November 17th, 2017 -- St. Kitts & Nevis was nominated and selected as a member of the most prestigious committee in the United Nations System through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee. The 21st General Assembly of the States' Parties to the World Heritage Convention met on 14 November 2017 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, convening the 193 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, under the chairmanship of H.E. Mr Adrian Cioroianu, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Romania to UNESCO.
St. Kitts & Nevis team attended the 21st session of the General Assembly of States Parties, held on 12th - 15th November, 2017 at the UNESCO Headquarters, World Heritage Center. The aim of the delegation was (1) to have St. Kitts & Nevis elected on the World Heritage Committee, (2) to meet with key stakeholders including ICOMOS (The International Council on Monuments and Sites), and the World Heritage officials at UNESCO, and (3) to participate in the important assembly.
Dr. David Doyle (Ambassador, St. Kitts and Nevis, Permanent Delegate to UNESCO), Mr. Antonio Maynard (Secretary-General of St. Kitts and Nevis National Commission for UNESCO) and Dr. Everson W. Hull (OAS Ambassador), spearheaded the effort that resulted in St. Kitts & Nevis securing a unique place in the World Heritage Committee, which provides a better opportunity of achieving the inscription of the City of Charlestown, Nevis as a UNESCO World Heritage site by 2020. Evelyn Henville, Executive Chairperson of the Nevis World Heritage Committee was elected by the UNESCO body to represent St. Kitts and Nevis on the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Suzanne Gordon, Vice Chair, played a lead role in helping to chart the way forward, along with other members of the Nevis World Heritage Committee (local and overseas), to develop and plan the effort though numerous meetings, research and development. Mr. Percival Hanley, General Manager of the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park Society, was the Heritage representative for St. Kitts. ICOMOS experts are expected to visit Nevis in late January 2018 to conduct an assessment and evaluation of the Project.
The Nevis World Heritage Committee was established in January of this year, by the Nevis Island Administration Cabinet, to move Historic Charlestown from UNESCO’s Tentative List (entered 18 years ago) to full inscription. The Outlook is good for securing Historic Charlestown as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2020 and is on schedule for joining this most prestigious group of global sites that are deemed by the UN to be authentic and of “Outstanding Universal Value”. It turns out that Historic Charlestown, the former Capital of the Leeward Islands with Nevis, the Queen of the Caribbees, is estimated to have more heritage cultural sites per capita than any other member state of UNESCO.
A synopsis of the sites expected to be nominated for this UNESCO World Heritage Project is provided in the link below:
The General Assembly was called upon, inter alia, to replace the outgoing members of the World Heritage Committee, in conformity with the Rules of Procedures of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, concerning the presentation of candidatures for election to the World Heritage Committee.
The following 12 States Parties were outgoing in 2017: Croatia, Finland, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Turkey and Viet Nam, with 9 States Parties remaining with 2 more years mandate: Angola, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Indonesia, Kuwait, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe. During the session, the General Assembly elected twelve new members to the World Heritage Committee: Australia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Guatemala, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Spain and Uganda.
The current composition of the World Heritage Committee of 21 States' Parties to the World Heritage Convention is therefore as follows: Angola, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Cuba, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Spain, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Disclaimer
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers.
.jpeg)