Decision 38 COM 6

Follow-up to the World Heritage Capacity Building strategy and Progress report on the World Heritage-related Category 2 Centres

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/6,
2. Recalling Decisions 36 COM 6, 36 COM 9B, 37 COM 5E and 37 COM 6, adopted at its 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012) and 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) sessions respectively,
3. Commends the progress made in the implementation of the World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy (WHCBS), its accompanying World Heritage Capacity Building Programme, and the capacity building activities carried out in 2013 and 2014;
4. Notes with appreciation the continued support of the Government of Switzerland in the implementation of the World Heritage Capacity Building Programme;
5. Acknowledges the acute need, however, for additional significant contributions in order to reach a critical mass of support for the programme to be able to reach its goal, and calls upon other States Parties and organizations to provide additional funding and other support for the implementation of the World Heritage Capacity Building Programme and associated activities at the international and regional levels;
6. Takes note of the development of the regional capacity building strategies and initiatives as a follow up to Periodic Reporting exercise in all regions, and notably of the conclusion of the Regional Capacity Building Strategy and Associated Programmes for Asia and the Pacific, led by the World Heritage Institute for Training and Research in Asia and the Pacific (WHITR-AP), and also calls upon States Parties and all concerned partners and stakeholders of the region to follow-up the implementation of the strategy;
7. Encourages the ongoing efforts by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to establish a biennial recognition of best practice, notably through identifying extrabudgetary financial support towards the implementation of this activity;
8. Welcomes the progress made by all category 2 centres related to World Heritage in implementing their activities as well as the outcomes of their fourth coordination meeting (Shanghai, 23-26 May 2014), generously hosted by WHITR-AP;
9. Further welcomes the establishment of the Centre for World Natural Heritage Management and Training for the Asia and Pacific Region in Dehradun (India) as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO;
10. Also takes note of the new integrated comprehensive strategy for category 2 centres, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO, at its 37th session (Paris, 2013);
11. Also encourages the ongoing efforts to develop a UNITWIN network of UNESCO Chairs active in the field of heritage conservation which would help streamlining their contribution to the objectives of the World Heritage Convention and strengthen their synergies with existing category 2 centres, the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies;
12. Requests the World Heritage Centre and ICCROM to submit a progress report on the implementation of the World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy and the activities of the category 2 centres related to World Heritage for examination by the Committee at its 39th session in 2015.