Saudi Arabia elected to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee

News:Saudi Arabia has been elected to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee for the first time.

Facts:

About World Heritage committee:

• The World Heritage Committee is the governing body of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.
• The Committee meets once a year and consists of representatives from 21 member states to the convention elected by the general assembly.
• It is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention which defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.
• The Committee has the final say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List and can also defer its decision and request further information from the States Parties.
• The Committee also examines reports on the state of conservation of listed sites and asks States Parties to take action when these are facing major threats or are not being adequately managed.It also decides on inscriptions or deletions on the List in Danger.

Additional information:

About World Heritage Site:

• These are sites inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
• These sites are considered to be “Outstanding Universal Value” i.e. high cultural and/or natural heritage which transcends national boundaries and are important to future generations.
• UNESCO seeks to protect and preserve these sites through the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972).

World Heritage Sites in India

• The total number of heritage sites across India that are on the UNESCO World Heritage list is 38. This includes 30 cultural sites, seven natural sites and one mixed site (Kanchenjunga National Park in Sikkim)
• In 2017,Ahmedabad became the first Indian city to get World Heritage Site status.

UNESCO

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was formed in 1945.It is a specialized agency of the United Nations(UN) based in Paris,France.
• It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, Sciences and Culture.
• UNESCO has 193 member states and 11 associate members.