Azerbaijan has been elected as vice-president of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for 2018 as an extraordinary session of the committee was held at the UNESCO headquarters.

The participants in the session included twelve newly elected member states.

Azerbaijan was elected as a member of the committee for a four-year term in 2015.

Azerbaijan joined the Bureau of the Committee along with Bahrain, Brazil, Spain, Zimbabwe and China.

Bahrain was elected as chair of the Heritage Committee for the next year and its capital city Manama will host the 42nd session of the committee.

The World Heritage Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties. It also decides on the inscription or deletion of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Two cultural monuments of Azerbaijan, Maiden Tower and Shirvanshah's palace the Old City complex and the Gobustan National Historical-Artistic reserve were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Shahla Aghalarova

Special Correspondent