UNESCO status not always good for local communities
In the media image: Wikimedia Commons
France’s D-Day beaches and Greece’s Mount Olympus were recently added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Sophie Starrenburg warns in an interview on NPO Radio 1 that while often seen as an honour, World Heritage status can have drawbacks for local residents.
Starrenburg, an assistant professor specialising in public international law, is conducting research on the balance between human rights and heritage protection in international law: ‘Striking a balance between the advantages and the disadvantages of heritage inscription is a problem which has plagued cultural heritage conventions since their inception.’
She explains that there have been multiple instances in which residents and local communities were displaced following a site’s inscription on the World Heritage List. In some protected natural areas, for example, Indigenous communities were removed because governments considered their presence incompatible with the conservation of nature and wildlife. Similar tensions arise in relation to archaeological heritage. Although UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has, in exceptional cases, removed sites from the World Heritage List, it has never done so on the grounds of human rights violations.
The World Heritage Committee does not advocate the displacement of people, Starrenburg stresses. However, she notes that in some cases the Committee has decided that certain forms of development or the use of a site by specific communities can undermine a place’s cultural significance. Ultimately, however, responsibility for such decisions lies with the State Party where the World Heritage site is located. According to Starrenburg, this often makes it difficult for affected communities to bring about change, not least because it is unclear which actors are responsible for specific measures and what obligations States Parties have under international law. ‘In practice, States Parties regularly opt for far-reaching measures to protect heritage sites, which can put human rights under pressure,’ she says, adding ‘the World Heritage Committee has been confronted with this issue on multiple occasions in the past and acknowledges that it is a problem.’
That said, Starrenburg notes that many residents welcome UNESCO status because of the international recognition and economic opportunities it can bring. In her view, this demonstrates the need to ensure that heritage protection goes hand in hand with the protection of the people who live there. She therefore calls for ‘clearer standards regarding the role of human rights within the World Heritage Convention, as well as more dialogue between local communities, UNESCO and the States Parties concerned.’
More information?
Listen to the NPO Radio 1 broadcast (in Dutch)
International media also previously spoke to Starrenburg on the topic:
European Correspondent
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