Address. by Ms Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, on the occasion of the opening of the 36 th session of the World Heritage Committee

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Address by Ms Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, on the occasion of the opening of the 36 th session of the World Heritage Committee Let us rejuvenate the World Heritage Convention 24 June 2012,

1 Address by Ms Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, on the occasion of the opening of the 36 th session of the World Heritage Committee Let us rejuvenate the World Heritage Convention 24 June 2012, St Petersburg, Russian Federation Your Excellency, Ms Eleonora Mitrofanova, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to UNESCO and Chair of the World Heritage Committee, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, it is a pleasure to be here and to welcome you all. I would like to express my appreciation to the Russian Federation authorities for hosting the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee. This country adhered to the World Heritage Convention more than 20 years ago and now boasts 24 sites on the famous World Heritage List. St Petersburg is one of them -- this Venice of the North embodies the values and the concepts underpinning the World Heritage Convention. Ladies and Gentlemen, Russia s old capital, St Petersburg is a world capital today. Our cooperation carries lessons useful for all. The renovation of the Rubens collection gallery at the Hermitage Museum, with the support from the Government of Flanders, shows how World Heritage brings people together. This year, we celebrate the 40 th anniversary of the World heritage Convention. DG/2012/096 Original: Multilingual

2 For 40 years, World Heritage has sketched out a new map of the world - a map for peace, a network for cultural exchanges that takes in close to 1000 sites across the world. Over 40 years, 189 States have ratified the World Heritage Convention including recently Singapore making it one of the most universally ratified legal instruments. For over 40 years, countries have come together around a simple but revolutionary idea the idea there are places of outstanding universal value we must protect together. This has not been easy and there is no reason to believe it will become so in the future. As we meet today, an ever greater number of sites are threatened. In May, an earthquake in northern Italy struck Ferrara -- a vibrant city, one of the birthplaces of the European Renaissance. Violence in Syria is threatening lives and destroying the memory of people engraved in the stones of World Heritage sites. We all followed events in Mali, where I dispatched a technical mission to examine the World Heritage properties of Timbuktu and the Tomb of Askia threatened by armed groups. On its 40 th birthday, the World Heritage Convention faces these threats, and also a more fundamental challenge -- that of its credibility and its future. In recent years, some developments within the inscription process have weakened the principles of scientific excellence and impartiality that are at the heart of the Convention. It is my responsibility to ring the bell. The credibility of the inscription process must be absolute at all stages of the proceedings -- from the work of the advisory bodies to the final decision by the States Parties, who hold the primary responsibility in this regard. Today, criticism is growing, and I am deeply concerned. DG/2012/096 - Page 2

3 I believe we stand at the crossroads, with a clear choice before us. We can continue to gather, year after year, as accountants of the World Heritage label, adding more sites to the list, adhering less and less strictly to its criteria. Or we can choose another path. We can decide to act and think as visionaries, to rejuvenate the World Heritage Convention and confront the challenges of the 21 st century. The World Heritage is not a beauty contest. It is not a race for the greatest number of sites. The moment of glory that comes with the inscription of a site is short it can only endure through the commitment by States, local authorities and local communities to conservation and safeguarding for the long run. This is the mission of UNESCO this must remain our first objective. UNESCO must ensure the protection of sites against natural disasters and mass tourism, as well as the more insidious pressures of climate change. How many sites on the list are neglected or pillaged, victims of time, poor planning and ill-conceived infrastructures? Too often, UNESCO is alerted by civil society about imminent threats to World Heritage sites: construction projects are launched, prospection permits are delivered without proper consultation of UNESCO s World Heritage Center, or in violation of the 1972 Convention. This is not acceptable. 50 years ago, UNESCO showed strong leadership and saved the temples in the desert of Egypt and Sudan. We need the same leadership today. We have all a role to play, and ultimate responsibility rests with Governments. This is why we are here. DG/2012/096 - Page 3

4 Ladies and Gentlemen, UNESCO was created with the aim to further peace and development. The world s heritage stands at the heart of this vision, and we have to look at its role to bolster peace in the 21st century. This heritage has built bridges and forged connections between continents that can now be materialized. I have in mind inscription projects in numerous countries, which mobilize entire continents and bring together their people. They open the pathways to peace. Many world heritage sites, already inscribed individually, can become part of a stronger network from now in the Mediterranean basin, in sub-saharan countries, in Asia, all the way along trade routes and further. Global heritage is a map of the world s cultural interdependence. It must be more than a list of national exceptional heritage. World heritage can be an instrument of sustainable development in the 21st century. We have seen how restoration projects can unite a community and revive a local economy -- in Borobudur, for instance. People the world over are deeply attached to their heritage -- ever more so today, as they search for a place in a globalizing world. Heritage is a force for liberating creativity and for social innovation. It provides a wellspring of confidence for development. Heritage provides levers to mobilize communities, starting with those who live on the sites. Local communities are at the very heart of heritage, and I was at Rio at the beginning of the week to raise the profile of culture as a motor of sustainable development. DG/2012/096 - Page 4

5 Together, we can ensure that access to culture for all, and the power of culture for development are an integral part of the post-2015 agenda. For this, I need your support. This will not be easy. We have to build up capacities of states and better prepare sites against gathering risks, through sustainable management plans. The challenges may be great, but so are our resources. This year, in Russia, Spain, in the Republic of Korea and Japan, we have seen many innovative solutions for conservation, involving civil society, local authorities and youth. The 40th anniversary celebrations showcase the dynamism of local communities, and I know they will be at the center of the ceremonies in Kyoto in November. World heritage is constantly renewing itself, and the recommendation on the conservation of historic urban landscapes, adopted unanimously last year, highlights this. We have a strategic vision and plan of action for the next ten years I have created an Emergency Fund to face the current financial situation, and states are also mobilizing support through direct financing and contributions. I wish to thank once again the Russian Federation for the organization of this session, and I look to other states to follow this example. The World Heritage Committee must also, for its part, examine critically its working methods, in order to reduce costs. But the most important point on this I insist is that our greatest strength, our credibility, does not depend on any material or financial resource. This credibility is the motor of UNESCO s influence, and it depends simply on the political will of states to preserve it in the long term. As long as we remain faithful, together, to this ideal, I know that we can give a new youth to world heritage. Thank you. DG/2012/096 - Page 5

Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the opening of Annual ICOMOS Gala Dinner in Honour of Senator Leahy

Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the opening of Annual ICOMOS Gala Dinner in Honour of Senator Leahy New York, 11 December 2013 The Honourable Patrick J. Leahy, United