Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 17.COM 6.d

The Committee,

  1. Having examined document LHE/22/17.COM/6.d and its annexes,
  2. Recalling Article 24.3 of the Convention,
  3. Notes with satisfaction that States Parties from Electoral Group V(a) continue to be the main beneficiaries of International Assistance from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund in accordance with Global Priority Africa and welcomes the increasing number of requests submitted by SIDS;
  4. Congratulates the States Parties that have been granted International Assistance for the first time, and encourages States that have never received it to consider this mechanism of assistance in their efforts to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage present in their territory;
  5. Thanks beneficiary States for their timely submission of final or progress reports for projects benefiting from International Assistance under the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, and requests that beneficiary States with projects whose implementation has been experiencing delays take corrective measures to ensure the timely implementation of the projects and to respect their reporting obligations;
  6. Appreciates the work of the Secretariat for supporting the States Parties in the implementation and follow-up of the International Assistance projects, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and invites the Secretariat to pursue its efforts for strengthening this mechanism;
  7. Further notes with satisfaction the improvement in the overall implementation of the International Assistance mechanism in the context of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and requests that the Secretariat continue to monitor the situation and support States Parties for whom project implementation has been affected by the pandemic;
  8. Expresses its appreciation for the variety of activities and scopes of the projects financed by the Fund as well as the impact that the assistance has had on the beneficiary States for building their safeguarding capacities, and encourages them to continue to ensure the sustainability and enhancement of the results of the projects;
  9. Notes that, for the second consecutive year, no States Parties have submitted preparatory assistance requests to develop nominations for the Urgent Safeguarding List or the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices and strongly encourages them to make use of this opportunity by submitting their requests before 31 March 2023;
  10. Further encourages States Parties to continue to take advantage of the technical assistance arranged by the Secretariat, as it aims to improve the quality of International Assistance requests, in particular for States Parties facing recurring difficulties in revising requests referred by the Bureau;
  11. Also encourages States Parties to become familiar with and take advantage of the new opportunities offered under the International Assistance following the global reflection on the listing mechanisms of the 2003 Convention and the corresponding amendments made to the Operational Directives;
  12. Expresses its support for the continuous use of the modality for the provision of services, as provided by Article 21 (a) to (f) and as a complementary and alternative modality to the provision of grants.

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