Starting from today, Italy is again a member of the World Heritage Committee, the UNESCO Body which has the last word on the inscriptions of new sites on the World Heritage List, pursuant to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972.

Our country had been absent from the Body for twenty years: the last mandate dates back to the years 1997-2001. The elections for the renewal of the Committee were held this morning in Paris during the 23^rd General Assembly of the States Parties to the 1972 Convention, after the 41^st General Conference of the Organisation (9-24 November).