Sub-regional workshop on the Mechanisms of the World Heritage Convention and the Nomination Process
Today, Sunday, 21 May 2023, the training workshop on the World Heritage Convention and the nomination process for World Heritage sites was launched at the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage (ARC-WH) in Manama, Bahrain, during which Dr. Heba Abdulaziz, Director of ARC-WH, opened the workshop in the presence of Ms. Jawda Mansour, representative of Mr. Salah Khaled , Director of the UNESCO Office for the Gulf States and Yemen, and Dr. Hani Al-Shaer, Regional Director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature for West Asia, in addition to the participation of a number of experts, engineers and specialists in the field of heritage from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the State of Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman, and participants from the UNESCO Chair for World Heritage Management and Sustainable Tourism in the Arab region at the German University in Oman.
Also participating in the workshop, which is held in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council, are experts who will present a summary of their experiences in this field to the attendees, namely Dr. Hani Al-Shaer, Director of the Regional Office for West Asia of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Dr. Dina Bakhoum, an expert in preserving cultural and World Heritage.
The importance of this workshop lies in the fact that it comes at a time when heritage sites face many challenges and problems, whether man-made or natural. Therefore, there is great importance in developing knowledge of the World Heritage Convention and its main concepts, as the 1972 Convention is one of the most important tools of international cooperation to protect cultural and natural heritage worldwide and works to preserve and protect the heritage of humanity.
The Convention defines this common heritage of humanity. It characterises it as Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), which means that a site has exceptional cultural and/or natural significance that transcends national boundaries and is of great value to all present and future generations.
