The Committee,

1. Having examined document ITH/17/12.COM/8.b Rev.,
2. Recalling Articles 7, 29 and 30 of the Convention concerning reports by States Parties and Chapter V of the Operational Directives, as well as its Decisions 10.COM 6.a and 11.COM 9.a,
3. Expresses its sincere appreciation to the eleven States Parties that duly submitted their periodic reports for the 2017 reporting cycle and encourages those States that have not yet submitted their reports to submit them at the earliest convenience and if possible by the deadline of 15 December 2017, for their examination at its thirteenth session in 2018;
4. Regrets that it was able to examine only eleven reports in the current reporting cycle and reaffirms that States Parties should fulfil their reporting requirements before submitting new nominations;
5. Notes with satisfaction that States Parties are increasingly involving their communities and practitioners in the preparation of their periodic reports and encourages them to pursue their efforts to include relevant information also provided by non-governmental organizations, research institutes and centres of expertise concerned;
6. Invites States Parties to continue their careful review of and reporting on issues related to gender in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and to include in their reports information on the role of gender and its possible evolution, especially when reporting on inscribed elements;
7. Welcomes the Overview and summaries of the 2017 reports as presented in the annex of document ITH/17/12.COM/8.b and appreciates the cumulative focus on measures taken by States Parties to build and strengthen capacities in their territories for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage;
8. Takes note of the different approaches adopted by States Parties to implement the provisions of the 2003 Convention and its Operational Directives, and in particular to strengthen the capacities of all relevant stakeholders in implementing them at all levels, and invites States Parties to widely disseminate the lessons learned, which are collected in the annex to this document;
9. Requests that the Secretariat prepare an analysis with a cumulative focus on measures taken by States Parties to raise awareness of the importance of intangible cultural heritage as well as an abstract for each report that will be presented in the 2018 cycle and to include them in the Overview and summaries of the 2018 reports;
10. Decides to submit to the seventh session of the General Assembly the ‘Overview and summaries of the 2017 reports of States Parties on the implementation of the Convention and on the current status of elements inscribed on the Representative List’, together with the overview of the 2016 reports examined at its eleventh session.