Nine new members elected to World Heritage Committee

The 20th General Assembly of the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention met from 18 to 20 November 2015 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, under the chairmanship of H.E. Mr Jose Filipe Mendes Moraes Cabral, Ambassador Extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Portugal to France, convening the 191 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention. 

During the session, the States Parties elected new members to the World Heritage Committee, and discussed the World Heritage Fund, the Global Strategy for a representative, balanced and credible World Heritage List, and the future of the World Heritage Convention.

Nine States Parties were elected to the World Heritage Committee: Angola, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Indonesia, Kuwait, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The United Republic of Tanzania also became a new member of the Bureau, joining Lebanon, Peru, Philippines and Poland.

The World Heritage Committee meets once a year to review the state of conservation of World Heritage sites and inscribe new ones on the List which today numbers 1031 sites in 163 countries. The World Heritage List includes 802 cultural, 197 natural and 32 mixed properties. The next session of the Committee will be from 10 to 20 July 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey.