Anyone knows what has become of this conference?

http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1715

Extract from Kyodo

A proposal to rebuild the Great Buddha by experts from around the world was reported, and the Japanese proposal to build a monument at another place was proposed. It also showed the German plan to rebuild to the destroyed Buddha and the Italian proposal using marble.

The Afghan government is requesting the rebuilding of the Great Buddha, but in principle the reconstruction is not permitted in order to secure the authenticity of the ruins. Mr. Masatoshi Nagaoka, head of the cultural department of the UNESCO Association for Educational, Scientific and Cultural Affairs (UNESCO) Kabul officials said, "There is a debate that it should be accepted if reconstruction of cultural assets leads to peacebuilding," and propose an international rule to make a clear moving forward.

Approximately 300 people including citizens participated. The Afghan government will set up a committee in the future and will continue to consider the proposal.

A German geologist, Matthias Ehler, said that the walls of Western Big Buddha (55 meters high) faced a risk of collapse due to weathering, need urgent reinforcement. Mr. Ehler is responsible for reinforcing the Western Big Buddha that began in September. "We can not deny that the collapse will proceed if an earthquake occurs, as dangers are involved in the work of high places, now full-scale reinforcement is needed as soon as the foothold is assembled." The work required 2 million dollars over three years, seeking support from the international community such as Japan.

Bagh-e Babur (Afghanistan) has been submitted to UNESCO! Apparently, work had been nearly completed by the previous overthrown government and the Taliban have submitted the finalized dossier in January 2022. I imagine ICOMOS is not keen on sending an evaluation team to Kabul (all-male). The irony of the destroyers of the Great Buddha at Bamiyan Valley submitting a nomination to UNESCO.

"The application by the Taliban to add a historic garden in Kabul to the World Heritage List lies in limbo. In January 2022, the authorities in Afghanistan submitted a nomination dossier to Unesco to list Bagh-e Babur (Babur's Garden) as one of its properties. However, the United Nations (UN) agency is yet to formally acknowledge the receipt of the application, the first step in what is generally a two-year review process."

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/01/10/talibans-world-heritage-application-for-historic-kabul-garden-in-limbo

Indeed - but ICOMOS presumably accepted such restrictions when evaluating Mount Athos and Okinoshima!

I found this article useful in describing both the gardens and their history - including very significant "modern" alterations (including a swimming pool which was planned for removal even before the return of the Taliban!) followed by damage and demining. The Article is dated 2019 but its latest reference is 2011 and refers to restoration carried out before then by the Aga Khan Trust which presumably led to the site's addition to the Afghan T List in 2009.

Leaving aside the issues created by the return of the Taliban and some somewhat "dubious" authenticity aspects one would have thought that this was the sort of site which would have been granted inscription to allow representation of Afghanistan's Capital City - showing a similar degree of "good will" as has been granted to other less than stellar sites in several other Capitals?

As we have seen with the Russian Chair situation, 'UNESCO' or the World Heritage Centre (which has the task to verify whether the nomination is complete) is essentially powerless. And it will not make political decisions by itself. So what is seen here as an anti-Afghan bias, may just be a slow reaction from a World Heritage Centre that is 'in limbo' itself because of Covid and the postponed WHC. I can see no reason why this nomination shouldn't be dealt with like all other nominations.

I just came back from Afghanistan, after a trip where I was able to cover all Afghani WHS (2) and TWHS (4) – reviews of all these will be published soon. Below i present my Afghanistan itinerary.

Day 1 – Fly from Dubai to Kandahar, some rest
Day 2 – Kandahar and surroundings (note – if you are not interested in completing NomadMania regions, Kandahar may be skipped as it has no (T)WHS. In such case you can save at least one day and start in Herat. Herat airport, as far as I know, doesn't have international flights, so you would have to go there through Kabul)
Day 3 – very early (3am) departure to Herat (10h drive), sightseeing of Herat TWHS.
Day 4 – early (5am) departure to Minaret of Jam WHS. Whole day of driving on terrible roads, destination reached just before sunset. Camping very near the minaret.
Day 5 – whole day of driving to Bamyan.
Day 6 – Band-e Amir lakes TWHS + some places in Bamyan
Day 7 – Bamyan Valley WHS, afternoon drive to Kabul (4h+ drive)
Day 8 – early flight to Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh TWHS, evening flight back to Kabul
Day 9 – Kabul and surroundings, including Bagh-e Babur TWHS
Day 10 – early departure home via Dubai (alternatively via Istanbul)

This itinerary was very demanding. Our fixer told us that usually he usually plans such route for 12 days. We travelled as a group of 8 (including 3 women) and it was very fine for us.

Our fixer was Sardar, the owner of Ancient Afghanistan Travel Agency. Highly recommended – not only he was one of the cheapest, but also very efficient. And he is a very nice guy with whom you would like to spend more time or meet in another country.

I must admit, we were a little worried before the trip. In May this year, a lone gunman killed several foreign tourists at a market in Bamyan. It is still not known what caused the attack. After this incident, security was further strengthened - in most places we were accompanied by one or two guards with weapons. At the hotel in Kabul, we were subjected to a thorough security check every time we entered. There are plenty of checkpoints in the country, they check our passports quite often, although they never asked us to open our luggage. Every tourist trip requires obtaining a permit - either in the provincial capital or centrally in Kabul for the entire country. To sum up, we felt very safe everywhere.

As this country is fully open since 2021, after more than 40 years, it is still difficult to predict whether this stabilization will last long. Go there until the window is open.