The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers authorised a voluntary contribution of EUR 45 000 to the World Heritage Fund of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Spain has been a member of UNESCO since 1953 and has been a State Party to the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage since 18 March 1982. For the period 2017-2021, Spain is also a member of the World Heritage Committee, an intergovernmental body set up by the Convention for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage. Spain has a large number (47) of properties on the World Heritage List.
The Committee is responsible for managing the Fund for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which acts as a trust fund. Both UNESCO and the World Heritage Centre are currently experiencing a difficult budgetary situation due to the scarcity of resources available to the organisation and the scope of its mandate. This is the context of the special contribution requested by UNESCO from Spain on 7 November 2018 to finance some of its activities and actions.
The contribution is intended to strengthen the World Heritage Centre in order to finance some of its activities, such as the management of the Convention, the organisation of the annual meetings of the Committee, advice to the Member States in the preparation of their nominations, the coordination of reports on the conditions of the sites and updates in the event of threats, the updating of the lists of inscribed properties and the database, the organisation of technical seminars and workshops, and the development of material to teach and raise awareness of the importance of protecting and conserving heritage.
