Reflection Period (2015-2017) after the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting

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.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/10B,
2. Recalling Decisions 36 COM 10A, 37 COM 10C.1 and 38 COM 10B.1 adopted at its 36th session (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013) and 38th session (Doha, 2014) respectively;
3. Welcomes the progress made in the follow-up of the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Asia and the Pacific region;
4. Thanks the governments of Japan, Korea and the Netherlands for their contributions to supporting World Heritage follow-up activities on the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Asia and the Pacific region;
5. Also thanks the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region (WHITR-AP), a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO, for its contribution to the implementation of activities concluded in the Capacity-Building Strategy and Associated Programmes for Asia and the Pacific (CBSAP-AP) for the follow-up to the second cycle of Periodic Reporting; and the International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST, China) for its initiative in promoting regional cooperation on World Heritage in Asia and the Pacific;
6. Takes note of the progress made on the Silk Roads nomination process, initiated by the Asian States Parties in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre, that includes fruitful cooperation between national institutions from various Asian States Parties resulting in an example of best practice for other serial transnational nominations, and developing a tool for international cooperation, shared approaches, better management and conservation practice, as well as sustainable tourism management of the Silk Road heritage corridors;
7. Reiterates its invitation to Asia and the Pacific States Parties to actively implement the respective sub-Regional Action Plans and also encourages them to intensify their contributions to the implementation of follow-up activities while working closely with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies;
8. Requests the World Heritage Centre to present a progress report on the follow-up activities to the second cycle of Periodic Reporting at its 40th session in 2016.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/10B,
2. Recalling Decision 36 COM 10A, Decision 37 COM 10C.2 and Decision 38 COM 10B.2 adopted at its 36th session (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 37th session (Phnom-Penh, 2013) and 38th session (Doha, 2014) respectively;
3. Welcomes the progress made in the follow-up of the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Africa Region, while expressing its concerns regarding the weak implementation rate of the regional Action Plan by African States Parties;
4. Notes with appreciation the financial contribution of the Governments of Norway, Flanders (Belgium), Spain, South Africa and the Netherlands, IUCN, the UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme, the MAVA Foundation, the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) as well as the host countries of all capacity-building workshops to activities carried out in the framework of the implementation of the Action Plan for the Africa Region and its regional capacity-building programme;
5. Calls upon States Parties to financially and technically support the implementation of the Regional Action Plan for the Africa Region through follow-up activities with the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and the African World Heritage Fund;
6. Commends the States Parties of the Africa Region who have been actively implementing the Action Plan; and requests States Parties, who have not already done so, to establish their National World Heritage Committees and to develop their National Action Plans and Budgets, as well as to inform the World Heritage Centre when they are operational;
7. Further reminds States Parties which have not already done so to submit their Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value by 1 February 2016 at the latest, as well as clarifications of boundaries by 1 December 2015 at the latest;
8. Also requests the World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies, and with the support of States Parties, to continue its efforts to coordinate and implement the Regional Capacity-Building Programme according to the Action Plan 2012 – 2017;
9. Further requests the States Parties, in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, to pay special attention to the management of properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger;
10. Furthermore requests the World Heritage Centre to present a progress report on the implementation of the Action Plan for the Africa Region at its 40th session in 2016.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC-15/39.COM/10B,
2. Recalling Decision 35 COM 10C.3 adopted at its 35th session (UNESCO, 2011),
3. Acknowledges the progress accomplished in the follow-up of the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Arab States and encourages them to continue their efforts in the implementation of recommendations;
4. Notes with concern the decrease in the number of focal points and strongly encourages States Parties concerned to designate one focal point for cultural heritage and another one for natural heritage;
5. Further encourages States Parties to follow the recommendation of the Chairperson of the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee (Paris, UNESCO, 2011), contained in her letter addressed to all the Arab countries on the establishment of national entities for World Heritage;
6. Also encourages States Parties to continue the implementation of the Recommendation regarding the Historic Urban Landscape in order to enhance the conservation of urban heritage sites inscribed on the World Heritage List;
7. Notes with satisfaction the commitment and important financial contribution of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), based in Bahrain, and invites Arab States to strengthen their cooperation with the ARC-WH;
8. Further reminds States Parties which have not already done so to submit their Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value by 1 February 2016 at the latest, as well as clarifications of boundaries by 1 December 2015 at the latest.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC-15/39.COM/10B,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 10B.4 adopted at the 38th session (Doha, 2014);
3. Takes note of the progress accomplished in the follow-up activities of the second cycle of the Periodic Reporting for Latin America and the Caribbean and encourages the States Parties of the region to continue their efforts in the implementation of its recommendations;
4. Notes with appreciation the elaboration of the two sub-regional Action Plans for the Caribbean and for South America;
5. Further notes with appreciation the support of the Government of Peru for the organization of the sub-regional meeting for the elaboration of the World Heritage Action Plan for South America (Cuzco, 5 to 7 May 2015);
6. Encourages Central American States Parties to work in close coordination with the World Heritage Centre to organize a meeting for the establishment of a sub-regional Action Plan with the participation of all stakeholders;
7. Encourages Mexico and Brazil to continue their efforts in view to consolidate the establishment of the UNESCO category 2 centres for World Heritage in Zacatecas (Mexico) and in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil);
8. Reminds States Parties which have not already done so to submit their Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value by 1 February 2016 at the latest, as well as clarifications of boundaries by 1 December 2015 at the latest;
9. Takes note that, in conformity with Decision 38 COM 10B.4, the World Heritage Centre will provide a report on the progress made in the implementation of the regional and sub-regional Action Plans at its 40th session in 2016.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC-15/39.COM/10B,
2. Recalling Decisions 34 COM 10A, 35 COM 10A, 36 COM 10A, 37 COM 10A and 38 COM 5F adopted respectively at its 34th (Brasilia, 2010), 35th (UNESCO, 2011), 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) and 38th (Doha, 2014) sessions,
3. Congratulates the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention for having actively participated and completed the Second Cycle of the Periodic Reporting Exercise and takes note of their efforts to ensure relevant follow-up at the regional, national and site levels;
4. Notes with appreciation that the outcomes of the Second Cycle relate fully to the main purposes of the Periodic Reporting exercise as defined by Paragraph 201 of the Operational Guidelines;
5. Also notes that valuable feedback has been received from States Parties and other World Heritage stakeholders with regard to the process, format, relevance, use and analysis of data derived from the Periodic Reporting;
6. Further notes that the existing results reporting framework, which includes the Periodic Reports, should be strengthened through the development of comprehensive indicators and benchmarks to improve follow-up on progress made by State Parties with the implementation of both the 1972 Convention and the 1972 Recommendation concerning the Protection, at National Level, of the Cultural and Natural Heritage, further to Recommendation 1 of the Evaluation of UNESCO’s Standard-Setting Work of the Culture Sector, 1972 Convention, acknowledged by Decision 38 COM 5F.2 of the Committee, according to which the matter will be addressed during the Reflection Period on Periodic Reporting;
7. Decides to suspend the third cycle of Periodic Reporting and launch a two-year Periodic Reporting Reflection Period from 2015-2017;
8. Requests the World Heritage Centre to bring this matter to the attention of the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention, at its 20th session (Paris, 2015), in an information document and also requests that the comments of the States Parties be sought on the matters of reviewing the process, format, relevance, use and analysis of data and efficiency of the Periodic Reporting exercise as well as synergies with other UNESCO culture conventions, preferably by means of a questionnaire;
9. Calls upon States Parties and other World Heritage stakeholders to provide extra-budgetary resources to ensure a proper reflection, including through hosting at least two Periodic Reporting reflection meetings with the participation of selected representatives of States Parties from all regions, Advisory Bodies, the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO Field offices, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, category 2 centres as well as experts that have been involved in the second cycle of Periodic Reporting;
10. Further decides that a small expert working group will be entrusted with drafting an updated format of the questionnaire and proposals for improving the process, relevance, analysis and use of data, further to feedback of States Parties and outcomes of Reflection meetings, in accordance with Terms of Reference which will be included in the progress report to be presented to the World Heritage Committee at the 40th session in 2016;
11. Requests furthermore the World Heritage Centre to present for examination by the World Heritage Committee an updated format of the questionnaire and proposals for improving the process, relevance, analysis and use of data, as well as a proposal of a revised version of Chapter V of the Operational Guidelines (Periodic Reporting on the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention) and Annex 7 (Format for the Periodic Reporting of the application of the World Heritage Convention), at its 41st session in 2017.