Future of the World Heritage Convention, including: 40th Anniversary of the Convention

The General Assembly,

1. Having examined Documents WHC-11/18.GA/11 and WHC-11/18.GA/INF.11,

2. Recalling Decisions 35 COM 12A, 35 COM 12B, 35 COM 12C, 35 COM 12D, and 35 COM 12E adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session (UNESCO, 2011),

3. Thanks the Working Group and its Chairperson, Mr Greg Terrill, for the leadership in elaborating the Vision and Action Plan in an open and participative way;

4. Adopts the Vision and Action Plan and requests the World Heritage Centre to disseminate it widely;

5. Recalls the request by the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee to the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to develop a draft Implementation Plan, including appropriate roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, an implementation schedule and list of priority actions, for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012;

6. Welcomes the activities proposed by States Parties to the Convention for the 40th anniversary and encourages all States Parties and partner organizations to promote the anniversary and sponsor further events to reach out to the broader public;

7. Also requests that an updated report of activities on the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention be included on the World Heritage Centre web-page and be provided for information to the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012;

8. Decides that outcomes and progress in the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan should be presented to the General Assembly at its 19th session for its consideration.