States Parties to the 2001 Convention discuss underwater cultural heritage protection and potential for oceans and sustainable development

The 8^th session of the Meeting of the States Parties to the UNESCO 2001 Convention took place online from 7 to 9 June 2021 under the new chairmanship of Ms. Elia Del Carmen Guerra Jurado, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Panama to UNESCO. It was opened by Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, who was present in Tunis, together with Mr Habib Ammar, Minister of Cultural Affairs of Tunisia and Mr Ghazi Gherairi, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Tunisia to UNESCO in his capacity as outgoing President of the Meeting. Audrey Azoulay, in her opening speech, underlined that the Convention, which is marking its 20^th anniversary this year, has become the international reference to protect the world's underwater cultural heritage.

The States Parties welcomed the work and the progress made to promote and enhance the Convention's implementation through numerous trainings and awareness-raising activities as well as the fruitful, ongoing international cooperation for the protection of the Skerki Banks situated in the Mediterranean Sea. The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and the importance of underwater heritage for oceans were discussed with the presence of Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. States Parties encouraged further cooperation between underwater archaeologists and marine scientists for the achievement of the Decade. During a discussion on ensuring wider public awareness and education on the importance of underwater cultural heritage protection, a promotional video on the Convention and the Skerki Banks, elaborated in the framework of the 20^th anniversary of the Convention, was screened..

The importance of the Convention's Fund, which received its first ever contribution of 45,000 Swiss francs from Switzerland in 2020, was underlined, and an additional pledge of financial support from Panama was received. The States Parties also elected new 6 members of its Scientific and Technical Advisory Body.

The Meeting was followed by the 12th meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body and the 3^rd meeting of the Coordination Committee for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Skerki Banks, held online on 10 and 11 June 2021 respectively. Members of the Coordination Committee expressed their commitment to dispatching the first ever mission to the site in autumn 2021.

The 9^th session of the Meeting of States Parties will take place in spring 2023.