17th General Assembly of State Parties to the World Heritage Convention was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in October 23-28. Georgian delegation headed by Mr. Nikoliz Vacheishvili, General Director of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, participated in the event.

Georgian delegation met with the representatives of the World Heritage Center and discussed important issues concerning Georgian sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.

The Assembly elected 12 new members, Cambodia, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Mexico, Russian Federation, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and United Arab Emirates, to the World Heritage Committee to serve a mandate of four years.

The World Heritage Committee, which is responsible for the implementation of the Convention, meets once a year and reviews requests by States Parties to inscribe new cultural and natural heritage on the World Heritage List as well as the state of conservation of sites already inscribed. Its next session will take place from 25 July to 03 August, 2010.

The General Assembly drew its attention to the following topics:  the relationship between Convention, conservation and sustainable development; the public image of the Convention; helping States to develop skill needed to look after their heritage; ensure cooperation between activities and programmes concerning the 1972 Convention and UNESCO's other related standard-setting instruments and activities.