Riyadh to host the World Heritage Committee next September

The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved the decision for Saudi Arabia to host the 45th expanded session of the committee, in the capital, Riyadh, from 10 to September 25.

This came during its 18th extraordinary meeting at the organization’s headquarters, in Paris. It was in the presence of all its members. It also approved Saudi Arabia as chair of the committee, headed by Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al Muqrin. She is the permanent Saudi representative to the organization, and chair of the Programs and External Relations Committee emanating from the Executive Council of the organization.

This is the culmination of the Kingdom’s efforts in “UNESCO”, in light of the unlimited support enjoyed by the cultural sector by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, and the continuous directives of the Minister of Culture, Prince Badr bin Abdullah Bin Farhan.

Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz explained that the decision resulted from Saudi Arabia’s prominent role in supporting heritage. Ultimately, this is a joint effort between the organization and the member states to document the common human heritage and achieve the objectives of both organizations.

The committee, which is composed of representatives of 21 countries elected by the General Assembly, is concerned with studying the proposals of countries wishing to include their sites on the World Heritage List, assisting experts to submit reports on the sites, and presenting the final assessment to decide on the decision to include them.

The member states of the committee elected Saudi Arabia during the 44th session in Fuzhou, China, as vice-chairman for the Arab group in the committee between 2021 and 2023.

Through its membership, it made great efforts to support the heritage and document the common human heritage, along with the member states, most notably their unanimity in adopting the draft resolution submitted by it to build the capabilities of workers in the field for the next ten years, which will contribute to enhancing the geographical diversity of experts, empowering regional competencies, and developing plans and measures to protect endangered sites and raise the technical and professional competencies of youth and experts in the field.