The Committee,

1. Having examined document ITH/17/12.COM/5.b,
2. Welcomes the ten States – Cabo Verde, Cook Islands, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Malta, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Sudan, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu – that have ratified the Convention during the reporting period, as well as the extension of the territorial application of the Convention made by the Netherlands for Curaçao, and expresses satisfaction with the sustained pace of ratification;
3. Commends the Secretariat for the considerable and timely support provided for the sound governance of the Convention and for the management of various mechanisms under the Convention, acknowledging the high level of resources it requires;
4. Further commends the Secretariat for the efforts put in place to support the International Assistance mechanism, while taking note of the additional workload this entails;
5. Appreciates the efforts made by the Secretariat to reinforce the national capacities of States Parties to safeguard intangible cultural heritage through the capacity-building programme and welcomes the strategic reflection undertaken on the future development of the programme and its network;
6. Further appreciates the endeavours to demonstrate and operationalize the contribution of intangible cultural heritage to sustainable development and peace, and requests the Secretariat to pursue its efforts in this regard towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals;
7. Welcomes the progress made in building partnerships with relevant UNESCO education programmes and institutes to promote transmission through formal and non-formal education programmes and encourages the Secretariat to cooperate further with the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs on this subject;
8. Notes the development of communication and outreach tools with a view to enhancing the understanding and visibility of the Convention, and requests the Secretariat to regularly inform the Committee and the General Assembly;
9. Expresses concern regarding the alarming decline of extra-budgetary support for the implementation of the capacity-building programme, despite the strong demand from countries who have not yet benefitted and continued requests from countries whose needs have only been partially met;
10. Further expresses deep concern regarding the growing disparity between the increased workload of the Secretariat and the human resources available;
11. Calls on States Parties to offer further support, particularly in the form of earmarked contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for operational projects and contributions to the sub-fund for enhancing the human resources of the Secretariat in order to allow it to address the ongoing demands for the continued effective governance and implementation of the Convention.