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Introduction to the Workshop

Dear Participants,

Let me once again welcome you all to this workshop,

which is first of its kind in many ways. It is the

first programme that the SAARC Cultural Centre is

organizing in Pakistan; it is also the SAARC Cultural

Centre’s first Capacity Building programme on World

Heritage Sites, which we hope to continue in the

succeeding years. This event is also first in a

series of initiatives that the Centre has planned to

guide the SAARC Member States to manage their

heritage sites better, to realize the full potential

of these sites and to maximize the benefits accruing

from them for their people.

South Asian region has a history that dates back to

over 5,000 years; it is home to well over one-fifth

of the world's population, making it both the most

populous and the most densely populated geographical

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region in the world; but when we come to this

region’s share in the World Heritage sites, the

picture is very grim; out of 981 properties forming

part of the cultural and natural World Heritage, only

53 properties (42 cultural properties + 11 natural

properties) are located in the South Asian region.

The latest entry in this list is a group of 6

medieval forts in India, which have been inscribed as

“Hill Forts of Rajasthan” in the 37th Session of the

World Heritage Committee, which was held recently at

Phnom Penh (Cambodia) in June this year. I would also

like to add that the SAARC Cultural Centre has been

accorded the Observer status by the UNESCO’s World

Heritage Committee, and our Director and myself

represented the region at the World Heritage

Committee’s Meeting in Cambodia.

The small share that the South Asian region has in

the World Heritage Sites should not be a cause of

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such a great concern to the heritage managers of the

region than the fact that even in some of those sites

that have been inscribed on the World Heritage List,

the state of management and care is most appalling.

We frequently read in the newspapers and on the

social media, about the damage caused to the

inscribed sites due to the apathetic and insensitive

attitude of the local authorities. The recent

instances of Hampi and Mohenjo-daro immediately flash

across the mind in this connection.

South Asia's World Heritage ranges from one of the

world's earliest urban forms at Mohenjo-daro,

Pakistan to the Mughal splendours of the Taj Mahal in

India and Galle, a Dutch colonial town in Sri Lanka.

This heritage belongs to the entire humankind and we,

the heritage managers, have a solemn duty to secure

it for the future generations.

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It is with this objective, that the SAARC Cultural

Centre conceived of this Workshop, which will focus

on the shared understanding of the diverse systems

and mechanisms in the SAARC region that exist for the

management of a variety of these sites (monuments,

religious places, archaeological sites, cave sites

etc.). It would then aim at developing and improving

these systems with a view to guarantee the protection

of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), including

authenticity and integrity of the World Heritage

Sites. The purpose of this program would be to help

promote the conservation and management of World

Heritage Sites in the region and transmit them to

future generations in accordance with the Article 4

of the World Heritage Convention.

In this connection it is heartening to note that all-

round initiatives focussing of South Asia are now on

at different levels. I would also like to inform the

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participants that in September 2012 a Workshop

entitled, “World Heritage Convention: Building South

Asia’s Capacity for Effective Implementation” was

held in New Delhi, in which the UNESCO has decided to

set up its Category 2 Centre (C2C) in South Asia for

research, training, documentation, and dissemination

of information on cultural and natural heritage

conservation and management in the region. The

proposed World Heritage Management and Training

(WHMT) Centre will be established at the Wildlife

Institute of India (WII), Dehradun (India) and we

look forward to work closely with the proposed

Centre.

Coming back to this Workshop, which is the SAARC

initiative, you will note that it is structured on

building/ sharing knowledge through lectures,

discussions, and case studies on existing management

systems relating to the World Heritage Sites. I would

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earnestly urge each of the participants to kindly

take active part in these discussions.

A vital component of this Workshop is the Country

Presentations by the representatives of the six

Member States that are present here. A correct and

realistic assessment of the management plans for the

heritage sites in general and those for the World

heritage sites in particular in each of the Member

States is the first step in evaluation and

improvement of these plans wherever required.

Therefore, I would request all country

representatives to kindly include in your

presentations and comments both positive and negative

aspects of the management systems in your respective

countries with special focus upon:

• Legal, institutional, resources aspects;

• Planning, implementation and monitoring

processes;

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Challenges and problems in implementing the

management systems; and

• Ways and means to improve the existing

managements systems.

Apart from these Country Presentations, the Workshop

would have 6 lectures by the experts, and 3 Round

Tables on related themes also led by eminent experts.

In addition it will have two open sessions for Group

Work and Critical Feedback where each participant

will be required to make a short comment which will

be followed by discussion on the given topic.

In this connection, we are grateful to the World

Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the

Asia and the Pacific Region (WHITR-AP) under the

auspices of UNESCO, located in Shanghai (China), for

Technical Support in organizing this Workshop, by

helping in developing this programme and for

nominating two Resource Persons – Dr. Ayesha Pamela

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Rogers, and Prof. Fauzia Hussan Qureshi – both world-

renowned experts in the field of heritage management

and conservation. We are also grateful to the

Governments of Pakistan and Sri Lanka for nominating

the other three Resource Persons – Mr. Muhammad

Habibullah Khan Khattak, Mr. Saleem ul-Haq and Mr.

Jayatissa Herath respectively, all of whom have been

engaged in the management and preservation of

heritage sites in their respective countries. In the

same breadth let me also express my gratitude to Mr.

Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, Country Representative of the

International Union for Conservation of Nature

(IUCN), Pakistan, whom I had the occasion to meet in

Colombo last month and who very kindly agreed to

attend this Workshop as Special Invitee and lead one

of the Round Tables.

The last session of the Workshop will hold a Plenary

Session which would summarise the main suggestions

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emerging out of the deliberations and prepare a

document laying out a road-map in the form of

recommendations for the SAARC Member States. To

facilitate the work of the Plenary Committee, a feed-

back form has been given to you to solicit your

valuable comments and suggestions. Please do fill-up

these feed-back forms and give these to one of the

organizers.

I sincerely hope that the meaningful contribution

from each one of you during this workshop would help

in developing common approaches for devising long-

term strategies for safeguarding the World Heritage

and other heritage sites in the SAARC Member States.

Before I conclude, I feel beholden to my respected

friend Dr Fazal Dad Kakar, Director General of the

Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan, and

his team for their unstinted support as collaborating

partner in organizing this event. You can well

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imagine how difficult it would have been for us

without the kind of support and help that we received

from Dr Kakar and his team whom we had inundated with

frequent phone calls and emails for well over two

months. For their invaluable support for organizing

this event, I thank Dr Kakar, each officer and member

of staff of the Directorate of Archaeology and

Museums, the Ministry of the Information,

Broadcasting and National Heritage and the Government

of Pakistan for being so cooperative co-hosts.

Please feel free to contact one of the organizers

should you need any assistance during your stay here.

Thank you and best wishes.