# World Heritage Committee

The **World Heritage Committee** is the group which decides on the places to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It makes sure that the agreements in World Heritage Convention are followed. It also decides how the money in the World Heritage Fund is spent. The committee has 21 members who are elected from the 188 countries that have agreed to the World Heritage Convention.

According to the World Heritage Convention, committee members are elected for six years, however many of the representatives choose to be on the committee for only four years. This gives more countries a chance to take part. At the 15th General Assembly (2005) all the committee members agreed to serve for only four years.

## Session

The World Heritage Committee meets many times a year to discuss the management of existing World Heritage Sites, and to look at possible new sites. A special meeting, known as the World Heritage Committee Session, takes place each year where sites are added (inscribed) to the World Heritage List.

The annual session takes place in cities all over the world. With the exception of meetings held in Paris, where the UNESCO headquarter office is located, only countries who are members of the World Heritage Committee have the right to hold a Session. The cities are decided by the Committee.

| Session | Year | Date | Host city | State party |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 1977 | 27 June–1 July | Paris |  France |
| 2 | 1978 | 5 September–8 September | Washington, D.C. |  United States |
| 3 | 1979 | 22 October–26 October | Cairo & Luxor |  Egypt |
| 4 | 1980 | 1 September–5 September | Paris |  France |
| 5 | 1981 | 26 October–30 October | Sydney |  Australia |
| 6 | 1982 | 13 December–17 December | Paris |  France |
| 7 | 1983 | 5 December–9 December | Florence |  Italy |
| 8 | 1984 | 29 October–2 November | Buenos Aires |  Argentina |
| 9 | 1985 | 2 December–6 December | Paris |  France |
| 10 | 1986 | 24 November–28 November | Paris |  France |
| 11 | 1987 | 7 December–11 December | Paris |  France |
| 12 | 1988 | 5 December–9 December | Brasília |  Brazil |
| 13 | 1989 | 11 December–15 December | Paris |  France |
| 14 | 1990 | 7 December–12 December | Banff |  Canada |
| 15 | 1991 | 9 December–13 December | Carthage |  Tunisia |
| 16 | 1992 | 7 December–14 December | Santa Fe |  United States |
| 17 | 1993 | 6 December–11 December | Cartagena |  Colombia |
| 18 | 1994 | 12 December–17 December | Phuket |  Thailand |
| 19 | 1995 | 4 December–9 December | Berlin |  Germany |
| 20 | 1996 | 2 December–7 December | Mérida |  Mexico |
| 21 | 1997 | 1 December–6 December | Naples |  Italy |
| 22 | 1998 | 30 November–5 December | Kyoto |  Japan |
| 23 | 1999 | 29 November–4 December | Marrakech |  Morocco |
| 24 | 2000 | 27 November–2 December | Cairns |  Australia |
| 25 | 2001 | 11 December–16 December | Helsinki |  Finland |
| 26 | 2002 | 24 June–29 June | Budapest |  Hungary |
| 27 | 2003 | 30 June–5 July | Paris |  France |
| 28 | 2004 | 28 June–7 July | Suzhou |  China |
| 29 | 2005 | 10 July–17 July | Durban |  South Africa |
| 30 | 2006 | 8 July–16 July | Vilnius |  Lithuania |
| 31 | 2007 | 23 June–1 July | Christchurch |  New Zealand |
| 32 | 2008 | 2 July-10 July | Quebec City |  Canada |
| 33 | 2009 | 22 June-30 June | Seville |  Spain |
| 34 | 2010 | 25 July-3 August | Brasília |  Brazil |
| 35 | 2011 | 19 June-29 June | Paris |  France |
| 36 | 2012 | 25 June-5 July | Saint Petersburg |  Russia |

## Other websites

* UNESCO World Heritage portal — Official website (in English and French)
* The World Heritage List — Official searchable list of all Inscribed Properties