The United Nations added an ancient city in Yemen and a modernist fairgrounds complex in Lebanon to its List of World Heritage in Danger following an extraordinary session that it held on Wednesday. 

UNESCO’s listed sites are considered to have a unique irreplaceable cultural and historical value to the world. More locations are added with time. “UNESCO seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity,” it states on its website.

A spokesperson for the UNESCO World Heritage Center told the Middle East Eye that an emergency procedure was used to inscribe both sites due to them facing severe threats. "The inscription of a site into the World Heritage in danger list gives to the state party where the site is located access to international assistance, both technical and financial," the spokesperson said.

According to the UNESCO country reports, Lebanon has six properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, while Yemen has five. During the meeting, the committee also added the historic center of the Ukrainian port city of Odesa as a third site.