Within the framework of the 46th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held in New Delhi, India, from 21 to 31 July 2024, the Regional World Heritage Institute in Zacatecas (IRPMZ), a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO, held a parallel meeting with the Category 2 Centres related to UNESCO World Heritage.

Participating were the Lucio Costa Regional Centre for Training and Management of World Heritage (Brazil); the International Centre for Rock Art and the World Heritage Convention (Spain); the African Fund for World Heritage (South Africa); the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH) (Bahrain); the World Heritage Institute for Research and Training for the Asia-Pacific Region (WHITRAP) (China); the International Centre on Space Technologies for Cultural and Natural World Heritage (HIST) (China); the Centre for Management and Training of Natural World Heritage in Asia and the Pacific Region (WII-C2C) (India); and the International Centre for Interpretation and Presentation of World Heritage Sites (WHIPIC) (Republic of Korea).

At the working meeting, held on July 25 in Hall MR-12 of the Bharat Mandapam Convention Center, Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez reaffirmed the commitment made by the IRPMZ in 2023, during the 8th Meeting of Category 2 Centers Related to World Heritage, held in the Republic of Korea, to organize the 9th Annual Meeting of Category 2 Centers.

The main purpose of the meeting was to formally invite attendees to this working session, which will be held in Zacatecas, Mexico, during the first half of 2025. Participants also received the event's initial folder, which included the background, meeting objectives, a preliminary work agenda, and the proposed central theme: Capacity Building: The Key to Better Implementation of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

Representatives from the category 2 centers, who welcomed the invitation and exchanged preliminary views on the event, confirmed their intention to attend Zacatecas in 2025 and generally considered the proposed theme appropriate, given that, although each addresses different issues, all include capacity building as a fundamental tool for achieving their diverse objectives.