Hon’ble Prime Minister inaugurated the 46th World Heritage Committee (WHC) Meeting at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi in the presence of UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. This is a ten-day event that will conclude on 31st July. It is the first time when India is hosting this event. During this meeting, India will showcase its diverse and unique cultural and natural heritage that will strengthen its soft power in the world.
Key Highlights
- The logo of the 46th World Heritage Committee meeting is the Hampi stone chariot taken from the Vijaya Vitthala Temple. The tagline is “Sah Nau Yashah” (सह नौ यशः) which means “May our Glory Grow”. It has been derived from the ‘Taitiriya Upanishad’.
- The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is organising this event on behalf of the Ministry of Culture.
- At present, Vishal V Sharma is the chairperson of the WHC. He also serves as India’s permanent representative to UNESCO.
- The major objectives of this meeting are to identify cultural and natural properties of outstanding universal value and include them in the World Heritage List, monitor the status of conservation of properties included in the list, decide on the inclusion or removal of properties from the list, and examine requests for financial assistance.
- Along with the main event, the World Heritage Young Professionals Forum meeting from July 14th to 23rd July and the World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum meeting from 18th July to 25th July are also running in parallel.
About UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC)
- It was established under the World Heritage Convention of 1972, adopted by UNESCO during its 17th session. The convention highlighted the responsibilities of identifying and preserving potential cultural and natural heritage sites for their inscription on the World Heritage List.
- Till today, the convention was ratified by 195 countries, including India which ratified it in 1977. As of today, the World Heritage List inscribed 1199 properties from 168 state parties.
- The World Heritage Committee has representatives from 21 state parties, including India, elected by the UNESCO General Assembly. This is the fourth time when India is a part of WHC, selected during the 23rd General Assembly in 2021. Previously, India was a member of the WHC for three terms during 1985-1991, 2001-2007 and 2011-2015.
- As per the convention, a committee member can remain in the office for six years.
- The key responsibilities of the World Heritage Committee are:
- Ensuring the implementation of the provisions of the World Heritage Convention.
- Making decisions about inscribing properties on the World Heritage List based on their universal value. Additionally, it also decides about the removal of a property from the list. India has till today inscribed 42 properties in the list.
- Monitoring the status of conservation of inscribed properties and suggesting conservation actions.
About UNESCO
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a special UN agency, established in 1945.
- Its major objective is to promote international cooperation in education, science, and culture to contribute to global peace and security.
- Currently, it has 194 members, including India.
- It publishes two important reports: the UN World Water Development Report and the Global Education Monitoring Report.
- Paris is the headquarter of UNESCO.
