Decision 41 COM 11

Revision of the Operational Guidelines

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC/17/41.COM/11, WHC/17/41.COM/10A and WHC/17/41.COM/12A,
2. Recalling Decisions 39 COM 10B.5, 39 COM 11, 40 COM 10A and 40 COM 11 adopted at its 39th (Bonn, 2015) and 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) sessions respectively,
3. Taking into account the deliberations of the Consultative Body established at the beginning of the session under Rule 20 of the Rules of Procedure,
4. Decides to keep the current mechanism of registering Tentative Lists unchanged and to maintain the way Tentative Lists are presented to the Committee, together with their publication on the World Heritage Centre’s website;
5. Further decides to introduce a disclaimer into the Operational Guidelines as an amendment of Paragraph 68, and to the Committee decisions concerning Tentative Lists:
   

   The Tentative Lists of States Parties are published by the World Heritage Centre at its website and/or in working documents in order to ensure transparency, access to information and to facilitate harmonization of Tentative Lists at regional and thematic levels.

   The sole responsibility for the content of each Tentative List lies with the State Party concerned. The publication of the Tentative Lists does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the World Heritage Committee or of the World Heritage Centre or of the Secretariat of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its boundaries.

6. Emphasizes the need to further promote harmonization of Tentative Lists at the regional level and underlines its importance as a tool in enhancing dialogue between States Parties;
7. Highlights the importance of the capacity-building activities and notes the need to connect the upstream processes with the preparation and harmonisation of Tentative Lists more effectively;
8. Invites States Parties to engage in a dialogue with all stakeholders as part of the national process to include a site on the Tentative List;
9. Encourages States Parties to refrain from including on their Tentative Lists sites that may potentially raise issues, before these are solved through a dialogue with concerned States Parties;
10. Also encourages States Parties to address concerns of other States Parties, as much as feasible, through constructive dialogue, before the submission of relevant nominations to the World Heritage List;
11. Adopts the proposed revision of Chapter V and Annex 7 of the Operational Guidelines as presented in the Annex to this Decision;
12. Recalls Decision 39 COM 11 Paragraph 8 with regard to Annex 3 of the Operational Guidelines and decides to provide recommendations for its revision, at the Committee’s 43rd session in 2019.

Annex to Decision 41 COM 11 (WHC/17/41.COM/18, p. 270)