At its tenth session,
the UN Permanent Forum on indigenous issues (UNPFII) made several
recommendations relating to UNESCO, its World Heritage Committee and the
advisory bodies ICOMOS, ICCROM and IUCN. At the 34th (Brasilia, 2010), 35th
(UNESCO, 2011) and 36th (St Petersburg, 2012) sessions of the World Heritage
Committee, representatives of the UN Permanent Forum were present as observers
and provided statements. The World Heritage Committee developed a vision and
strategic action plan for the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention
and noted that UNESCO is in the process of preparing a policy with regard to
its programmes on indigenous peoples and encouraged these considerations to be
included in the theme of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention
in 2012 on “World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Local
Communities”.
A specific issue on World Heritage and
indigenous peoples has been published as World Heritage Review No.62 to draw
the attention of the international community to this important topic. It is
available on-line in English, French and Spanish
at:http://whc.unesco.org/en/review/62/.
An international expert workshop on the
World Heritage Convention and Indigenous Peoples will be held in September 2012
in Denmark hosted by the Danish Agency for Culture, the Government of Greenland
and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) as part of the
40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.
The World
Heritage Review © UNESCO / WHC
