World Heritage site managers from across West Africa mobilise to safeguard World Heritage sites in danger

This important workshop was hosted by the Government of Senegal, and co-organized by UNESCO, the African World Heritage Fund and the Advisory Bodies to the 1972 Convention (ICCROM, ICOMOS, IUCN).

The objectives of this five-day workshop were to support the development of the Desired State of Conservation for the removal of sites from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) and the corrective measures, assist in mobilizing technical and financial partners and define a roadmap for the implementation of actions for the removal of six African World Heritage sites (three natural and three cultural) from the List of World Heritage in Danger in West Africa.

Speakers and panellists, through their interventions, highlighted the role of south-south collaboration in working together to ensure the sustainable and effective conservation of these sites, free from the threats that still endanger them. They also called for every possible effort to be made, including stronger mobilisation of the international community, to provide targeted support to the concerned African States Parties, so that their endangered sites reach the Desired State of Conservation that will enable them to be removed from this List. 

After an engaging opening speech by the Deputy Prefect of Toubacouta, Mr Hamath Saiko Ly, who urged the various stakeholders present to act in synergy to remove the various UNESCO World Heritage sites from the Danger List, the Chief of the Africa Unit of the World Heritage Centre, Mr Muhammad Juma, encouraged the participants to produce a clear roadmap and concrete actions to support the removal of the sites from the List of World Heritage in Danger, which was established to identify and address threats to the world's most significant locations and contains 15 African sites. 
As outlined in the ambitious objectives set out in UNESCO's Priority Africa strategy for 2022-2029, one of its primary goals is to provide specialised assistance to African States Parties whose World Heritage sites are on the List of World Heritage in Danger. This targeted support aims to help these sites achieve a robust and sustainable state of conservation to facilitate their removal from that list