Three Endangered Sites Are Now on the UNESCO World Heritage List

UNESCO added the historic center of Odesa, Ukraine and other sites from Yemen and Lebanon on the World Heritage List

Wednesday's addition to the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was the historic center of Odesa, Ukraine, and other sites from Yemen and Lebanon.

All three sites were simultaneously added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

UNESCO's founding Convention requires all its members, including Russia and Ukraine, to "not take any deliberate steps that directly or indirectly harm their heritage or that a State Party to it."

Audrey Azoulay (Director-General of UNESCO) stated in a statement that he hoped that the listing would help to protect Odesa against war.

"Odesa, a free city, a world city, a legendary port that has left its mark on cinema, literature and the arts, is thus placed under the reinforced protection of the international community," Azoulay mentioned.

"While the war continues, this inscription embodies our collective determination to ensure that this city, which has always surmounted global upheavals, is preserved from further destruction."

According to the statement, Ukraine would have access to international technical and financial assistance to help it rebuild its city center.

The World Heritage Committee in Paris held an extraordinary session to make the inscription.

Three threatened sites were addressed at the meeting:

* Historic Center of Odesa, Ukraine

* Rachid Karami International fair-Tripoli (Lebanon).

* Landmarks in Marib Governorate (Yemen), Ancient Kingdom of Saba

They are all now on the World Heritage List as well as the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The site contains seven archaeological sites in Yemen that document the architectural, artistic, and technological achievements of Kingdom of Saba between the 1st Millennium BCE and the arrival of Islam at 630 CE.

Due to threats posed by the ongoing conflict in Yemen, the site was placed on the "in danger" category.

Oscar Niemeyer, a Brazilian architect, designed the site in Lebanon, Rachid Karaami International Fair in Tripoli. The main building houses an exhibition hall covered in a boomerang shape.

"It is one of the major representative works of 20th-century modern architecture in the Arab Near East," UNESCO stated in a news release.

It was placed on the endangered list because of its "alarming state of conservation, the lack of financial resources for its maintenance, and the latent risk of development proposals that could affect the integrity of the complex," UNESCO stated.

Source: cnn.com