Oman to participate in Extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman will participate in the expanded meeting of the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee meetings in Riyadh from 10 to 25 September 2023.

The Sultanate of Oman’s delegation is headed by Dr. Hamed bin Saif Al Hamami, Permanent Representative of the Sultanate of Oman to the UNESCO, and also includes experts in tangible cultural heritage, representing the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, Sultan Qaboos University, the Environment Agency, and the Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.

It is worth noting that the Sultanate of Oman’s participation in the meeting in capacity as member of the World Heritage Committee since the 44th session, organized from China via video conference in 2021 after the session was adjourned in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Sultanate of Oman’s membership in the aforementioned committee continues for a period of four consecutive years, during which it plays important roles in discussing the files submitted by a number of member states for inclusion on the World Heritage List, and also provides its opinion in evaluating those files before their final approval. The results of examining files are limited to three situations: approval and inclusion, returning the file to the state to make the required amendments according to the technical opinion of the committee’s experts, or final rejection.

The international committee accords three segments to its specialty in the global list of sites. Accordingly, it designates a site as a ‘cultural heritage site’, ‘natural heritage site’ or ‘mixed site’ that combines natural features and aspects of human intervention.