The Committee It is the body responsible for the implementation of the Convention and is responsible for:
- select new sites for the World Heritage List among Cultural and Natural Heritage nominated by the various States;
- protect the List Sites distributing the resources of the World Heritage Fund and determining the technical and financial assistance to be distributed to the various Sites.
It is made up of representatives of 21 Member States, elected by the’General Assembly of Member States Every six years. It meets once a year to discuss matters relating to the implementation of the Convention: it decides on the inscription of new properties on the World Heritage List, determines the budget of the World Heritage Fund for the following year, examines requests for international assistance, resolves political issues, etc. The Committee also elects its own bureau: President, Rapporteur, and five Vice-Presidents. The Bureau is based in Paris. It is assisted by international non-governmental organizations such as:
- the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS);
- the World Conservation Union (IUCN), responsible for the technical evaluation of each proposal;
- the International Centre for the Study of the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage (ICCROM) which provides consultancy for the conservative restoration of monuments.
The Center for World Heritage ensures the day-to-day management of the Convention.
It organizes the statutory meetings provided for by the World Heritage Convention, the biennial General Assembly of Member States, the annual meetings of the World Heritage Committee, and the meetings of the Office. At the request of a Member State, the Centre:
- organizes assistance in the preparation of preliminary lists and nominations for the World Heritage List;
- mobilizes international assistance, organizes training courses and assistance in case of emergencies;
- assists the monitoring and preparation activities of the state of conservation reports of World Heritage Properties;
- manages threat information and reports to the World Heritage properties reported by the public, Member States and Council Bodies and brings them to the attention of the World Heritage statutory bodies;
- organizes technical seminars and workshops, develops educational materials to promote awareness of the concept of World Heritage and to keep the public informed about World Heritage issues;
- It maintains the registers of the statutory bodies and documents relating to World Heritage, educational films, CD-ROMs, books and other materials.
The World Heritage Centre is based in Paris
7, Place de Fontenoy
75352 Paris07 SP, France
tel:33-1-45681571 /33-1-45681876
fax: 33-1-45685570
E-Mail: wh-info@unesco.org
http://whc.unesco.org/