Almaty Agreement adopted in the Fourth meeting of the Coordinating Committee on the World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads

Tuesday, 22 December 2015

Group photo of Almaty 4th Silk Roads CC meeting (26/11/2015) © UNESCO / Roland Lin | Image Source: Roland Lin 

Following the Fourth meeting of the Coordinating Committee on the World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 24-25 November 2015, more than 50 representatives and experts from twelve countries together with UNESCO representatives, international experts and representatives of IICC Xi’an (China), Secretariat of Silk Roads Coordination Committee,  today released a list of recommendations for further activities to pave the way forward for the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination.

The aim of the Almaty Meeting was to review and to update the Terms of Reference of the Silk Roads Coordination Committee; to review the State of Conservation on the first inscribed Serial Transnational Nomination “Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an – Tianshan Corridor” (China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan) and the current status of the referred nomination “Silk Roads Penjikent-Samarkand-Poykent Corridor” (Tajikistan and Uzbekistan); to review the progress of the Silk Road World Heritage Nominations processes including the South Asian Silk Roads (Nepal, Bhutan, China and India), the Fergana-Syrdarya Silk Roads Heritage Corridor (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan); as well as other Silk Roads initiatives from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. The Meeting also reviewed the results of the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-In-Trust (FIT) project “Support of documentation standards and procedures of the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination in Central Asia”, 2011-2014 as well as the UNESCO Korean-Funds-In-Trust South Asian Silk Road project and to officially launch the UNESCO/Japanese FIT project “Support for the Silk Roads World Heritage Sites in Central Asia” (Phase II, 2015-2018). Finally, the Meeting also discussed potential needs regarding further development of the ICOMOS Silk Roads Thematic Study covering Eastern Asia and Western Asia.

This Almaty meeting was successfully organized by financial contributions from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre Regular Programme, the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust Central Asian Silk Roads project, the UNESCO/Korea Funds-in-Trust South Asian Silk Roads project, and support from the Government of Kazakhstan. The Silk Roads nomination process now includes the following fourteen countries (Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) that are members of the Silk Roads Serial Transnational World Heritage Nomination Intergovernmental Coordinating Committee, as well as  Bhutan as an observer.

Almaty Agreement news-1415-1.pdf

Fourth meeting of the Coordinating Committee on the World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads, 24-25 November 2015, Almaty, Kazakhstan

ALMATY AGREEMENT

25 November 2015

Introduction:

As a result of previous international and regional consultation meetings and the efforts of the three previous Coordinating Committee Meetings between 2006 and 2012, two Silk Roads World Heritage nomination files were prepared and submitted by 1st February 2013. These nominations were examined at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in June 2014 (Doha, Qatar). Subsequently, the Committee inscribed the “The Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an - Tian-shan Corridor”, submitted by the States Parties of China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The 4th Coordinating Committee Meeting brought together national focal points and experts from twelve countries which included nine countries members of the Silk Roads Coordination Committee: Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan and three partner countries: Bhutan, Pakistan and Turkey. The meeting also invited representatives from IICC Xi’an (China), the Secretariat of Silk Roads Coordination Committee, as well as UNESCO representatives and international resource persons to ensure the discussions on further technical assistance and cooperation.

Aim:

The aim of the Almaty Meeting was to review and update the Terms of Reference of the Silk Roads Coordination Committee; the State of Conservation on the first inscribed Serial Transnational Nomination “Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an – Tianshan Corridor” (China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan); the Current status of the referred nomination “Silk Roads Penjikent-Samarkand-Poykent Corridor” (Tajikistan and Uzbekistan); to review the progress of the Silk Road World Heritage Nominations processes including the South Asian Silk Roads (Nepal, Bhutan, China and India), the Fergana-Syrdarya Silk Roads Heritage Corridor (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) as well as other Silk Roads initiatives from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Furthermore, the Meeting also reviewed the results of the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust (FIT) project “Support of documentation standards and procedures of the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination in Central Asia”, 2011-2014, officially launched the UNESCO/Japanese FIT project “Support for the Silk Roads World Heritage Sites in Central Asia” (Phase II, 2015-2018) and reviewed the results of the ongoing UNESCO/Korean FIT South Asian Silk Roads project, 2013-2015. Finally, the Meeting also discussed potential needs regarding further development of the ICOMOS Silk Roads Thematic Study covering Eastern Asia and Western Asia.

Main Outcomes:

The participants of the meeting agreed on the following:

1. To update the Terms of Reference of the Silk Roads Coordination Committee; including welcoming Pakistan and Turkey as Coordination Committee members and Bhutan as an observer;

2. To note the good results of the UNESCO/Japanese FIT project “Support of documentation standards and procedures of the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination in Central Asia”, 2011-2014;

3. To acknowledge the official launch of the UNESCO/Japanese FIT project “Support for the Silk Roads World Heritage Sites in Central Asia” (Phase II, 2015-2018);

4. To further strengthen the collaboration between China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan on the effective monitoring of the State of Conservation for the first inscribed Serial Transnational Nomination “Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an – Tianshan Corridor”;

5. To reinforce the existing Expert Group of representatives from Central Asia and China, in collaboration with the IICC – Xi’an, Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee, through virtual communications;

6. To welcome further work on the referred nomination “Silk Roads Penjikent-Samarkand-Poykent Corridor” by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and welcome Turkmenistan in preparation of the nomination dossier on the Silk Roads corridors located within the territory of Turkmenistan;

7. To note the good results of the UNESCO/Korea Funds-in-Trust South Asian Silk Roads project, 2013-2015;

8. To encourage close consultation and coordination between Nepal, Bhutan, China and India on the preparation of the South Asian Silk Road World Heritage Nominations, and express the desire to continue the UNESCO/Korea Funds-in-Trust South Asian Silk Roads project (Phase II), and encourage Pakistan and other related South Asian countries to join this nomination process;

9. To encourage the close consultation and coordination between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan about the preparation of the Fergana-Syrdarya Silk Roads Heritage Corridor World Heritage Nomination process;

10. To acknowledge the efforts of other Silk Roads initiatives from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan;

11. To enhance the technical capacity ofthe respective governments, UNESCO National Commissions, and/or relevant authorities within each participating State Party for the preparation of the Silk Roads World Heritage nominations (both national and transnational);

12. To develop and implement an appropriate management system and tourism strategy for the identified Silk Roads nominations (both national and transnational);

13. To enhance the exchange of information related to the required documentation for preparation of nomination dossiers; and to further take note of UNESCO Silk Road Online Platform;

14. To call upon all participating State Parties to allocate the necessary funds and resources for the timely preparation of nomination dossiers;

15. To recognize the needs and the continuation for further development of the ICOMOS Silk Roads Thematic Study covering Eastern Asia and Western Asia with active support from the participating countries;

16. To extend the functions of two co-chairpersons until the next Coordinating Committee on the Serial World Heritage Nomination of the Silk Roads

Furthermore, the meeting also noted the potential target date for the official submission of the referred nomination “Silk Roads Penjikent-Samarkand-Poykent Corridor” transnational nomination dossier to be 1 February 2017, it is desirable for the participating countries to submit the required information to the World Heritage Centre as soon as possible.

The meeting welcomed the proposal of Iran to co-host with UNESCO the next meeting of the Coordinating Committee to take place in Iran before end 2016.

Delegates of the Fourth Meeting of the Coordinating Committee on the Serial World Heritage Nomination of the Silk Roads expressed their gratitude to the:

- Government of Kazakhstan, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Commission for UNESCO and ISESCO, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, and other authorities in Kazakhstan, for hosting the meeting, for their warm hospitality, for their support, and for the provision of favourable conditions that allowed the successful organisation of the meeting;

- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the UNESCO Offices in Almaty and Tashkent as well as to the international resource persons for facilitating the meeting;

Moreover, participants were extremely appreciative for the financial contributions for the meeting from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre Regular Programme, the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust Central Asian Silk Roads project and the UNESCO/Korea Funds-in-Trust South Asian Silk Roads project, as well as support from the Government of Kazakhstan.

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