts, & the Institute of Archaeology.
• Central Asian National Commissions for UNESCO of the participating State Parties.

Contact Person
Roland Lin, WHC

States Parties
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan