INTERNATIONAL

CHARTERS
12 TH AUGUST 2014
What are charters
Documents outlining the principles, functions, and organization of a corporate
body; a constitution: the city charter.
It gives guiding principles, codes , philosophies and rights
Athens Charter (1931)
Venice Charter (1964)
Florence Charter (1981)
Washington Charter (1987)
Charter for the Protection and Management of the Archeological Heritage
(1990)
Nara Document of Authenticity (1994)
Burra Charter (1999)
International Bodies
Intergovernmental bodies
UNESCO (1945)
ICCROM (1959)

Professional organizations
ICOMOS (1965)
ICOM (1946)
IUCN (1948)
The Origin of UNESCO
In 1942, during the wartime, the governments of the European
countries, which were confronting Nazi Germany and its allies, met
in the United Kingdom for the Conference of Allied Ministers of
Education (CAME).
While the Second World War was still going on these European
countries were looking for ways and means to reconstruct their
systems of education once peace was restored. Very quickly, the
project gained momentum and soon took on a universal note.
Predecessors of UNESCO
The main predecessors of UNESCO were:
The International Committee of Intellectual Co-operation (CICI),
Geneva 1922-1946, and its executing agency, the International
Institute of Intellectual Co-operation (IICI), Paris, 1925-1946;
The International Bureau of Education (IBE), Geneva, 1925-1968;
since 1969 IBE has been part of the UNESCO Secretariat under its
own statutes.
The Origin
Upon the proposal of CAME, a United Nations Conference for the
establishment of an educational and cultural organization
(ECO/CONF) was convened in London from 1 to 16 November 1945.
Scarcely had the war ended when the conference opened. It
gathered together the representatives of forty-four countries who
decided to create an organization that would embody a genuine
culture of peace.
In their eyes, the new organization must establish the “intellectual
and moral solidarity of mankind” and, in so doing, prevent the
outbreak of another world war.
The Origin
At the end of the conference, thirty-seven countries founded the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The Constitution of UNESCO, signed on 16 November 1945, came into force on
4 November 1946 after ratification by twenty countries: Australia, Brazil,
Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France,
Greece, India, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South
Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.
The first session of the General Conference of UNESCO was held in Paris from 19
November to 10 December 1946 with the participation of representatives from
30 governments entitled to vote.
The Purpose
The purpose of the Organization was defined as: “to contribute to
peace and security by promoting collaboration among nations
through education, science and culture in order to further universal
respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and
fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the people of the
world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the
Charter of the United Nations.”
Building peace in the minds of men
Role of UNESCO in Protection of Cultural
Heritage
 THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION
Convention Concerning the Protection of the
World Cultural and Natural Heritage on 16th
November 1972
History of the World Heritage Convention
In 1972 the Convention concerning the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage developed from the merging of two
separate movements:
the preservation of cultural sites,
the conservation of nature.
 History : Preserving cultural heritage
The event that aroused international
concern was the decision to build the
Aswan High Dam in Egypt, which would
have flooded the valley containing the Abu
Simbel Temples, a treasure of ancient
Egyptian civilization.
In 1959, after an appeal from the
governments of Egypt and Sudan, UNESCO
launched an international safeguarding
campaign. Archaeological research in the
areas to be flooded was accelerated. Above
all, the Abu Simbel and Philae temples
were dismantled, moved to dry ground
and reassembled.
History : Preserving cultural heritage
The campaign cost about US$80 million, half of which was donated by some 50
countries, showing the importance of solidarity and nations' shared
responsibility in conserving outstanding cultural sites. Its success led to other
safeguarding campaigns, such as saving Venice and its Lagoon (Italy) and the
Archaeological Ruins at Mohenjodaro (Pakistan) , and restoring the Borobodur
Temple Compounds (Indonesia).
Consequently, UNESCO initiated, with the help of the International Council on
Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the preparation of a draft convention on the
protection of cultural heritage
History : Linking the protection of
cultural and natural heritage
A White House Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1965 called for a ‘World Heritage Trust’ that
would stimulate international cooperation to protect ‘the world's superb natural and scenic
areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizen’.
In 1968, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) developed similar proposals
for its members. These proposals were presented to the 1972 United Nations conference on
Human Environment in Stockholm.
Eventually, a single text was agreed upon by all parties concerned. The Convention concerning
the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference
of UNESCO on 16th November 1972
By regarding heritage as both cultural and natural, the Convention reminds us of the ways in
which people interact with nature, and of the fundamental need to preserve the balance
between the two.
The World Heritage Convention
The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization meeting in Paris from 17 October to 21 November 1972, at
its seventeenth session, adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of
the World Cultural and Natural Heritage on 16th November 1972. The
convention came into force in 1975
The most significant feature of the 1972 World Heritage Convention is that it
links together in a single document the concepts of nature conservation and
the preservation of cultural properties.
The Convention recognizes the way in which people interact with nature, and
the fundamental need to preserve the balance between the two.
India and World Heritage Convention
Ratification of the Convention:
Monday, November 14, 1977

Mandates to the World Heritage Committee:

1985 - 1991
2001 - 2007
2011 - 2015
AIMS
The World Heritage Convention aims
to promote cooperation among nations to protect heritage around the world
that is of such outstanding universal value that its conservation is important for
current and future generations.
It is intended that, unlike the seven wonders of the ancient world, properties on
the World Heritage List will be conserved for all time.
Contents
1. The role and responsibility of participating nations
2. Administering the World Heritage Convention
3. The World Heritage List
4. World Heritage in danger
5. The World Heritage Fund
The role and responsibility of state party
The Convention defines the kind of natural or cultural sites which can be
considered for inscription on the World Heritage List.
The Convention sets out the duties of State Parties in identifying potential sites
and their role in protecting and preserving them. By signing the Convention,
each country pledges to conserve not only the World Heritage sites situated on
its territory, but also to protect its national heritage. The States Parties are
encouraged to integrate the protection of the cultural and natural heritage into
regional planning programmes, set up staff and services at their sites, undertake
scientific and technical conservation research and adopt measures which give
this heritage a function in the day-to-day life of the community.
World Heritage List
There are 1007 properties in the World Heritage List
There are 32 World Heritage Sites in India that are recognized by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of 2014.
These are places of importance of cultural or natural heritage as described in the
UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.
Of these 32 sites, 25 are cultural sites and the other seven are natural sites. A
tentative list of further sites/properties submitted by India for recognition
includes 51 sites.
India’s first two sites inscribed on the list at the Seventh Session of the World
Heritage held in 1983 were the Agra Fort and the Ajanta Caves.
The World Heritage Fund
It explains how the World Heritage Fund is to be used and managed and under
what conditions international financial assistance may be provided.
The Convention stipulates the obligation of States Parties to report regularly to
the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of their World
Heritage properties. These reports are crucial to the work of the Committee as
they enable it to assess the conditions of the sites, decide on specific
programme needs and resolve recurrent problems.
It also encourages States Parties to strengthen the appreciation of the public for
World Heritage properties and to enhance their protection through educational
and information programmes.