Paris hosts 40th session of World Heritage Committee

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee kicked off at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Azertac reported.

An Azerbaijani delegation led by the country’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Anar Karimov, attended the session.

The delegation also included representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as well as national expert on culture Rizvan Bayramov.

The World Heritage Committee meets once a year, and consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention elected by their General Assembly.

The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defining the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocating financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.

It has the final say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List. 

The committee 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.

In 2003, Azerbaijan and UNESCO signed the framework agreement on cooperation in the areas of culture, science, education and communication, which allowed Azerbaijan to become one of the donors of UNESCO.

The Icherisheher (Old City), Maiden Tower and Shirvanshah's palace was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000, while since 2007 the Gobustan National Historical-Artistic reserve also listed among these heritages.