World Assembly Trust for Cultural Heritage
 | |
 WATCH Flag | |
| Abbreviation | WATCH |
|---|---|
| Formation | March 5, 2014; 11 years, 213 days |
| Type | World Assembly agency |
| Legal status | Active |
| Headquarters | WA Headquarters |
The World Assembly Trust for Cultural Heritage, or WATCH, is an agency of the World Assembly (WA) based at the WA Headquarters in sovereign WA territory. Its stated purpose is to recognise sites of cultural significance within member nations[1] and to preserve such sites for future generations. It is the successor of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Committee, which was disestablished on 07 December 2013.
All member states of the World Assembly are also member states under the remit of WATCH. While its headquarters are based at the WA Headquarters, it does have some regional headquarters, as well as national offices within specific member states of the World Assembly.
History[edit | edit source]
The interest of the World Assembly in preserving cultural sites can be traced back to WATCH's predecessor, the Cultural Heritage Preservation Committee, which was established on 20 November 2009 with the passage of General Assembly Resolution #72. This original body, however, did nothing to officially designate sites of cultural relevance or significance, and only encouraged nations to ensure sites of historical interest were available for both touristic and scholarly visitation. It also banned nations from destroying or looting such sites, but in general was seen to be rather ineffectual. The resolution establishing the Committee was repealed on 07 December 2013 and the Committee was disestablished on the same day.
| WA General Assembly Resolution 287 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 05 March 2014 |
| Code | GA#287 |
| Title | Cultural Site Preservation |
Voting summary | 7,075 voted for 4,135 voted against |
| Result | Adopted |
| Status | Extant |
Member nations of the World Assembly, however, were keen to quickly re-establish a body responsible for the protection of cultural heritage sites and little under three months later passed General Assembly Resolution #287 establishing the World Assembly Trust for Cultural Heritage. The new body was seen as more efficient than the previous at preserving cultural sites, and its method of designation of cultural sites was considered more robust.
Activites[edit | edit source]
WATCH's activities primarily involve designating sites as "culturally relevant" and works with nations housing such sites to determine what qualifies as culturally relevant. In practice, culturally relevant is often also read to mean culturally significant, as many cultural sites may no longer be used, but may hold special significance to peoples within a nation or around the world.
In addition to designating sites as culturally relevant, WATCH is also responsible for recommending specific preservation practices to protect the site, though the nation in which the site is located is responsible for carrying out such practices. WATCH has attracted some criticism in this regard as it is explicitly mentioned in the organisation's founding document that nations are not required to follow such recommendations, and are mainly urged to do so, thereby undermining the efficacy of a significant part of WATCH's remit. In reality, however, nations do tend to follow WATCH's recommendations to preserve sites, as they are often made on foot of expert panels.
The body is also tasked with creating archives for each site it designates as culturally relevant. These are often physical locations on or near the site and contain scientific, academic, and cultural verbal, visual, and literary works about the site itself. Such works are also in the process of being digitised in many nations.
Offices and headquarters[edit | edit source]
WATCH headquarters are located at the WA Headquarters in sovereign World Assembly territory.
It does have regional and national field offices across the geographic coverage of the WA, however.
Field offices by region[edit | edit source]
International Democratic Union[edit | edit source]
- Sanctus - Western Hespia Office, and Office for Sanctaria
- Laeralsford - Eastern Hesperida Office, and Office for Laeral
- Levesque - Office for Haesan
- Tofino - Western Caxcana Office I, and Office for Zamastan
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Though World Assembly resolutions only affect members of the World Assembly, because of the fluidity and ease of membership, the reality is that WATCH often highlights sites of cultural significance in any nation, whether they are a member or not. Only member nations are obliged to abide by WATCH regulations, however.