Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 4.COM 19 - intangible heritage - Culture Sector

The Committee,

Having examined document ITH/09/4.COM/CONF.209/19;
Recalling Resolution 2.GA 5;
Taking note of the recommendations of the Subsidiary Body for the examination of nominations to the Representative List and of the experience gained since the adoption of the Operational Directives in June 2008;
Thanking the Subsidiary Body for the clear identification of some problems that arose and that could be addressed by amendments of the Operational Directives;
Recommends to the General Assembly to adopt the draft amendments of points 21, 25, 27, 30 and 33 of the Operational Directives, as amended and annexed in Annex 1 to this decision, as well as the draft technical amendments proposed in annex 2 of the present decision;
Also recommends to the General Assembly to include on the agenda of its third session in June 2010 an item allowing all States Parties to discuss other amendments to the Operational Directives and to form a working group, to which the open ended intergovernmental working group established by the Committee during its fourth session should report the results of its discussion on this matter in the light of the experience of the first annual cycle of nominations for the Representative List;
Requests the Secretariat to facilitate the meeting of the open ended intergovernmental working group, established by the Committee during its fourth session, to be held at the UNESCO headquarters before the third session of the General Assembly to be held in 2010;
Decides, on an exceptional basis relating only to the nominations proposed for evaluation in 2010, that the Secretariat and the Subsidiary Body examine with priority the nominations for the Representative List submitted by States Parties that do not have elements inscribed on said List, have few elements inscribed on it or have presented multinational nominations;
Requests the General Assembly to mobilize extra budgetary resources in the amount of US$1,100,000 per year in order to enhance, on a lasting basis, the human capacities of the Secretariat.

ANNEX 1

Draft amendments to Chapter 1.2 of the Operational Directives
proposed by the Subsidiary Body for the examination of nominations to the
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

(Decision 4.COM 1.SUB 6, as amended by the Committee)

Existing Operational Directives			Proposed Amendments
1.2	Inscription on the Representative List				[no change]
	Criteria for inscription				[no change]
	Nomination procedure
20.	States Parties are encouraged to jointly submit multi-national nominations when an element is found on the territory of more than one State Party.		20		[no change]
21.	Submitting States Parties are requested to use the nomination form annexed to these Operational Directives, and to involve the communities, groups and, where applicable, individuals concerned in the preparation of their nominations.		21.		Nominations shall be prepared using Form ICH-02 (available at www.unesco.org/culture/ich or on request from the Secretariat) and shall include all the information requested therein.
			21 bis.		Submitting States Parties shall involve the communities, groups and, where applicable, individuals concerned in the preparation of their nominations.
22.	A State Party may withdraw a nomination it has submitted at any time prior to evaluation by the Committee.				[no change]
	Examination of nominations
23.	Examination of nominations shall be accomplished by a subsidiary body of the Committee established in accordance with Rule 21 of its Rules of Procedure.				[no change]
24.	The examination made by the subsidiary body shall include assessment of the nomination’s conformity with the inscription criteria.				[no change]
25.	The examination report shall include a recommendation to the Committee to inscribe, or not to inscribe, the nominated element.		25.		The examination report shall include a recommendation to the Committee to inscribe, or not to inscribe, the nominated element, or to refer the nomination to the submitting State.
	Evaluation and decision by the Committee
26.	The subsidiary body will provide to the Committee an overview of all nomination files and a report of their examination, which will also be made available by the Secretariat to States Parties for their consultation.					[no change]
27.	After evaluation the Committee decides whether an element shall or shall not be inscribed on the Representative List.			27.		After evaluation the Committee decides whether an element shall or shall not be inscribed on the Representative List, or whether to refer the nomination to the submitting State.
				27 bis.		Nominations that the Committee decides to refer to the submitting State for additional information may be resubmitted to the following Committee session for examination.
28.	If the Committee decides that an element should not be inscribed on the Representative List, the nomination may not be resubmitted to the Committee for inscription on this List, before four years have passed.					[no change]
	Removal of an element from the Representative List
29.	An element shall be removed from the Representative List when the Committee determines that it no longer satisfies one or more criteria for inscription on that list.				[no change]
	Transfer of an element from one List to the other
30.	An element may not simultaneously be inscribed on the Representative List and the Urgent Safeguarding List. A State Party may request that an element be transferred from one List to the other. Such a request must demonstrate that the element satisfies all of the criteria for the List to which transfer is requested, and shall be submitted according to the established procedures and deadlines for nominations.				[no change]
					Modification of an inscription
				30 bis.	One or more States Parties may request that the name by which an element is inscribed be changed. Such a request shall be submitted at least three months prior to a Committee session.
				30 ter.	One or more States Parties may, with the agreement of each State Party concerned, propose inscription on a multi-national basis of an element already inscribed. The States Parties concerned shall together submit a nomination showing that the element, as extended, satisfies all of the criteria set out in paragraph 19. Such a request shall be submitted according to the established procedures and deadlines for nominations. In the event that the Committee decides to inscribe the element as a multi-national one, the multi-national inscription shall supersede the original inscription. In the event that the Committee, on the basis of the new nomination file, decides not to inscribe the element as a multi-national one, the original inscription shall remain intact.
	Updating and publication of the Representative List
31.	The nomination files and examination reports of elements inscribed on the List shall be available for consultation at the Secretariat and, to the extent possible, made available on-line for general access.				[no change]
32.	Upon request of the Committee, the Secretariat publishes the updated Representative List annually, primarily through the website of the Convention. A printed version will be published every two years, on the occasion of the session of the General Assembly.				[no change]
	Timetable – Overview of procedures
33.	Phase 1:	Preparation and submission
	31 August Year 1	Deadline by which nominations must be received by the Secretariat. Nominations received after this date will be examined in the next cycle.			30 June Year 1		[change of date only]
	1 November Year 1	Deadline by which the Secretariat will have processed the nominations, including registration and acknowledgement of receipt. If a nomination is found incomplete, the State Party will be advised to complete the nomination.			30 September Year 1		[change of date only]
	15 January Year 2	Deadline by which additional information required to complete the nomination, if any, shall be submitted by the State Party to the Secretariat. Nominations that remain incomplete may be completed for the following cycle.			30 November Year 1		[change of date only]
	Phase 2:	Examination
	May Year 2	Examination by the subsidiary body.					[no change]
	1 July Year 2	The Secretariat transmits to the nominating States Parties the examination reports by the subsidiary body.			30 June[1] Year 2		[change of date only]
	1 August Year 2	The Secretariat transmits to the Committee Members the examination reports. The nomination files and the examination reports shall also be available on-line for consultation by States Parties.			Four weeks before the session of the Committee		[change of date only]
	Phase 3:	Evaluation
	September Year 2	The Committee evaluates the nominations and makes its decisions.			September to November Year 2		[change of date only]

ANNEX 2

Draft Technical Amendments to the Operational Directives

Existing Operational Directives

Proposed Amendments

1.1

Inscription on the Urgent Safeguarding List

Criteria for inscription

[no change]

Nomination procedure

Submitting States Parties are requested to use the nomination form annexed to these Operational Directives, and to involve the communities, groups and, where applicable, individuals concerned in the preparation of their nominations.

Nominations shall be prepared using Form ICH-01 (available at www.unesco.org/culture/ich or on request from the Secretariat) and shall include all the information requested therein.

2 bis.

Submitting States Parties shall involve the communities, groups and, where applicable, individuals concerned in the preparation of their nominations.

Timetable - Overview of procedures

17.

Phase 1:

Preparation and submission

1 September
Year 0

Deadline by which preparatory assistance may be requested from the Committee.

30 June
Year 0

[change of date only]

31 March
Year 1

Deadline by which nominations must be received by the Secretariat. Nominations received after this date will be examined in the next cycle.

[no change]

1 June
Year 1

Deadline by which the Secretariat will have processed the nominations, including registration and acknowledgement of receipt. If a nomination is found incomplete, the State Party will be advised to complete the nomination.

31 May[2]
Year 1

[change of date only]

1 September
Year 1

Deadline by which additional information required to complete the nomination, if any, shall be submitted by the State Party to the Secretariat. Nominations that remain incomplete may be completed for the following cycle.

31 August[3]
Year 1

[change of date only]

Phase 2:

Examination

September
Year 1

Selection by the Committee of one or more advisory organizations, research institutes and/or experts responsible for examination of each nomination file.

September to November
Year 1

[change of date only]

October
Year 1 to April
Year 2

Examination

October to December
Year 1 through April
Year 2

[change of date only]

31 March
Year 2

Deadline by which States Parties will have submitted supplementary information requested by the examiners for proper review of a nomination.

[no change]

1 May
Year 2

The Secretariat transmits to the nominating States Parties the relevant examination reports.

30 June
Year 2

[change of date only]

1 August
Year 2

The Secretariat transmits to the Committee Members the examination reports. The nomination files and examination reports shall also be available on-line for consultation by States Parties.

Four weeks before the session of the Committee

[change of date only]

Phase 3:

Evaluation

September
Year 2

The Committee evaluates the nominations and makes its decisions.

September to November
Year 2

[change of date only]

18.

Transitional timetable for the first inscriptions on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding

[delete this paragraph]

1.4

Programmes, projects and activities that best reﬂect
the principles and objectives of the Convention

Proposal and selection procedure

48.

Submitting States Parties are requested to use the format annexed to these Directives. A proposal shall be submitted by 1 March of the year in which the Committee is requested to evaluate it.

48.

Proposals shall be prepared using Form ICH-03 (available at www.unesco.org/culture/ich or on request from the Secretariat) and shall include all the information requested therein.

48 bis.

Proposals shall be submitted by 31 March of the year in which the Committee is requested to evaluate them.

48 ter.

The Secretariat shall assess the completeness of proposals and may ask for additional information.

2.2

International assistance

Procedure for the submission of international assistance requests

68...

States Parties may submit to the Committee requests for international assistance. Such requests may also be jointly submitted by two or more States Parties.

68.

[no change]

69.

Requests for international assistance have to be submitted to the Secretariat by using the appropriate form annexed to these Operational Directives.

69.

Requests shall be prepared using the appropriate form (available at www.unesco.org/culture/ich or on request from the Secretariat) and shall include all the information requested therein.

(a) Requests for preparatory assistance to elaborate a nomination for inscription on the Urgent Safeguarding List (Article 17) shall be submitted using Form ICH-05.

(b) Requests for preparatory assistance to elaborate a proposal of a programme, project or activity for selection and promotion by the Committee (Article 18) shall be submitted using Form ICH-06.

70.

Requests for preparatory assistance should be received by the Secretariat by
1 September two years before the envisaged evaluation by the Committee of requests for inscription on the Urgent Safeguarding List foreseen under Article 17 of the Convention, or by 1 September one year before the envisaged evaluation by the Committee of proposals of programmes, projects and activities as foreseen under Article 18.

70.

Requests shall be received by the Secretariat according to the following deadlines:

30 June

Preparatory assistance

31 August of the year prior to the Committee’s evaluation

International assistance greater than US$25,000

Any time

Emergency requests for international assistance greater than US$25,000

Any time

International assistance up to US$25,000 (except for preparatory assistance)

71.

The Secretariat shall assess the completeness of the request and may ask for additional information. It shall inform the requesting State(s) Party(ies) about the possible evaluation dates of the request.

71.

[no change]

72.

The Secretariat shall seek examination for complete requests over USD 25,000.

72.

With a view to their evaluation by the Committee, requests for international assistance greater than US$25,000 shall be examined by preferably more than one advisory organization accredited in conformity with Article 9.1 of the Convention. In conformity with Article 8.4, the Committee may invite public or private bodies and/or private persons with recognized competence in the field of intangible cultural heritage, in order to consult them on specific matters. No request will be examined by (a) national(s) of the State(s) Party(ies) submitting the request.

73.

The Secretariat shall submit complete requests to the relevant authority for evaluation and approval:

73.

The Secretariat shall submit complete requests to the relevant authority for evaluation and approval:

(a) All requests up to US$25,000, including preparatory assistance, are evaluated and approved by the Bureau.

(b) Requests greater than US$25,000 are evaluated and approved by the Committee.

[see table in paragraph 73]

[delete table]

74.

The Secretariat shall communicate the decision concerning the granting of assistance to the requesting party(ies) within two weeks following the decision. The Secretariat shall reach agreement with the requesting party(ies) on the details of the assistance.

74.

[no change]

75.

The assistance will be subject to appropriate monitoring, reporting and evaluation.

75.

[no change]

3.2

Non-governmental organizations and the Convention

3.2.2 Participation of accredited non-governmental organizations

94.

Requests for accreditation should be sent to the Secretariat, by using the format annexed to these Directives, at least three months before an ordinary session of the Committee, preferably by e-mail to ICH-assistance@unesco.org or by postal mail to:

UNESCO, Section of Intangible Cultural Heritage (NGOs)

1, rue Miollis

75732 Paris CEDEX 15 - France

94 bis.

Requests for accreditation shall be prepared using Form ICH-09 (available at www.unesco.org/culture/ich or on request from the Secretariat) and shall include all the information requested therein. Requests shall be received by the Secretariat at least four months before an ordinary session of the Committee.

[1] To align all dates to the end of a month.

[2] To align all dates to the end of a month.

[3] To align all dates to the end of a month.