Iraq joined the Convention on 5 March 1974 and has only two sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, while on the Tentative List there are no Natural sites. At the same time, no activity for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention has been yet undertaken.

The Workshop, aiming at informing the Iraqi experts about the World Heritage Convention, its objectives and procedures, was attended by representatives from the Iraqi national institutions in charge of the preservation of Cultural and Natural heritage: four experts from the Department of Antiquities of Iraq, two experts from the Minister of Higher Education and one expert from the Minister of Environment attended the Workshop, as well as two specialists from the Department of Antiquities of Jordan.

The Workshop was comprised of lectures on the World Heritage Convention's main concepts and procedures, and of practical exercises on drafting Nomination file and International Assistance requests, taking into account the Nomination Files submitted by Iraq in the 80s.

Two international experts (one specialists of Cultural sites, the other one of Natural sites in the Arab Region), as well as the representatives of the World Heritage Centre, have been the main speakers for the lectures on the WH Convention and its implementation mechanism, and have been tutoring for the practical exercises, both for Natural and for Cultural sites.

In addition, the Director of the Nordic World Heritage Foundation and a member of its Board attended and participated in the activity, with the objective to develop together a work-plan for future actions.

Furthermore, a one-day field trip has been organized to visit the Dana Reserve and the Petra Archaeological Park, as examples of natural and cultural properties. Within the context of the Workshop, these visits have been essential to link the lectures delivered with the real issues of management and conservation of the sites. They also provided the opportunity to discuss further the characteristics and significance of this heritage and to debate on the formulation of a "statement of significance" using the criteria of the WH Convention, which could fully express the notion of "Outstanding Universal Value".