BARBADOS – Barbados has been awarded a seat on the renowned United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee (WHC).
Director of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Alissandra Cummins, who is this country’s Special Envoy for Cultural Heritage, and former President of the Barbados Institute of Architects, Steve Devonish, have been selected to represent the areas of Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage, respectively, in the seat reserved for those members with no property on the World Heritage List.
The selection was made Tuesday, October 23 during elections conducted on the first day of the 16th General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention being held in Paris, France.
Barbados’ delegation is led by Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports, Anthony Wood, and comprises Ms. Cummins, Mr. Devonish, and officials from Barbados’ Embassy at Brussels and the Ministry of Culture.
Also vying for the coveted seat were Angola, Burkina Faso, Maldives and Vanuatu. Barbados’ term of office on the WHC will be four years.
The WHC is responsible for inscribing sites on the World Heritage List, monitoring their state of conservation, inscribing properties on the list of World Heritage in Danger and determining the use of the World Heritage Fund.
As of March 1, 2007, 830 sites; 644 cultural sites, 162 natural sites and 24 mixed sites, in 138 countries, were inscribed on the World Heritage List.
