Qatar participated in the 18th extraordinary session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) at the organisation's headquarters, as a member of the Heritage Committee. Qatar was represented in the meeting by HE Permanent Representative of Qatar to Unesco Dr Nasser bin Hamad Hinzab.
The extraordinary session was held on January 24-25, during which the committee inscribed the Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba in Marib - Yemen, Rachid Karameh International Fair of Tripoli -- Lebanon, and the Historic Center of Odesa -- Ukraine onto the Unesco World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger. Dr Hinzab said that these decisions came as a support from the World Heritage Committee for those historical sites in order to protect them and provide them with support via the mechanisms applied within the scope of the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
He indicated that Qatar, as a member of the World Heritage Committee, has supported together with its sisterly Arab member states the Arab sites' proposals, culminating with today's international inscription of these sites and their right to be preserved under the protection measures stipulated in the World Heritage Convention.
The Unesco World Heritage Committee consists of representatives of 21 countries elected by the UN General Assembly, with Qatar being a member for the period 2021-2025. The committee is concerned with studying the proposals of countries wishing to include their sites onto the Unesco World Heritage List, as well as assisting experts to provide reports on the candidate sites and providing the final evaluation and decision on the Unesco World Heritage List proposals.
