On 26 April 2026, UNESCO and Nepal’s Department of Archaeology convened the fourth annual meeting of the International Scientific Committee for the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Property (ISC-KV), bringing together local authorities, site managers and conservation experts to review progress and set priorities for the years ahead.
The committee, established by the Government of Nepal in 2023, plays a central role in safeguarding one of Nepal’s most remarkable cultural landscapes. The Kathmandu Valley was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979 as a serial property of seven monument zones that together express the valley’s exceptional artistic, architectural and spiritual legacy. Its work has been especially important in the aftermath of the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, which caused extensive damage across the property.
Chaired by Saubhagya Pradhananga, Director-General of the Department of Archaeology, the meeting gathered managers from Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur Durbar Squares, Changu Narayan Municipality, municipal representatives and national and international experts. Their discussions focused on what a decade of reconstruction and renovation has achieved—and what that experience has taught Nepal about moving from post-disaster recovery toward stronger, long-term heritage management.
Pradhananga said the next stage will require Nepal to complete outstanding technical reviews, finish the remaining recovery works, adapt the Integrated Management Framework, and continue strengthening the capacity of site managers and relevant authorities responsible for the conservation of the World Heritage property and its individual monument zones.
Participants acknowledged that the Department of Archaeology and its partners have made steady progress in heritage recovery. Stronger coordination through the Coordinative Working Committee, deeper community engagement and ongoing sector-based planning are helping to protect the property’s Outstanding Universal Value.
UNESCO reported in late 2025 that Nepal had already restored and rebuilt 170 heritage structures damaged by the earthquake, leaving about 11% of the affected monuments still to be completed. Even so, experts stressed that full recovery is not only about finishing construction: it also depends on sustained technical assistance, stronger information management, better heritage impact assessment procedures, training for local authorities, and continued investment in traditional materials and craftsmanship.
UNESCO Representative to Nepal Jaco Du Toit described the fourth annual meeting as a milestone, noting that Nepal’s heritage response has evolved from immediate post-disaster action into a more structured and coordinated management approach. That shift matters because the long-term value of the Kathmandu Valley lies not only in rebuilding monuments, but in ensuring that management systems, municipal coordination and conservation standards remain strong enough to protect this living heritage site over time.
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/kathmandu-valley-heritage-preservation-gains-ground?hub=701
