At its first session in June 2006, the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention elected 18 members to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. In pursuance of Article 5.2 of the Convention, the number of Member States of the Committee should increase to 24 once the States Parties to the Convention reach 50.

The drawing by lot of Committee members having a 2 years terms of office
The drawing by lot of Committee members having a 2 years terms of office
© UNESCO - H.Sicard

Considering that on 30 August 2006 Zimbabwe was to become the 50th State Party to the Convention, the General Assembly decided in June to “convene an extraordinary session of the General Assembly in order to elect six additional member States of the Committee”. That extraordinary session took place on 9 November 2006 at UNESCO Headquarters, at which time six member States were elected. Consequently, starting from its first meeting on 18 and 19 November 2006, the Intergovernmental Committee is composed of 24 members, the maximum number foreseen by the Convention.

At the November extraordinary session fifteen new States Parties were able to participate in the election: Madagascar, Albania, Zambia, Armenia, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, the ex-Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Morocco, France, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Honduras, Sao Tome-and-Principe and Argentina. Additional states parties participated as observers.

The other important matter decided during the extraordinary session was the terms of office of States Members of the Committee. In conformity with Article 6.3 of the Convention, the term of office of half of the States Members of the Committee elected at the first election shall be limited to two years and half shall have a term of four years. The elections and the selection by lot of members to serve two-year terms were carried out in accordance with the principle of equitable geographical representation foreseen by the Convention in Article 6.1.

Chairperson, Vice-Chairs and Rapporteur

  • Chairperson: H.E. Mr Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria)
  • Vice-Chairs: Brazil, Ethiopia, India and Romania
  • Rapporteur: H.E. Mr Faruk Loğoğlu (Turkey)

Vice-Chair H.E. Mr Luiz Filipe de Macedo Soares (Brazil) chaired this session.

Speeches

  • Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO (in English)

Oral report

Results of the election

Resolutions and summary records

Working documents distributed before the meeting

  • Adoption of the Agenda and Timetable of the First Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly
    ITH/06/1.EXT.GA/CONF.203/2: English
  • Distribution of seats among electoral groups Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
    ITH/06/1.EXT.GA/CONF.203/3: English
  • List of candidates to the election of six additional member States to the Committee (as established on 8 November 2006)
    ITH/06/1.EXT.GA/CONF.203/INF.4 Rev: English|French
  • Selection by lot of twelve States Members of the Committee whose term of office will be limited to two years
    ITH/06/1.EXT.GA/CONF.203/5: English|French|Spanish|Russian|Arabic|Chinese
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