A/HRC/21/52 Proposal 9: World Heritage Committee The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: (a) Notes that the fortieth anniversary of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage is being celebrated in 2012 under the theme “World heritage and sustainable development: the role of local communities”; (b) Refers to articles 41 and 42 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as paragraph 38 of Expert Mechanism Advice No. 2 (A/HRC/18/42, annex); (c) Reiterates that UNESCO must enable and ensure effective representation and participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making related to the World Heritage Convention and that robust procedures and mechanisms should be established to ensure that indigenous peoples are adequately consulted and involved in the management and protection of World Heritage sites, and that their free, prior and informed consent is obtained when their territories are being nominated and inscribed as World Heritage sites; (d) Welcomes World Heritage Committee decision 35 COM 12E (2011), in which the Committee encourages States to involve indigenous peoples in decision-making, monitoring and evaluation of the state of conservation of World Heritage sites and to respect the rights of indigenous peoples when nominating, managing and reporting on World Heritage sites in indigenous peoples’ territories; (e) Encourages the World Heritage Committee to establish a process to elaborate, with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, changes to the current procedures and operational guidelines and other appropriate measures to ensure that the implementation of the World Heritage Convention is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and that indigenous peoples can effectively participate in the World Heritage Convention’s decision-making processes. III. Organization of the session A. Attendance 3. The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples held its fifth session in Geneva, from 9 to 13 July 2012. The members Jannie Lasimbang (Malaysia), International Chief Wilton Littlechild (Canada), José Carlos Morales Morales (Costa Rica) and Danfred Titus (South Africa) participated in the fifth session of the Expert Mechanism. 4. The observers at the fifth session of the Expert Mechanism included representatives of Member States, indigenous peoples, the Holy See, United Nations organizations and programmes, national human rights institutions and NGOs (see annex I). 5. The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, Chairperson of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Grand Chief Edward John, and the Chairperson of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, Shankar Limbu, also participated in the session. 6. In addition, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues members Paul Kanyinke Sena, Saul Vicente Vazquez and Valmaine Toki attended. The Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, José Francisco Cali Tzay, also attended. 7