Ethiopia receives legal registration certificate for Melka Kunture and Balchit from UNESCO

Addis Ababa, December 2, 2024 (FBC) – Ethiopia received legal registration certificate for Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia from UNESCO, the Ethiopian Embassy in Paris disclosed today.

Ethiopia’s Ambassador to France, Mahlet Hailu, has received the legal registration certificate from the Director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mr. Lazare Eloudou Assomo.

It is to be recalled that Ethiopia inscribed the site as World Heritage Site at the 46th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, the Republic of India, on 31 July 2024.

Melka Kunture is a cluster of prehistoric sites in the upper Awash valley, 50 km south of Addis Ababa, at 2000m asl. It was discovered by Gerard Dekker in 1963, then surveyed by Gérard Bailloud in 1964.