[01/01/2026 04:18]

PARIS – SABA
Yemen’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Dr. Mohammed Jmeih has said that UNESCO has dispatched an international monitoring and response mission, with the participation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to the Island of Socotra, which is listed as a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

“The mission visited the island last May and will submit its report on the visit to the Permanent Delegation in the coming days, after which it will be presented to the World Heritage Committee during its session to be held later this year," said Jumeih in a statement to Saba on Thursday.

He noted that the visit came at the request of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, following reports of violations on the island that contravene the provisions of the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

He explained that the report will determine the nature of the violations that the island has been subjected to over recent years, stressing that UNESCO will be the body to identify the nature of these violations.

He added that they will be documented and certified by an international organization affiliated with the United Nations, and that the report will be preserved as an official international document within UNESCO’s records.

Ambassador Jumieh expressed hope that the report would not lead to Socotra being placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and that the violations of past years would be addressed and those responsible held accountable.

He also called for the necessity of preserving Socotra’s natural heritage, organizing tourism flows, and halting practices that violate the rules and decisions related to the protection of world heritage on the island, affirming that UNESCO will continue to monitor the situation on the island and will do everything within its capacity to protect the island’s heritage and nature reserves.

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