UNESCO World Heritage Committee postpones session over Ukraine war
The 45th session of the Unesco World Heritage Committee, originally planned in Kazan, Russia, has been postponed because of the Ukraine war. The meeting was supposed to take place from June 19th to 30th, as the German UNESCO Commission in Bonn announced on Friday. A new date for the meeting has not yet been announced. currently has Russia chairs the Unesco World Heritage Committee.
The Secretary General of the German Unesco Commission, Roman Luckscheiter, emphasized that the postponement of the meeting could only be an “intermediate step”. “The brutality of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the resulting immeasurable human suffering are in the greatest possible contradiction to the goals and tasks of Unesco, which all member states are committed to,” he said. It was considered “still unthinkable to hold the session in Russia or under the chairmanship of Russia as long as Russia is waging this war and thus endangering and destroying the Ukrainian cultural and natural heritage and thus breaking the World Heritage Convention”.
According to the information, the World Heritage Committee of the UN cultural organization Unesco is that most important body entrusted with the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. In its meetings, it decides, among other things, on new inscriptions on the World Heritage List, assessments of the conservation status of World Heritage sites, the list of World Heritage in Danger, the World Heritage Fund and various thematic programs. There are currently 1,154 cultural and natural sites in 167 countries on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Germany has 51 world heritage sites. At the next meeting of the World Heritage Committee, a decision will be made, among other things, on the World Heritage nomination of the Jewish-Medieval heritage in Erfurt. (epd)
