Decision : 40 COM 15
Presentation of the final accounts of the World Heritage Fund for 2014-2015 and implementation of the World Heritage Fund under the biennium 2016-2017

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/15 and Document WHC/16/40.COM/13A,
2. Takes note of the statement of accounts of the World Heritage Fund for 2014-2015;
3. Notes with appreciation the supplementary costs covered by the Turkish authorities as host of the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee in addition to those listed in the Statement of Requirements;
4. Recalls that the payment of compulsory and assessed voluntary contributions is, as per Article 16 of the World Heritage Convention, an obligation incumbent on all States Parties which have ratified the Convention;
5. Thanks States Parties which have already made their contributions for 2016 and calls upon all other States Parties, which have not yet paid the totality of their assessed contributions for 2016, including voluntary contributions in accordance with Article 16.2 of the Convention, to ensure that their contributions are paid as soon as possible;
6. Encourages States Parties with arrears to expedite payments of their dues and where a State Party is unable to make a one off settlement, the Secretariat is to, as a matter of priority and urgency, finalize a payment schedule to settle outstanding arrears and further implores States Parties to pay their contributions by 31st January to facilitate the timely implementation of activities financed by the World Heritage Fund;
7. Approves that the operating reserve of the World Heritage Fund cover the request from ICOMOS for additional funding in the amount of US$ 100,839 for 2016, as well as the request of ICOMOS for additional funding in the amount of US$ 158,169 for 2017;
8. Takes note of the cost estimates of nominations to be examined in 2017, which are listed in Annex V of the present document, according to the Document WHC/16/40.COM/INF.8B3;
9. Invites the Secretariat to enhance its efforts to provide a clear holistic overview of the global budget framework of the Convention, including the World Heritage Fund, regular budget and extrabudgetary allotments, in the light of the ongoing process towards UNESCO’s integrated budget framework and structured financing dialogue;
10. Further invites the World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies to hold a budget briefing for States Parties during each General Assembly as well as during the information session prior to each session of the Committee;
11. Further requests the World Heritage Centre in consultation with the Advisory Bodies to formulate a proposal for the 2018-2019 budget of the World Heritage Fund, which is sufficient to meet the statutory requirements as much as possible within the existing budget framework;
12. Taking note of the priority placed by the World Heritage Committee on conservation and management through Decision 39 COM 15, recommends that the World Heritage Centre, in the budget for the next biennium (2018-2019) give priority to conservation and monitoring activities, and therefore calls for increasing the proportion of the World Heritage Fund dedicated to conservation;
13. Notes that without supplementary voluntary contributions being made to the World Heritage Fund, the financial resources will be grossly insufficient to provide for the statutory processes as well as International Assistance and Conservation, thereby threatening the credibility of the Convention and the fulfilment of its objectives, as well as the viability of the World Heritage Centre to undertake its operational and administrative functions;
14. Recognizing the urgent need to ensure the sustainability of the World Heritage Fund and having considered the options for voluntary contributions to this end, calls upon all States Parties to commit to consider allocating supplementary voluntary contributions to the World Heritage Fund;
15. Recalling proposals by the Secretariat at the 19th and the 20th General Assembly on voluntary contributions, endorses options 1, 4 and 5 of Resolution 19 GA 8, as they were found applicable alternatives presented to the 19th General Assembly, and also the proposal in the document WHC-15/20.GA/8 presented to the 20th General Assembly;
16. Decides to initiate a consultation process on annual fee for World Heritage listed properties on a voluntary basis and requests the Secretariat to send out a survey to States Parties, in order to verify the possibility of their local administrations in charge of management of inscribed sites, to pay an annual fee to the Fund, depending on their financial autonomy and capacity to pay and report back to the Committee;
17. Expresses its concern that the Cultural and Natural Heritage have come under unprecedented threat and with deep concern for the sustainability of the World Heritage Fund, calls upon the Executive Board and the General Conference in the light of the ongoing preparations of the document C/5 to allocate more resources from the regular budget to meet statutory requirements for more effective implementation of the 1972 Convention;
18. Encourages that as a part of its extrabudgetary funding the Secretariat further bolsters its campaign to attract increased and sustained partnerships with the private sector and individual donors, while mindful that funding should not be sought from entities whose activities are incompatible with the aims and principles of UNESCO;
19. Expresses its concern that the resources of the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies are not sufficient to implement the statutory activities required by the Convention and decides to continue to explore appropriate ways to ensure the sustainability of the Fund, including through extrabudgetary resource mobilization opportunities and additional fund raising possibilities, in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre, other UNESCO competent services, category 2 centres, the Advisory Bodies, States Parties and other organizations, and to develop recommendations in this regard;
20. Recalls its recommendation to reduce and prioritize the work requested from the Secretariat in view of financial and human resource constraints, and invites the extended ad hoc working group to consider this matter, in accordance with its mandate;
21. In view of optimisation of the use of the resources of the Fund, emphasizes the importance of securing value for money in the commissioning of advisory services and requests the Secretariat to prepare, if funding available, a comparative mapping of forms and models for use of advisory services (such as evaluation, technical services, etc.) by other international instruments and programmes as a means of benchmarking the price of services, including but not limited to UNESCO site-based conventions and programmes, for consideration by the ad-hoc Working Group at the earliest opportunity and examination by the Committee at its 41st session;
22. Recalls Decision 35 COM 12B, that default to a minimum two-year cycle for the examination of State of Conservation reports for individual properties on the World Heritage List, and for the discussion of those inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, is appropriate, except for cases of utmost urgency, as well as Decisions 38 COM 5F.1 and 39 COM 13B, by which the World Heritage Committee “considered that the annual frequency of sessions of the Committee is appropriate” and decides that the option of transferring to a 2-year cycle will not contribute to the credibility and enhancing the impact of the Convention, in addition to not generating any meaningful economy in the World Heritage Fund, and also decides that the annual frequency of sessions of the World Heritage Committee is appropriate;
23. Requests the World Heritage Centre to report on the implementation of this decision at its 41st session in 2017