Governing Bodies
Consultation of the Governing Bodies
of the World Heritage Convention
At its 39th session (Paris, 2019), the UNESCO General Conference endorsed the recommendations of the Working Group on Governance with its Resolution 39 C/87, and notably the Recommendation 74, which states that UNESCO’s International and Intergovernmental Bodies (IIBs) “should have the opportunity to submit formal inputs to the mid-term strategy C/4 and the draft Programme and Budget C/5 documents of UNESCO”.
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The General Assembly
The General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention consists of the representatives of all States Parties to the World Heritage Convention. It meets every two years during the sessions of the General Conference of UNESCO. Each country has one vote, irrespective of its size or the extent of its contribution to the World Heritage Fund.
Its main functions are the election of the 21 members of the World Heritage Committee and the determination, in the form of a uniform percentage, of the amount of contributions to be paid by States Parties to the World Heritage Fund.
The Committee
The World Heritage Committee consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention elected by the General Assembly. It meets once a year in ordinary session and in extraordinary session upon request of two-thirds of its members.
The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties. It has the final say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List. It examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties and asks States Parties to take action when properties are not being properly managed. It also decides on the inscription or deletion of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
