African National Focal Points for Periodic Reporting finalize Third Cycle Draft Regional Action Plan

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC/21/44COM/10B,
2. Recalling Decisions 41 COM 10A and 43 COM 10B adopted at its 41st (Krakow, 2017) and 43rd (Baku, 2019) sessions respectively;
3. Notes with satisfaction that all States Parties of the Africa region participated in the completion and submission of Section I (State Party level) and Section II (World Heritage property level) of the Periodic Reporting questionnaire;
4. Commends the authorities of South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya for hosting sub-regional workshops for the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting exercise;
5. Thanks the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), Regional Coordinator and Mentors, Advisory Bodies as well as the World Heritage Centre for their continuous support throughout the exercise; also thanks all national focal points and World Heritage site managers for their commitment and participation throughout the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting exercise despite the challenging situation of the COVID-19 pandemic;
6. Welcomes with satisfaction the Third Cycle Regional Report in the Africa region and encourages all States Parties to widely disseminate among all relevant stakeholders in the region, and takes note of the possible publication of the Third Periodic Report in the Africa region in the World Heritage paper series, if the financial situation permits and encourages States Parties to contribute financially for this purpose;
7. Endorses the Third Cycle Regional Action Plan and its five Strategic Objectives recommended by the States Parties following the Final Regional Workshop of February 2021;
8. Encourages States Parties to appropriate the Regional Action Plan into their national, sub-regional and regional heritage strategies and requests the World Heritage Centre in collaboration with Advisory Bodies, and other partners, to support States Parties in its implementation;
9. Further encourages the States Parties to initiate regular meetings at regional and/or sub-regional level to ensure continuous monitoring in the implementation of the Action Plan;
10. Thanks the Governments of China, Flanders (Belgium), France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sultanate of Oman and the European Union for their contributions towards supporting the implementation of the Third Cycle Action Plan in Africa;
11. Welcomes the commitment and support of the AWHF to assist the African States Parties in the implementation of the Action Plan and calls upon African States Parties to provide financial and human resource support to the AWHF;
12. Further requests the World Heritage Centre to monitor the implementation of the Regional Action Plan in view of preparing a mid-cycle assessment report;
13. Finally requests the World Heritage Centre to prepare a progress report on the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting for examination at its 46th session.

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The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/10A,
2. Recalling Decisions 38 COM 5F.2, 39 COM 10B.5, and 40 COM 10A, adopted at its 38th (Doha, 2014), 39th (Bonn, 2015) and 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) sessions respectively,
3. Notes with appreciation the successful implementation of the Reflection Period by the Secretariat, in consultation with the Advisory Bodies, and the use of innovative and cost-effective working methods;
4. Commends the Periodic Reporting Reflection Expert Group for the extensive and in-depth work carried out;
5. Thanks all States Parties who volunteered to participate in the Testing Phase for their active engagement in the Periodic Reporting Reflection;
6. Welcomes the recommendations and improvements proposed with regard to the format, content, relevance, analysis and use of data in the Periodic Reporting process;
7. Also welcomes the inclusion in the revised questionnaire of questions relating to synergies with other international instruments and programmes on cultural and natural heritage; questions relating to the implementation of the 1972 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection, at National level, of the Cultural and Natural Heritage and to the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, as well as questions assessing the implementation of the World Heritage Policy for integrating a sustainable development perspective into the processes of the World Heritage Convention, and of other key policies adopted by the World Heritage Committee;
8. Further welcomes the development of strengthened and comprehensive indicators to improve follow-up on progress made by State Parties in the implementation of the Convention as well as the 1972 Recommendation concerning the Protection, at National Level, of the Cultural and Natural Heritage, further to the Recommendation of the Evaluation of UNESCO’s Standard-Setting Work of the Culture Sector (Part III – 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage);
9. Takes note with appreciation of the analytical framework developed by the Expert Group and decides that it will be used as a global template for the analysis of data, for all regions, during the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting;
10. Also takes note of the feasibility study concerning the production of a global World Heritage report and recommends that further work on the format and resourcing of the report be carried out using responses from States Parties and Site Managers in the first years of the Third Cycle;
11. Also decides to maintain the order of regions and the 6-year periodicity of the Periodic Reporting cycles, with one region reporting every year (Arab States, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America) and one year between cycles for a reflection, if necessary, and for the production of a global report on the basis of the outcomes of the cycle across all regions;
12. Further decides to officially launch the Third Cycle (2017-2022), but in view of the need to allow sufficient time for appropriate preparation, by the Secretariat, and by the States Parties of the Arab States region, exceptionally postpones the start of the Periodic Reporting of all regions by one year, starting with the Arab States region in 2018, followed by the Africa region in 2019, and so on;
13. Encourages the active engagement of the States Parties in the following reporting cycles, and furthermore decides, that, in view of the current financial and human resources constraints of the World Heritage Centre, its role should consist of ensuring a holistic approach across regions, by providing overall coordination, guidance tools and analysis, as well as facilitating a State Party-driven approach, and invites the States Parties to contribute extrabudgetary resources for this purpose, and further decides, in case the resources are insufficient to ensure continuity, to supplement the funding of an extra-budgetary position from the Periodic Reporting budget line in the World Heritage Fund;
14. Approves the revised Chapter V of the Operational Guidelines “Periodic Reporting on the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention” and the revised Annex 7 to the Operational Guidelines, on the Format of the Periodic Reporting Questionnaire, contained in Annex IV of Document WHC/17/41.COM/10A.

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