Nine members elected to World Heritage Committee

Nine new members were elected to the World Heritage Committee on the first day of the 18th General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, which started its meeting today at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. The new members of the Committee are Algeria, Colombia, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Senegal and Serbia. Each country will serve a mandate of four years which takes effect as of 11 November 2011.

Committee members as of 11 November 2011

Algeria, Cambodia, Colombia, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Iraq, Japan, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Qatar, Russian Federation, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates

The 21-member World Heritage Committee meets once a year to discuss the state of conservation of sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, and to add new sites to the List.