The World Heritage Committee has welcomed nine new elected members following the 20th General Assembly of the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention.
The meet was held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, from November 18-20.
The World Heritage Committee meets annually to review the state of conservation of World Heritage sites and inscribe new ones on the List which today numbers 1031 sites in 163 countries.
The nine new state parties are: Angola, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Indonesia, Kuwait, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The United Republic of Tanzania also became a new member of the Bureau, joining Lebanon, Peru, Philippines and Poland.
The World Heritage List is comprised of 802 cultural sites, 197 natural and 32 mixed properties.
At this year’s general assembly, state parties discussed the World Heritage Fund, the Global Strategy for a representative, balanced and credible World Heritage List, and the future of the World Heritage Convention.
Next year’s committee meeting will be staged in Istanbul, turkey, from the 10th of July to the 20th.
