The General Assembly,

1. Having examined Documents ITH/18/7.GA/8 and ITH/18/7.GA/INF.8,
2. Recalling Article 7(c) of the Convention and paragraphs 66 and 67 of the Operational Directives,
3. Taking note of the continued underutilization of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund and in particular with regards to International Assistance,
4. Recognizes the need to enhance the human resources of the Secretariat for the implementation of the International Assistance mechanisms of the Fund, including their effective monitoring, and welcomes the proposal for the creation of three new extra-budgetary fixed-term posts;
5. Requests the Secretariat to initiate, as soon as possible, the recruitment procedure for the three posts to form a dedicated team to operationalize the implementation of the International Assistance mechanisms, conforming with the rules of recruitment of UNESCO and keeping in mind priority to candidates from developing countries with a view to responding to specific needs of developing countries and improving geographical representation;
6. Further requests the Secretariat to intensify its efforts in favour of greater International Assistance, including support in the preparation of inventories, capacity building and the implementation of the initiative to integrate intangible cultural heritage into formal and non-formal education, with a view to improving the effectiveness and the scope of the Convention at national, regional and global levels;
7. Approves the Plan for the use of the resources of the Fund for the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019 as well as for the period 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 in the Annex to this Resolution;
8. Understands that, at the time of its eighth session in June 2020, it may readjust the budget plan from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020;
9. Authorizes the Committee to make immediate use of any voluntary supplementary contributions that might be received during these periods, as described in Article 27 of the Convention, in accordance with the percentages laid out in the Plan;
10. Further authorizes the Committee to make immediate use of any contributions that it might accept, during these periods, for specific purposes relating to specific projects, provided that those projects have been approved by the Committee prior to the receipt of the funds, as described in Article 25.5 of the Convention;
11. Takes note that the Committee set the amount of the Reserve Fund at US$1 million;
12. Further takes note of the donors that have provided voluntary supplementary contributions to the Fund since its last session, namely, China, Finland, Japan, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Republic of Korea and the United Arab Emirates;
13. Thanks all the contributors that have supported the Convention and its Secretariat, since its last session, through different forms of support, financial or in-kind, such as earmarked supplementary voluntary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund or the sub-fund for enhancing the human capacities of the Secretariat, Funds-in-Trust, or loaned personnel, and encourages other States to consider the possibility of supporting the Convention through the modality of their choice;
14. Authorizes the Secretariat to make transfers between budget lines 4, 5 and 6 dedicated to financial assistance for experts representing States Parties and representatives of accredited non-governmental organizations for their participation in the sessions of the Committee, its Bureau and subsidiary bodies, up to an equivalent of 30% of their initial total, and requests that the Secretariat inform the Committee and the General Assembly in writing, at the session following such action, of the details of and reasons for these transfers.

ANNEX

[1].          Percentages are applied to the balance of the Fund as of 31 December 2017. This balance does not include the Reserve Fund (US$1,000,000).