45th Extended Session of World Heritage Committee Starts in Riyadh

الأنباط - The 45th extended session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, including accompanying events and forums, started today in Riyadh with the opening of the World Heritage Young Professionals Forum.
The Kingdom's hosting of the session this year is a culmination of its efforts to preserve world heritage under UNESCO umbrella, with the strong support of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, directed by Minister of Culture and Chairman of the National Commission for Education, Culture and Science Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan.
The first session of the World Heritage Young Professionals Forum was held today. The forum is concerned with boosting the role young people play in preserving world heritage.
The 5th World Heritage Site Managers' Forum is slated to take place next Sunday and will last until September 25; it will provide a platform for world heritage site managers to present their proposals and views on heritage preservation, as well as to address the challenges in this field.
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is in charge of adding proposed heritage sites to the World Heritage List, evaluating the status of listed sites and receiving reports and proposals submitted by managers of World Heritage sites, in an effort to raise the quality of heritage preservation and confront challenges.
The committee will examine proposals to add 50 sites on the World Heritage List, including 37 cultural sites, 12 natural sites, and two sites of multiple importance, in addition to discussing five amendments to the boundaries of heritage sites. The World Heritage List includes 1,157 heritage sites in 167 countries, including natural sites such as forests and oases, man-made sites such as villages and palaces of cultural and heritage importance, and sites that combine the two.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has six heritage sites on the World Heritage List, of which committee members will visit three: At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah, Al-Ahsa Oasis in the Eastern Region, and Hegra Archaeological Site (Al-Hijr) in Al-Ula Governorate.
The World Heritage Committee, established in 1972, is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from states parties. The committee consists of representatives from 21 of the states parties to the convention elected by their General Assembly. In its first session, the committee adopted its Rules of Procedure of the World Heritage Committee.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s presidency and hosting of the committee and its accompanying events is a great achievement due to the relentless efforts made by the Ministry of Culture, represented by its National Commission for Education, Culture and Science and the Heritage Commission.
The Kingdom's hosting of the committee meeting highlights the deep cultural roots of Saudi heritage sites, and the ongoing efforts aimed at making culture a part of daily life and promoting the Saudi culture nationally and globally to achieve the National Culture Strategy goals for Saudi Vision 2030.