Ray Bondin has just returned from Bethlehem, Palestine, where he signed a consultancy agreement with the Palestinian Minister for Tourism and Heritage Rula Ma`y`a on Unesco World Heritage issues.

During his stay, Dr Bondin was shown around possible sites that could be nominated for World Heritage and met a number of mayors of the various sites.

A world heritage expert, Dr Bondin has been cooperating with the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage of Palestine since 2003 and had helped build up the Tentative List for World Heritage for Palestine.

In 2013, when he was still Malta’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to Unesco, he was asked to supervise the nomination dossier for the site of Battir, a mission he undertook with the approval of Malta’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The cultural landscape of  Battir was approved as a Unesco World Heritage site in 2014. This was the second World Heritage site for Palestine.

The advisory role he now holds is a continuation of one he has had over many years. He has met the Minister on several occasions and has collaborated with the Department of Antiquities over many years. He was also very much involved in the setting up of a Palestinian Charter for Cultural Heritage Preservation through an agreement he signed on behalf of Malta, which financed the setting up of this charter together with UNDP, ICCROM and other organisations.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.