The Committee,

1. Having examined document LHE/24/19.COM/6.a,
2. Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decisions 10.COM 10.a.5 and 15.COM 7.7,
3. Expresses its appreciation to Mongolia for submitting, on time, its second report on the status of the element ‘Coaxing ritual for camels’, inscribed in 2015 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
4. Takes note of the efforts undertaken by the State Party to safeguard the element, in particular by supporting camel herders, recognizing and awarding the practitioners of the element, developing educational programmes for children, advancing research, building the capacities of cultural professionals, and raising public awareness about the element, including through the festival ‘Nomadic Mongolia’ that features several inscribed elements and promotes the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage;
5. Notes with concern the decreasing number of camel herders, the advanced age of the practitioners of the element, and its reported weak viability and disappearance in some provinces, and notes also the promotion and revitalization of the element in the western region of Mongolia and strengthened partnerships to safeguard the element;
6. Encourages the State Party to pursue its efforts to enhance the viability of the element, to support camel herders in practising the element, including providing support to acquire the musical instruments used for the element, to transmit the element and all associated aspects to young generations, especially by training young herders and developing educational programmes, and to advance research and raise public awareness about the element;
7. Further takes note of the festivals and competitions organized to promote the element, and invites the State Party to address their reported negative impact on the transmission of the knowledge and practices associated with the element;
8. Notes also the plan to develop tourism based on the element, and further invites the State Party to take particular care to avoid the decontextualization of the element in tourism-related performances and to ensure that bearers and their communities benefit from the use of their heritage;
9. Further encourages the State Party to continue its fundraising efforts, develop synergies among various funding sources, and consider International Assistance under the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund as a possible source of funding for the development and implementation of the safeguarding measures for the element.