Shakhrisabz once again retains its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List

Shakhrisabz retained its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This was announced today at the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Baku, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov writes on his Facebook page.

“The document welcomes the measures taken by the leadership of Uzbekistan to protect World Heritage sites, including the adoption of a government decree on the suspension of all construction works in historic cities. It contains specific recommendations for the further development of the city and decides to keep Shakhrisabz on the list of world heritage that is under threat,” Abdukhakimov said.

At the same time, the Uzbek side is tasked to develop a draft plan for the regeneration of the city within two years.

It should be recalled that back in June 2018, a delegation of Uzbekistan headed by Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Abdukhakimov visited Bahrain to attend the 42nd session of the UN World Heritage Committee. On the agenda of the meeting was the issue of excluding the historic center of Shakhrisabz from the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Then the head of the delegation of Uzbekistan in his speech noted that the work carried out in the historic center of Shakhrisabz was aimed at improving the living standards of the local population. It caused a debate between the members of the World Heritage Committee which led to the creation of a working group to develop an alternative draft resolution, providing for the preservation of the historic center of Shahrisabz on the UNESCO World Heritage List.