World Heritage Committee


The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties. It comprises representatives from 21 state parties that are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a four-year term. These parties vote on decisions and proposals related to the World Heritage Convention and World Heritage List.
According to the World Heritage Convention, a committee member's term of office is six years. However many State's Parties choose to voluntarily limit their term to four years, in order to give other States Parties an opportunity to serve. All members elected at the 15th General Assembly voluntarily chose to reduce their term of office from six to four years.
Deliberations of the World Heritage Committee are aided by three advisory bodies, the IUCN, ICOMOS and ICCROM.

Sessions

The World Heritage Committee meets once a year for an ordinary session to discuss the management of existing World Heritage Sites, and accept nominations by countries. Extraordinary meetings can be convened at the request of two-thirds of the state members. Meetings are held within the territory of state members of the World Heritage Committee at their invitation. Rotation between regions and cultures is a consideration for selection and the location for the next session is chosen by the committee at the end of each session.
SessionYearDateHost city
1197727 June–1 July Paris
219785 September–8 September Washington, D.C.
3197922 October–26 October Cairo & Luxor
419801 September–5 September Paris
5198126 October–30 October Sydney
6198213 December–17 December Paris
719835 December–9 December Florence
8198429 October–2 November Buenos Aires
919852 December–6 December Paris
10198624 November–28 November Paris
1119877 December–11 December Paris
1219885 December–9 December Brasília
13198911 December–15 December Paris
1419907 December–12 December Banff
1519919 December–13 December Carthage
1619927 December–14 December Santa Fe
1719936 December–11 December Cartagena
18199412 December–17 December Phuket
1919954 December–9 December Berlin
2019962 December–7 December Mérida
2119971 December–6 December Naples
22199830 November–5 December Kyoto
23199929 November–4 December Marrakech
24200027 November–2 December Cairns
25200111 December–16 December Helsinki
26200224 June–29 June Budapest
27200330 June–5 July Paris
28200428 June–7 July Suzhou
29200510 July–17 July Durban
3020068 July–16 July Vilnius
31200723 June–1 July Christchurch
3220082 July–10 July Quebec City
33200922 June–30 June Seville
34201025 July–3 August Brasília
35201119 June–29 June Paris
36201225 June–5 July Saint Petersburg
37201317 June–27 June Phnom Penh
38201415 June–25 June Doha
39201528 June–8 July Bonn
40201610 July–20 July Istanbul
4120172 July–12 July Kraków
42201824 June–4 July Manama
43201930 June–10 July Baku
442020Originally scheduled for 29 June–9 July.
Postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fuzhou

Bureau

At the end of each ordinary session, the committee elects a chairperson, five vice-chairpersons and a Rapporteur from those members whose term will continue through the next session. These are known as the Bureau, and their representatives are responsible for coordinating the work of the World Heritage Committee, including fixing dates, hours and the order of business meetings.

Voting

Each state member of the World Heritage Committee has one vote. Decisions require a simple majority with abstentions counted as not voting. Votes are delivered by a show of hands unless a secret ballot is requested by either the chairperson or two or more states members.

Members

Current members of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee
Member stateMandate
2017–2021
2017–2021
2017–2021
2017–2021
2017–2021
2019–2023
2019–2023
2017–2021
2017–2021
2017–2021
2019–2023
2019–2023
2017–2021
2019–2023
2019–2023
2017–2021
2019–2023
2019–2023
2017–2021
2019–2023
2017–2021
Total21

Criticism

Increasing politicization of World Heritage Committee decisions to the detriment of conservation aims has been alleged, particularly with regard to new nominations for the World Heritage List, but also with the consideration of sites for the List of World Heritage in Danger. In 2010, states parties including Hungary, Switzerland and Zimbabwe submitted an official protest against such politicization.
An external audit requested by the World Heritage Committee for its Global Strategy of the World Heritage List concluded in 2011 that political considerations were indeed influencing decisions. It observed that the composition of committee representatives had shifted from experts to diplomats in spite of World Heritage Convention Article 9 and found that opinions from advisory bodies often diverged from World Heritage Committee decisions.
In 2016, Israel recalled its UNESCO ambassador after the World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution in a secret ballot that referred to one of Jerusalem's holiest sites, the Temple Mount, only as a “Muslim holy site of worship,” not mentioning that Jews and Christians venerate the site.