DOHA: The 38th session of Unesco’s World Heritage Committee will be held in Doha from June 15 to 25. The Doha Summit will look into the proposals to enlist 22 new cultural sites, including four from Arab States, on Unesco’s world heritage map.
The Arab sites that would be considered at the 11-day summit include ‘Rock Art in Hail Region (Saudi Arabia), ‘The Ahwar’ (Iraq), ‘Bethany Beyond the Jordan’ (Jordan) and ‘Sanganeb Marine Park’ and ‘Dunganeb Bay-Mukkarwer Island Marine National Park’ (Sudan).
As per the provisional agenda , the Doha meet will discuss the report of the Heritage Committee’s decisions, reports of advisory bodies, report on the world heritage thematic programme, follow-up to the world heritage capacity building strategy, progress report on the word heritage-related category 2 Centres, state of conservation of properties inscribed on the list of word heritage in danger and nominations to the world heritage list.
The World Heritage Committee comprises representatives from 21 States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage elected by the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention.
Representatives of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will attend the sessions of the Committee in an advisory capacity.
As part of the 38th session, an International Youth Forum is being organized by Qatar with the support of the Qatar Museums Authority.
The Youth Forum will be held in Al Zubarah from June 4-15 with youth representatives from the Parties members of the World Heritage Committee and from States Parties of the Arab region.
Together with heritage experts, the youth representatives will explore the archaeological and heritage sites in Qatar. They will take part in workshops, carry out basic hands on conservation activities, and participate in discussions focusing on cultural heritage, management, preservation, sustainability and impact on local communities.
A special feature of the event is the Youth Model of the World Heritage Committee session, an educational simulation drawing attention to issues related to heritage preservation and its promotion. Several sessions of this exercise will include substantive debates on themes such as youth and the implementation of the Convention in the Arab Region.
The Peninsula
