Why in News ?
46th World Heritage Committee Meeting will showcase India’s diverse and unique cultural and natural heritage to the world, taking India’s cultural glory to new heights,” said the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at a press briefing today in New Delhi.
Today’s News :
The 46th Session of the World Heritage Committee, hosted by India for the first time, is scheduled to be held from 21st to 31st July 2024 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
The Session will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on 21st July 2024. In addition to this, the inaugural ceremony will be graced by Madam Audrey Azoulay, Director General, UNESCO and other senior officers from the UNESCO World Heritage Secretariat along with other high-level dignitaries like Culture Ministers, Ambassadors, and domain experts from various countries.
The Union Minister was joined by Shri Vishal V. Sharma, the chairperson of the World Heritage Committee and ambassador and permanent representative of India to UNESCO, and Shri Yaduvir Singh Rawat, the Director General of ASI, in the curtain raiser Press Conference.
The 46th World Heritage Committee meeting is being organized by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), on behalf of Ministry of Culture. It will bring together delegates from across the globe to discuss and collaborate on preserving our shared cultural, natural and mixed heritage.
It is a significant step towards India’s ever-increasing stature in fostering global cooperation and ensuring the protection of our World Heritage properties.
The World Heritage Committee comprises representatives from 21 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention (1972) elected by the General Assembly of UNESCO.
Current members are :
Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Türkiye, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia.
Shri Sharma also elaborated on the agenda of the 46th WHC Meeting, which is to:
Identify, based on nominations submitted by States Parties, cultural and natural properties of Outstanding Universal Value and inscribe those properties on the World Heritage List.
Monitor the State of Conservation of properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, in liaison with the States Parties.
Decide which properties included in the World Heritage List are to be inscribed on or removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger; decide whether a property may be deleted from the World Heritage List.
Examine requests for International Assistance financed by the World Heritage Fund.