Djerba's nomination for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List will be on the agenda of the 45th extended session of the World Heritage Committee, to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from September 10 to 25. According to a UNESCO press release issued Monday, the Committee will meet to inscribe new sites on the World Heritage List. There are 53 candidate sites on the menu, including natural sites, cultural sites and mixed sites (natural and cultural). From September 16, the World Heritage Committee will begin to consider nominations for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, starting with those that could not be considered last year. The Committee will also be webcast. UNESCO and the Saudi authorities will hold a press conference that will be webcast on September 11. "Djerba: cultural landscape, testimony to a mode of occupation of an island territory" will be among the sites nominated in 2023. Other countries on the same list include Palestine (Ancient Jericho / Tell es-Sultan), Turkey (Medieval Anatolian Mosque with Columns and Wooden Upper Structure) and Iran (The Cultural Landscape of Masouleh). Saudi Arabia (Uruq Bani Ma'arid) is on the list of nominated natural sites for 2023. Uruq Bani Ma'arid is one of the largest protected areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is home to species such as the Arabian Oryx and the Al Reem gazelle. The area is located at the western end of the vast Ar-Rub' al-Khali sand desert, some 700km south of the capital Riyadh. The Committee will also review the state of conservation of 260 sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List, 55 of which are also on the List of World Heritage in Danger. To date, the World Heritage Committee has inscribed 1,157 sites in 167 countries on the World Heritage List. Composed of representatives from 21 States Parties that have ratified the World Heritage Convention, the Committee is responsible for the implementation of the Convention. The purpose of the World Heritage Convention is to recognise sites of "outstanding universal value" as part of the heritage of humanity, to be protected and passed on to future generations. The World Heritage Committee, set up in 1976, draws up the World Heritage List each year. From 1979 to 1997, Tunisia had 7 sites and monuments on the World Heritage List: Tunis medina / Carthage site / El Jem amphitheatre (1979), Kerkouane site (1986), Sousse medina / Kairouan medina (1988) and Dougga site (1997). Since then, no other Tunisian site has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse