UNESCO World Heritage Committee concludes historic session in India

The annual session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has wrapped up in New Delhi after 10 days of debates and discussions about world heritage and how to sustainably manage and preserve it for future generations.

Some 1,400 delegates from 136 States Parties and nearly 2,900 participants from around the world gathered for the Committee’s 46th session – the first one ever held in India.

The session saw the inscription of 24 new sites to UNESCO’s famed World Heritage List, including the Moidams, the mound-burial system of the Ahom dynasty in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. With that addition, India now has 43 sites on the List.

Tim Curtis, Director and Representative, UNESCO New Delhi Regional Office for South Asia, described the session as “a celebration of humanity’s shared heritage”.

Mr. Curtis noted it had been “a year of diversity”, with the new sites ranging from natural landscapes to monuments, historic buildings and important sites of memory. There are now 1,223 properties on the World Heritage List.

Opening the session, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay spoke to delegates about the “tremendous challenges in protecting heritage amid the global transformation driven by the digital revolution and climate disruption”.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also speaking at the opening, pledged $1 million to support UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, particularly for heritage conservation in India and across the Global South.

Aside from the World Heritage List, the Committee session examined the List of World Heritage in Danger and how to strengthen capacity-building in countries so they can better manage their heritage sites.

Overall, the session incorporated about 40 side events, including some dedicated for young heritage professionals and site managers. A digital exhibition, Interwoven Legacies, also showcased the connections between India’s World Heritage sites and their associated living heritage.