Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 18.COM 7.a.15

The Committee,

  1. Having examined document LHE/23/18.COM/7.a,
  2. Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decisions COM 5.4, 10.COM 6.b.1 and 14.COM 9.a.1,
  3. Expresses its appreciation to Croatia for submitting, on time, its third report on the status of the element ‘Ojkanje singing’, inscribed in 2010 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
  4. Takes note of the efforts undertaken by the State Party to safeguard the element, in particular by supporting its practice and transmission within community ensembles and organizations, at public events and festivals, by providing learning opportunities within and beyond regions where the element was traditionally practised, and by establishing an additional interpretation center on the element;
  5. Encourages the State Party to pursue its efforts to prioritize support for the transmission of the element, including through education, to engage younger generations in documenting, learning and practising the element, to provide financial assistance for the transmission and practice of the element, and to ensure the sustained accessibility of related documentation;
  6. Invites the State Party to implement safeguarding measures across the entire area where the element is practised, paying special attention to the regions where it is at risk of extinction and to particular styles and genres of the element identified in the previous report as being under threat of disappearance;
  7. Further invites the State Party to involve younger generations in updating the safeguarding measures, with the participation of the communities concerned, and to provide information on their participation as well as a timetable for future activities in its next report;
  8. Recalls the importance of assessing the role of tourism entities in promoting the element and performances of Ojkanje singing in order to avoid the potential commodification or denaturation of the element;
  9. Requests that the Secretariat inform the State Party at least nine months prior to the next deadline about the required submission of its next report on the status of this element.

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