On 25 November 2020, the World Heritage Centre held an 'Online technical meeting for Libyan properties on the List of the World Heritage in Danger' to support Libya in drafting the desired state of conservation and corrective measures for the eventual removal of Old Town of Ghadamès from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The online meeting brought together representatives of Libyan authorities, site managers of the five World Heritage properties in Libya, ICOMOS, ICCROM, the UNESCO Office for the Maghreb, and the World Heritage Centre. The Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), and experts of the project on the Managing Libya's Cultural Heritage (MaLiCH) also participated.
The meeting built upon the outcomes of a first meeting that was held in March 2020 at the UNESCO Headquarters, in Paris. It aimed at continuing discussions and setting the groundwork for the elaboration of the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), and a programme for corrective measures with a timeframe for implementation.
During the meeting, presentations were made by Libyan experts and ICOMOS, which were followed up by discussions and an agreement on the way forward. A working group will be established comprising representatives of Libyan authorities, ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre to follow up the process, during which remote support will be provided and further online meetings will be organized as necessary.
The online meeting was organized within the framework of the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust project 'Strengthening national capacities for the elaboration of corrective measures for Libyan World Heritage Properties', and was supported by the World Heritage Fund.
