Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 13.COM 5

The Committee,

  1. Having examined document ITH/18/13.COM/5 Rev. as well as documents ITH/18/13.COM/INF.5.1, ITH/18/13.COM/INF.5.2 and ITH/18/13.COM/INF.5.3,
  2. Welcomes the three States – Kiribati, Singapore and the Solomon Islands – that ratified the Convention during the reporting period;
  3. Commends the Secretariat for the support provided for the sound governance of the Convention and for the management of the Convention’s mechanisms, and notes with satisfaction the efforts made by the Secretariat to roll out the overall results framework for the Convention and operationalize the International Assistance portfolio of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund;
  4. Welcomes the progress made in enhancing national capacities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage, including by strengthening the global facilitators’ network, thanks the category 2 centres for their collaboration, and encourages States Parties, as a next step, to ensure the sustainability of the programme and to support the organization of national networks of trainers within their countries;
  5. Takes note of the persisting shortage of facilitators in some regions, and the need for further training in new thematic areas resulting from constantly evolving capacity-building needs, and therefore calls on States Parties to host regional training workshops for facilitators, co-organized with the Secretariat, to effectively strengthen and expand the regional network chapters;
  6. Expresses concern regarding the continued decline in extra-budgetary support for the implementation of the capacity-building programme and calls on States Parties to provide further resources, particularly in the form of voluntary supplementary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for operational projects;
  7. Also welcomes the progress made in advancing the implementation of the new funding priority as approved at the last session of the Committee concerning the safeguarding and transmission of intangible cultural heritage through formal and non-formal education, and underlines its importance for the attainment of SDG 4.7;
  8. Further takes note of the activities undertaken in the area of outreach and communication and encourages the Secretariat to continue its efforts in this regard;
  9. Also takes note of the current use of the International Assistance mechanism and the global capacity-building programme in relation to elements inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and encourages States Parties to make full use of these mechanisms and programmes for the elements of their living heritage that are in need of urgent safeguarding;
  10. Appreciates the initiative ‘Dive into Intangible Cultural Heritage’, thanks the Government of the Netherlands for its financial support to the initiative, which made its public release during this session possible, and invites the Secretariat to further develop it;
  11. Notes the initiative on intangible cultural heritage in urban contexts, thanks for the generous contribution from the private sector of the People’s Republic of China towards this area and invites the Secretariat to pursue its efforts in this regard;
  12. Further notes the progress made by the Secretariat towards developing alternate, lighter ways of sharing safeguarding experiences and requests that the Secretariat present the results of the analysis of the online survey at the fourteenth session of the Committee;
  13. Reiterates its call to States Parties to continue supporting the implementation of the Convention, notably through voluntary supplementary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for operational and thematic projects and to the sub-fund for enhancing the human resources of the Secretariat.

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