In celebration of more than 10 years of contribution to the promotion of Rights-Based Approaches and to building awareness of rights issues in World Heritage and heritage management, the ICOMOS Our Common Dignity - Rights Based Approaches (OCD-RBA) has assembled an e-publication with the goal of documenting the working group’s experiences and providing resources and tools for caretakers of cultural heritage.
The Arabic translation of the ICOMOS document Heritage and the Sustainable Development Goals: Policy Guidance for Heritage and Development Actors was officially launched on 2 September 2023 at the Sustainable Development Goals Working Group (SDGWG) Annual General Meeting, during ICOMOS' Triennial General Assembly in Sydney, Australia.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the three Advisory Bodies – ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN –are developing their first joint toolkit on climate action for World Heritage. Coordinated through the World Heritage Leadership programme, and with the initial support from the Australian Government, the toolkit will support States Parties and site managers to integrate climate change action in the management strategies of World Heritage sites.
Following 6 months of meetings, statements, global thematic webinars and discussions of the Draft Ministerial Declaration, the 'Kashi Culture Pathway' was released at the Culture Minister's Meeting in Varanasi on 26 August, 2023. As for the G20 SA (2020) and G20 Italy (2021), ICOMOS once again attended the Culture Working Group and Ministerial meetings, providing technical contributions on issues identified within the G20 India agenda.
The United States National Committee of ICOMOS is horrified at the extent of human suffering and the destruction of heritage resulting from the fires in Maui. Our hearts go out to the many people who have lost family and friends in reported numbers that continue to increase.
The heritage value of one town largely destroyed by the fire, Lahaina, is enormous. It was the Capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii for decades and contains many sites sacred to Native Hawaiians.
In response to the urgent needs the Ukrainian cultural sector is experiencing, and in the framework of UNESCO's emergency assistance programme for Ukraine, the multisectoral programme ‘Support for Ukraine in culture and education through UNESCO’ funded by the Japan-Fund-in Trust was launched in February 2023, with a culture-specific component, namely ‘Emergency response for World Heritage and cultural property: damage assessment and protection'.
ICOMOS and the Global Heritage Fund (GHF) recently completed Phase 1 of their project which identifies key linkages and data gaps in the contribution of heritage to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
"Providing Guidance on Evidence for Heritage and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals" is conducted by the 2 organisations under the terms of their Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2021.