Djibouti receives support for preparation of a first World Heritage nomination file

The Djibouti Ministry of Muslim Affairs, Culture and Waqfs Assets has received financial and technical support from both the UNESCO World Heritage Fund and the Government of France Ministry of Culture towards the preparation of the country’s first World Heritage nomination file.

The International Assistance project funded by the World Heritage Fund is supporting the country with reviewing its Tentative List of potential World Heritage properties with the aim of identifying which site to nominate for World Heritage status. The project will be supported by the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee—International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM)—and involve a thorough review of the ten sites currently listed on Djibouti’s Tentative List (national inventory of potential World Heritage sites) as well as consideration of other possible natural, cultural or mixed sites for inclusion on their Tentative List.  The French funded project will then support Djibouti with the initial preparations required for the elaboration of a nomination file for the selected site, including the preparation of a management and conservation plan to protect the potential World Heritage values of the site.

Djibouti’s current Tentative List, which was finalized in 2015, includes the following sites (in French only):

• Les Tumulus (Awellos)
• Les Gravures Rupestre d’Abourma
• Le paysage urbain historique de la ville de Djibouti et ses bâtiments spécifiques
• Le Lac Assal
• Les îles Moucha et Maskali
• Les paysages naturels de la région d’Obock
• Le Parc National de la Forêt du Day
• Aire naturelle terrestre protégée d’Assamo
• Aire naturelle protégée de Djalélo
• Lac Abbeh : son paysage culturel, ses monuments naturels et son écosystème

Djibouti ratified the World Heritage Convention in 2007, and the country benefited from a first International Assistance grant from the World Heritage Fund in 2012 for the establishment of its Tentative List. In 2018, Djibouti received a second grant from the World Heritage Fund to undertake a feasibility study of the "Parc National de la Forêt du Day" for a potential nomination on the World Heritage List. An IUCN expert was sent to the site in late 2018 and concluded that the potential Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the site had already been lost due to deforestation and other factors. These two new complementary projects for Djibouti will help ensure the State Party receives the expertise and assistance required to identify a site to nominate and begin preparation of its first World Heritage nomination file.

For more information about the World Heritage Fund, please visit:

https://whc.unesco.org/en/world-heritage-fund/