UNESCO Registered

Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela

Decision 43 COM 7B.105
Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (Ethiopia) (C 18)
The World Heritage Committee,

Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
Recalling Decision 36 COM 7B.42, adopted at its 36th session (Saint Petersburg, 2012),
Commends the State Party for its commitment to address the concerns over the temporary shelters by inviting an Advisory mission in May 2018 to monitor progress on the conservation of the property and particularly to advise the State Party on the dismantling of the temporary shelters and several ongoing projects regarding the property;
Acknowledges the information provided by the State Party regarding the monitoring of the temporary shelters, notably the draft Roadmap for the conservation of the site submitted by the Ethiopian Construction Design and Supervision Works Corporation (ECDSWC) and the 2014 and 2018 reports of the shelters assessments;
Welcomes the close cooperation of the State Party with the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and bilateral teams including the French Government, and the efforts for fundraising;
Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre the reports of the restoration projects implemented at the Bete Gabriel-Rafael, Beta Golgotha and Mika’el churches, as well as the Terms of Reference of the forthcoming conservation projects on the churches, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
Also requests the State Party to proceed to the dismantling of the shelters, based on a framework programme that includes a structural analysis of the shelter construction, a roof repair and maintenance project of the churches, the allocation of adequate funds and resources, and a training and capacity-building programme;
Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre the above mentioned framework programme before any work takes place, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
Urges the State Party to ensure the operationalization of the Advisory Committee, according to the Reserved Area regulation, to revise the 2014 Management Plan, and to submit it, along with the cadastre maps, and with a request for Minor Boundary Modification, including all management and planning provisions for the property;
Recommends that the control and planning of the urban growth, as well as the improvement of living conditions near the churches, be addressed, and, to that effect,
Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, a Vision Statement on growth and development, in line with the 2015 Policy for the Integration of a Sustainable Development Perspective into the Processes of the World Heritage Convention, that reflects and respects the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property and serves as a guiding principle for the revised Structure Plan of Lalibela and a Local Development Plan for the property and its buffer zone, issued by the national and regional authorities, which should both be submitted to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
Requests moreover to the State Party to revise the Theological School Project so as to adequately address the interrelation between conservation and traditional and religious practices;
Encourages the State Party to conduct study and research on artefacts, wall paintings, architecture and archaeology of Lalibela in order to address matters such as the structural integrity of the churches;
Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 45th session in 2021.

Simien National Park

Decision 37 COM 7A.10
Simien National Park (Ethiopia) (N 9)
The World Heritage Committee,

Having examined Document WHC-13/37.COM/7A.Add,
Recalling Decision 36 COM 7A.9 , adopted at its 36th session (Saint-Petersburg, 2012),
Welcomes the report by the State Party that the re-gazettal of the Simien Mountains National Park in its revised boundaries is almost completed as well as the efforts to strengthen the management effectiveness of the property and to implement the recommendations of previous monitoring missions;
Also welcomes the successful organization of the donor conference and requests the State Party to follow up with the interested donors in order to mobilize the additional funding necessary to implement key outstanding corrective measures, in particular the grazing pressure reduction strategy and alternative livelihoods strategies;
Notes with appreciation the support already provided by different donors to assist the State Party with the implementation of the corrective measures, in particular by the Austrian Development Cooperation, Spain and UNDP and renews its call to the International Community to increase the financial support for this effort;
Urges the State Party to continue its current efforts to implement the three remaining outstanding corrective measures, as requested by the Committee in its previous decisions, in particular:
finalize the gazettal of the extended park boundaries into national law,
implement an effective grazing reduction strategy,
provide alternative livelihoods for those who currently depend on cultivation and other forms of resource use within the property;
Encourages the State Party to request international assistance from the World Heritage Fund to review the Grazing Pressure Reduction Strategy in order to identify priorities for immediate implementation as recommended by the 2009 monitoring mission;
Requests the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to provide advice to the State Party on the preparation of a proposal for boundary modification of the World Heritage property once the re-gazettal is completed, to reflect the new boundaries of the National Park and for which financial assistance has been provided from the World Heritage Fund;
Recommends that the State Party establish a programme to monitor and report on the six indicators of the Desired state of conservation for removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger to evaluate progress in restoring the ecological integrity and Outstanding Universal Value of the property;
Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2014 , a report on the state of conservation of the property, in particular on progress accomplished in the implementation of the outstanding corrective measures and the recommendations of the 2009 mission, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 38th session in 2014;
Decides to retain the Simien National Park (Ethiopia) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

የአክሱም ሐውልት

በአክሱም ዘመነ መንግስት እንዲገነባ የተደረገው ይህ ሀውልት ወይም በእንግሊዝኛው "stele" የሚባለው በአክሱም ከተማ ከሌሎች መሠል ሀውልቶች ጋር ኢንዲቆም የተደረገው በ4ኛው ምዕተ አመት አካባቢ ሲሆን። ይህም የጥንታዊ አክሱም ምን ያህል ስልጣኔ እንደነበራት ጠቋሚ ነው። ከኩሻይቲክ የሜሮይ አገዛዝ የተወሰደ እንደሆነ የሚነገርለት ይህ ሀውልቶችን የማቆም ስራ አሁንም ድረስ በአከባቢው ተመሳሳይ ስራዎችን መመልከት ይቻላል። እነዚህ ሀውልቶች የሚቆሙት በመሠረታቸው ለሚቀበሩ ንጉሳዊ ቤተሠቦች ነው:። በዚህም ከፍተኛ ስልጣን የነበራቸው መሳፍንቶች መቃብር ላይ የሚቆሙት ሀውልቶች በብዛት በተፈለፈሉ የሀሰት በር እና መስኮቶች ያጌጡ ናቸው። እንዲሁም የሟቹ ንጉሳዊነት በቀነሠ ቁጥር በመቃብሩ ላይ የሚቆሙት ሀውልቶችም ውበት (የሚፈለፈሉት የሀሰት በር እና መስኮት መሠል ቅርጾች ብዛት) በዚያው ልክ ይቀንሳል። ለዚህም ነው ብዛት ያላቸው ቅርጽ አልባ ሀውሎቶችን በየቦታው መመልከት የሚቻለው። ትልልቅ የሚባሉት ደግሞ አነስተኛ ቁጥር አላቸው።

የሰሜኑ የአክሱም ሀውልቶች ፓርክ በመካከል ላይ የንጉስ ኢዛና ሀውልት እና መሬት ላይ ተጋድሞ የሚገኘው ታላቁ የአክሱም ሀውልት
ከሀውልቶች ሁሉ በመጨረሻ በ4ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን እንደቆመ የሚታወቀው የንጉስ ኢዛና ሀውልት ነው። አብዛሀኛዎቹ ትክል ድንጋዮች በመሰረት ጥንካሬ ማነስ የወደቁ ሲሆን ከነዚህም መካከል ተጠቃሽ የሚሆነው በእርዝመቱ ተወዳዳሪ የሌለው (የ33 ሜትር ርዝማኔ ያለው) ታላቁ ሀውልት በመሬት ላይ መውደቁ ነው። በሀውልቶቹ ላይ የደረሱት ችግሮች ብዙ ናቸው። ከነዚህም ውስጥ በተደጋጋሚ የሚከሰተው የመሬት መንቀጥቀጥ (የአክሱም ከተማ ለመሬት መንቀጥቀጥ በአንፃራዊ ሁኔታ የተጋለጠች ነች። በ19ኛው ምዕተ-አመት ከዋና ዋናዎቹ የንጉስ ሀውልቶች መካከል የንጉስ ኢዛና ሀውልት ብቻ ሳይወድቅ ተገኝቷል።

በ1928 ዓ.ም ጣልያን ኢትዮጵያን በወረረችበት ጊዜ ይህን ሀውልት በጊዜው በነበረው የፋሽስት ኢጣሊያ ገዝ ትዕዛዝ መሰረት የጣልያን ወታደሮች የኣክሱምን ሓውልት ከወደቀበት ኣንስተው ወደ ሮም ወሰዱት። በዚህ ጊዜ የፋሺስት አገዛዝ እንደ ጦር ምርኮ እና የሮም ግዛት መስፋፋት ምልክት አድርጎ በመውሰድ በሮም አደባባይ ላይ እንዲተከል አድርጓል።

ሁለተኛው የዓለም ጦርነት እንዳለቀ ጣልያን የዘረፈችውን የኣክሱም ሃውልት ለኢትዮጵያ እንድትመልስ በተስማማችው መሠረት ላለመፈጸም እስከ የካቲት ፲፱፻፷፮ ዓ.ም. ብዙ ግለሰቦች ቢማጸኑም ኣሻፈረኝ ኣለች። የመጨረሻውም ምክንያት ጣልያን ገንዘብ፣ ኣሜሪካ ኣውሮፕላን ስለከለከሉ ነበር። በእነዚህ ምክንያቶች ያልተደሰቱት ዶ/ር ኣበራ ሞላ ኢንተርኔትን በመጠቀም የመላኪያ ገንዘብ ለማስባስብና ሐውልቱንም በትናንሹ ኣስቆርጦ መላክ እንደሚቻል ለጣሊያኖች ካሳወቁ በኋላ ኣጣብቂኝ ውስጥ የገቡት ጣልያኖች እራሳቸው ወጪውን ከፍለው ከወሰዱበት እንደሚመልሱት ተስማሙ። በእዚሁ መሠረት የጣልያን መንግሥት ወደ ኣሥር ሚሊዮን ዶላር ኣውጥቶ ሐውልቱ ኣክሱም ከተማ ተመልሶ ተተክሎ ነሓሴ ፳፱ ቀን ፳፻ ዓ.ም. ተመርቋል።