Saudi Gazette report

PARIS — Member States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have elected on Wednesday Saudi Arabia to the membership of its World Heritage Committee for the first time.

The Kingdom has won this feat, a few days after winning membership in the UNESCO’s Executive Board and the Information for All Program (IFAP).

Minister of Culture and Chairman of the National Commission for Education, Sciences and Culture Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan said the Kingdom’s election to the committee is an embodiment of the unlimited support to the cultural sector by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman.

“This also reaffirms the confidence of the international community in the Kingdom’s standing and its role in supporting the conservation and preservation of the World Heritage,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has joined IFAP, 24 hours after Minister of Culture Prince Badr, who is the head of the Saudi delegation to the UNESCO meeting, announced that the Kingdom had won a seat in the Executive Board of UNESCO on Nov. 20.

IFAP is a program of UNESCO that provides a platform for international policy discussions and guidelines for action on preservation of information and universal access to it.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee consists of representatives from 21 of the countries, which are parties to the World Heritage Convention, elected by the General Assembly. The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.

It has the final say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List. It examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties and asks States Parties to take action when properties are not being properly managed. It also decides on the inscription or deletion of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The Kingdom has five heritage sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, which includes Al-Hijr (Madain Saleh) in Al Ula governorate, the Historic Diriyah, the Historic Area in Jeddah, the rock paintings in Jubbah and Shuwaymis, and the Oasis of Al-Ahsa.