This year, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is reviewing nominations from both 2022 and 2023, with participants from across the world attending the session in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to examine almost 50 contenders. According to UNESCO, sites must be of “outstanding universal value” to be included on the World Heritage List. Once a landmark is given UNESCO World Heritage status, the country or nation it’s based in can receive financial assistance, as well as expert advice from UNESCO to help preserve the site. So far, the World Heritage Committee has inscribed approximately 1,157 sites in 167 different countries onto the World Heritage List. The contendersOnly those countries that sign the convention creating the World Heritage Committee and list are permitted to nominate sites.

Source: Ethiopian News September 15, 2023 14:42 UTC