UNESCO Adds 15 New Sites to World Heritage List During Riyadh Session

SPA

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee declared the success of 15 nominated sites, securing their place on the UNESCO World Heritage List with a majority of votes during its 45th session in Riyadh.
Among the new sites that have been added was "Tell es-Sultan-Jericho" in Palestine, making it the first Arab site to be included in the UNESCO list in the ongoing session of the World Heritage Committee, SPA reported.
The committee also announced the inclusion of the "Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor," one of the shared Silk Roads connecting Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in Central Asia, into the World Heritage List.
Additionally, the committee added the Iranian-Azerbaijani “Hyrcanian Forests” and the “Gedeo Cultural Landscape” in Ethiopia to the list.
Meanwhile, the world eagerly awaits the announcement from the World Heritage Committee during its ongoing session, revealing the results of the vote to include around 50 new sites on the World Heritage List. Among these 50 sites, there are 37 cultural sites, 12 natural sites, and two sites of mixed significance. This comes in addition to discussing five proposed modifications to the boundaries of existing heritage sites.
Over the past week, the committee initiated its regular proceedings, including the discussion of regulations and voting on its lists.
In the second week, it commenced the voting process for the inclusion of several nominated sites in the World Heritage List, as submitted by UNESCO member states.
The process of adding new sites to UNESCO's World Heritage List is set to continue until the conclusion of the committee's activities on September 24.