2024 Activity Report and Approval of the 2025 Work Plan of the IRPMZ

On Thursday, February 27, 2025, the Fourth Ordinary Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Regional World Heritage Institute in Zacatecas was held in Mexico City, at the facilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The purpose of the session was to report to the Board of Trustees on the activities carried out in 2024 by this Category 2 Centre, operating under the auspices of UNESCO, and to present the 2025 Work Plan.

The following attended in person: Le Roy Barragán Ocampo, representing Lic. David Monreal Ávila, Governor of the State of Zacatecas and President of the Board of Directors of the IRPMZ; Mauricio Torres Córdova, Coordinator for Specialized International Organizations of the UN System, representing Eduardo Jaramillo Navarrete, Director General for the United Nations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Arturo Balandrano Campos, Director General of Cultural Heritage Sites and Monuments of the Ministry of Culture; Francisco Emanuel Vidargas Acosta, Director of World Heritage at the INAH; Elena Gutiérrez Medina, of the General Subdirectorate of Immovable Artistic Heritage of the INBAL; Luz María Ortiz, Coordinator of Multilateral Environmental Agreements of the Coordinating Unit for International Affairs of SEMARNAT; Francisco de la Cruz, Minister Counselor of the Dominican Republic; Ariana Ninel Pleitez Quiñones, Cultural Counselor of El Salvador; Erik Cajar Grimas, Minister Counselor of the Embassy of Panama, and Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez, Director General of the IRPMZ.

Participating remotely were Mauro Rosi, Head of the Latin America and Caribbean Unit of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre; Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Madrigal from the Embassy of Nicaragua; Berthaly Bueso Serrano from the Embassy of Honduras; Ángel López from the Embassy of Guatemala; Nicole Franceschini from ICCROM; Paola de María y Campos from the Ministry of Public Education of the Government of Mexico; Isela Reyna, representing José Luis de la Peña Alonso, Secretary of Public Works of the Government of Zacatecas; Uriel Márquez Romo, representing Ma. de Jesús Muñoz Reyes, Director of the Zacatecan Institute of Culture "Ramón López Velarde"; and Mairet Ávila Troncoso, representing Susana Rodríguez Márquez, Secretary of Water and Environment of Zacatecas.
 

At the meeting, Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez presented the 2024 Report of the Category 2 Center, highlighting the Capacity Building activities, which involved six States Parties and more than 150 people; the creation of the first IRPMZ dissemination body, the first phase of which was successfully concluded; the consolidated cooperation with various international and national partners; and the achievement of a broader scope of the Category 2 Center's activities, reaching 13 States Parties and 692 people by 2024.

Likewise, Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez presented the proposed 2025 Work Plan, which included 21 activities that will contribute to the Action Plan for Latin America and the Caribbean (2023-2029) and the direct objectives of CC2. These activities include a subregional consultation on tentative lists, the second phase of training in Digital Photogrammetry, collaboration to create a Focal Point Network, and the organization of the 9th Meeting of Category 2 Centers related to World Heritage.

Representatives of the States Parties, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICCROM, and the Federal Government and local institutions recognized the achievements of the IRPMZ in 2024 and approved the overall planning for 2025. Before closing the meeting, the representative of the Governor of the State of Zacatecas, Le Roy Barragán Ocampo, emphasized the importance of continuing to support and consolidate the work of the Category 2 Center located in Zacatecas; one of two Centers of its kind in the Americas.