A/HRC/40/53 Cultural heritage, history and memorialization 63. The same progress can be noted in the field of cultural heritage, where policymakers and global organizations have incorporated cultural rights language and issues raised in the relevant reports of the mandate. 64. Since 2010, the number of States parties to cultural heritage instruments has increased. The relevant UNESCO conventions include the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage with 6 new ratifications and the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, with 58 new States parties. The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict has had eight new accessions and two ratifications, and its two Protocols of 1954 and 1999 have gained 9 and 26 new States parties respectively since 2010. 65. Between 2011 and 2017, the three advisory bodies mandated by the World Heritage Convention: the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the International Union for Conservation of Nature collaborated through an “Our Common Dignity Initiative” to develop awareness of the significance of rights-based approaches to world heritage management, which included training and analysis of the reports issued by the mandate holders.25 The commitment to human rights of the International Council on Monuments and Sites is also visible in its resolution 2017/23 adopted at its nineteenth General Assembly. 66. Through its work on culture in emergencies, UNESCO often references the Special Rapporteur’s reports and relevant Human Rights Council resolutions to advocate for enhanced consideration of cultural heritage and the need for its protection in humanitarian and security policies.26 In its responses to the destruction of cultural heritage, UNESCO is increasingly guided by cultural rights, giving significant importance to broad participation and recognition of local knowledge in reconstruction efforts. 67. The International Criminal Court appointed the Special Rapporteur as an expert whose cultural rights approach was deemed relevant in determining reparations due to those who had suffered from the destruction of cultural heritage, in the case against Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi. The Special Rapporteur hopes that this approach will receive more attention in similar future cases and judgments. 68. Some cultural heritage professionals, organizations and institutions have over recent years included cultural rights in their approaches. The submissions received for the present report mention the considerable advocacy work done by RASHID International in favour of a cultural rights approach with its partners, collaborating to safeguard Iraqi heritage,27 and the experiences in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, using cultural heritage practices to establish spaces for interaction and understanding between groups and find solutions to problems that have caused tensions and deaths. 69. These positive developments indicate the capacity of relevant stakeholders to improve the fulfilment of human rights commitments. However, much still needs to be done to mainstream that approach among diverse actors in the field and those working in peacekeeping and transitional justice. Unfortunately, a human rights approach has not been integrated into the work of the Security Council on cultural heritage, as recent relevant resolutions make clear through the omission of any reference to human rights. The Special Rapporteur also condemns the removal of a specific mention of the protection of cultural heritage from Security Council resolution 2423 (2018) renewing the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. That is a step backward, which must be reversed. 25 26 27 ICOMOS Norway submission, p. 1. See also Amund Sinding-Larsen, Peter Bille Larsen, eds., report and case studies carried out within the “Our Common Dignity Initiative” on rights-based approaches in world heritage (February and April 2017). See https://en.unesco.org/themes/culture-in-emergencies. RASHID International e.V. submission, p. 11. 13