Towards a World Heritage Policy Compendium – Running Usability Tests for the Policy Compendium On-line Tool

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC/18/42.COM/12A,
2. Expresses its appreciation to the ad-hoc Working Group for its work and recommendations;
3. Takes note of the recommendations related to upstream, International Assistance and sustainability of the World Heritage Fund which have been included accordingly in the related Decisions (42 COM 9A, 42 COM 13 and 42 COM 14);
4. In relation to Recommendation n°3 of the IOS study, notes with concern the number of deviations of the decisions of the World Heritage Committee from the recommendations of the Advisory Bodies and considers that, in order to address them, it is necessary to review the nomination process, tentative lists and upstream process, bearing in mind the Global Strategy, and to consider other possible measures, such as a Code of conduct of the World Heritage Committee;
5. Decides to extend the mandate of the adhoc Working Group, to be composed of members of the Committee and up to two non-members per Electoral Group, to:
   • Examine different possibilities of reforming the nomination process and propose recommendations in view of increasing the balance and credibility of the World Heritage List;
   • Discuss the modalities for the possible use of advisory services of other entities with suitable experience and knowledge, in line with UNESCO’s rules and regulations, and in addition to the current three Advisory Bodies;
   
6. Noting that the ad-hoc Working Group identified the need for reform of the nomination and evaluation process, considers that this would benefit from further reflection from a representative panel of experts drawn from the ad-hoc Working Group, the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and other experts, to feed into the work of the ad-hoc Working Group;
7. Requests in this regard, the World Heritage Centre to organize, by March 2019, a reflection meeting to examine different possibilities for reforming the nomination and evaluation process and to propose recommendations for consideration by the World Heritage Committee in view of increasing the balance and credibility of the World Heritage List, as outlined in document WHC/18/42.COM/12A;
8. Calls upon interested States Parties to contribute extrabudgetary funds towards the organisation of the reflection meeting;
9. Requests the Secretariat to consult with States Parties and other relevant stakeholders of the Convention on the matters that should be addressed at the reflection meeting;
10. Further requests the ad-hoc Working Group to review the reflection meeting report and recommendations and to submit these together with the advice of the ad-hoc Working Group, to the 43rd session of the Committee with a view to revising the Operational Guidelines.
    

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The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/11,
2. Recalling Decisions 35 COM 12B, 37 COM 13, 39 COM 12 and 40 COM 12 adopted at its 35th (UNESCO, 2011), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013), 39th (Bonn, 2015) and 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) sessions respectively;
3. Thanks the Government of Australia for their commitment and financial contribution in view of the development of a Policy document for a better implementation of the World Heritage Convention;
4. Commends the Working Group of experts and the World Heritage Centre for the preparation of the draft Policy Compendium;
5. Also commends the World Heritage Centre for successfully carrying out an inclusive online consultation with World Heritage stakeholders and welcomes the positive feedback received;
6. Takes note with appreciation of the first draft Policy Compendium and requests the World Heritage Centre and the Working Group of experts to continue the work of Phase 2 of elaborating the Policy Compendium, and organize inclusive consultations with key stakeholders as appropriate;
7. Reiterates that Phase 2 is to be organized in line with the brief provided by the Scoping Study and also requests that the World Heritage Centre and the expert Working Group, in the course of their work, explore possible gaps where policy may need to be developed or refined; considering the broad target audience and the need for a user-friendly and easily accessible tool, further requests that introductory presentations under each major topic be included; and requests furthermore that the final Policy Compendium be submitted for examination and approval to the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd session in 2019;
8. Also takes note of the recommendation for the development of the Policy Compendium as an online tool and furthermore requests that the World Heritage Centre continue to explore the feasibility of this option and calls upon States Parties to provide extra-budgetary funds to finance this initiative.

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The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/12,
2. Recalling Decisions 35 COM 12B, 37 COM 13 and 39 COM 12 adopted at its 35th (UNESCO, 2011), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) and 39th (Bonn, 2015) sessions respectively,
3. Reiterates its gratitude to the Government of Australia for their commitment and financial contribution in view of the development of a Policy document for a better implementation of the World Heritage Convention;
4. Commends ICCROM for the preparation of the scoping study, in consultation with the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and IUCN;
5. Decides to apply the two-phased approach for the preparation of a Policy Compendium as described in document WHC/16/40.COM/12;
6. Requests the World Heritage Centre to assemble existing policies and to convene a geographically balanced working group of natural and cultural heritage experts and to inclusively involve other stakeholders such as ICOMOS, IUCN, ICCROM, Category 2 Centres and UNESCO Chairs, to review the collection of policies taking into account the views of Committee members through an appropriate consultation procedure;
7. Also requests the World Heritage Centre to submit the first draft Policy Compendium, reviewed by the working group, as well as to report on the progress of work for examination to the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018.

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