30 June 2019
H.E Shaikha Mai Leads Bahrain Delegation to the 43rd World Heritage Committee Meeting, at Baku, Azerbaijan.
H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities (BACA), led Bahrain delegation to the Opening session the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 30 June to 10 July 2019. First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva, a number of senior officials of the World Heritage Organizations, representatives of the World Heritage Committee, representatives of the culture and heritage sectors from various countries, experts and specialists in the field of world heritage were present.
The opening ceremony speeches were addressed respectively by Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, President of this year’s World Heritage Committee, Abulfez Garayev; UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and Chairman of the UNESCO Executive Board Lee Byong Hyun.
The 43rd World Heritage Committee meeting will be held until July 10, during which a number of natural and cultural world heritage sites will be enlisted on the World Heritage list, including the Dilmun Burial Mounds, in addition, a number of workshops and seminars will be held to focus on various topics with regard to World Heritage.
Speaking for the occasion, H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa The BACA President said “ By being here today in this international event, which Bahrain had, last year, succeeded to Chair and host, we once again confirm that the cultural efforts aimed at accentuating the beloved country’s glory, would eventually result in commendable civilizational achievements, appreciated and saluted by the international community”. H.E added also saying “ Bahrain is close at hand to have the third Bahraini heritage site, the Dilmun Burial Mounds, inscribed on the world heritage list to add to the two previous ones, namely Qala’at al Bahrain Fort and the Pearling Path”. H.E argued that the nominating file of Dilmun Burial Mounds took very extensive and concerted efforts, given the importance of the Dilmun Burial Mounds as it is the largest in the world and it plays a vital role in promoting the tourism sector.
Bahrain is taking part in this 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee meeting as one of 21 of the States Parties to the 1972 Convention, noting that the Kingdom of Bahrain had previously won the membership during the 21st meeting session, end of 2017. Therefore, Bahrain will contribute effectively to consider and evaluate the Tentative List nominations of 38 files, as well as provide technical and professional arguments on the files and their international requirements and conditions to enter the list.
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. At its first session, the Committee adopted its Rules of Procedure of the World Heritage Committee.
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. During the nomination process the site and its protection and management plan are evaluated by experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Worth to mention that the 42nd meeting of the World Heritage Committee was chaired and hosted by the Kingdom of Bahrain, after winning the presidency of the Committee and its bright success to protect world heritage worldwide
