Our Invited Experts to the ICOMOS Board

The Statutes of ICOMOS allow the Board to invite experts to attend the meetings of the Board in a non-voting advisory capacity, in line with the agenda (Article 10 a.).

In order to achieve a more balanced representation of all regions of the world within the Board, and in particular in order to benefit from their expertise on heritage and professionals in the Middle East and in Africa, the Board has invited Dana Firas (ICOMOS Jordan), Jeanine Abdul Massih (ICOMOS Lebanon) and Chilangwa Chaiwa (Zambia) to join it until the next Triennial General Assembly in 2023 as invited experts.

Chilangwa Chaiwa

Chilangwa Chaiwa is a Registered Architect, Heritage Conservator and Project Manager with a Masters degree in World Heritage and Cultural Projects for Development from the Turin University in Italy. She studied and acquired her Architecture degree from the Copperbelt University in Zambia and is registered with the Zambia Institute of Architects (ZIA). She has also done studies for the Conservation of Built Heritage with ICCROM in Italy and Strategic Environmental Assessment with NIRAS in Sweden.

As an active expert member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) she is part of the Africa Working Group which is looking at how to promote Africa’s heritage and have a more significant presentation on the World Heritage list. She is a member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Places of Religion and Ritual (PRERICO) and recently served on the Resolutions Committee for the 2020 General Assembly. Chilangwa has volunteered for various paper and project reviews and has participated in various workshops and meetings to do with world heritage.

Chilangwa has experience in various aspects of Heritage Conservation some of which has involved formulation of proposals for the valorisation of heritage sites, condition assessments of heritage buildings and visual impact assessments for heritage where new developments are proposed. She currently works for the National Heritage Conservation Commission in Zambia which has the mandate to conserve and manage Zambia’s cultural and natural heritage. 

HRH Princess Dana Firas

HRH Princess Dana Firas holds an MPA from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government focused on sustainable development and environmental policy, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. Her Royal Highness is a global advocate for heritage protection and preservation.

She currently serves as President of the Petra National Trust (PNT), Jordan's oldest national non-governmental organisation in the field of heritage protection and preservation. She was designated a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in June 2017 by the UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, in recognition of her outstanding commitment to heritage protection and preservation as pillars for sustainable development, and her contribution to responsible tourism andcommunity participation.

 Jeanine Abdul Massih

Jeanine Abdul Massih earned her PhD from Paris I-Sorbonne on Town Planning and Classical Architecture (her doctoral thesis on the Gypsum Plaster and Stone Construction at the site of Dura-Europos, Syria). She is a Professor of Archaeology at the Lebanese University.

She specialises in classical architecture and technologies, conservation of immovable heritage and site management. She directed the project on the Megalithic Quarries of Baalbek (Lebanon), the archaeological investigations on the city of Batroun (Lebanon) and also the joint Syrian-Lebanese mission of Cyrrhus Nebi Houri (northern Syria).