1st World Heritage Youth Forum in Asia urges young people to take action

The 1st World Heritage Youth Forum (WHYF) in Asia, held from 25 November to 3 December 2015 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, successfully concluded with serious and realistic suggestions by young people to promote participation in World Heritage preservation among their peers in the Asia-Pacific region.
The WHYF in Asia, organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Cambodian National Commission for UNESCO and APSARA National Authority, brought together 38 young people between 20 and 30 years old, from 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The forum was held in response to requests by State Parties to hold the World Heritage Youth Forum at a regional level in order to provide feedback from young people to the World Heritage Committee.
Focusing on the three main themes of monument management, community and tourism, the participants had lively discussions with experts, visited Angkor, a World Heritage site in Cambodia, shared issues related to World Heritage sites in the region, and explored roles and challenges related to World Heritage preservation and promotion. In addition, they role-played States Parities in a Youth Model of the World Heritage Committee, a simulation of the plenary session of the Committee.

The highlight of the forum was presenting their Youth Declaration during the 25th Technical session for the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC-Angkor), on 2 December.