Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 20.COM 10

The Committee,

  1. Having examined document LHE/25/20.COM/10 and its annexes,
  2. Recalling Articles 20 and 24.3 of the Convention,
  3. Further recalling Resolution GA 7 and Decisions 17.COM 11 and 19.COM 9,
  4. Appreciates 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 in terms of building their safeguarding capacities, and encourages these States to continue to ensure the sustainability of project results;
  5. 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 Small Island Developing States;
  6. 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 to complement and support their efforts to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage present in their territories;
  7. Further encourages States Parties to continue to take advantage of the technical assistance arranged by the Secretariat, which is intended to support the elaboration of International Assistance requests or the revision thereof, to ensure their compliance with the selection criteria set out in paragraphs from 10 to 12 of the Operational Directives;
  8. Also encourages States Parties to apply for Preparatory Assistance from the Fund for the elaboration of nomination files as described in paragraph 21 of the Operational Directives, bearing in mind the next deadline, which is on 31 March 2026;
  9. Thanks the beneficiary States for the timely submission of their progress or final reports for projects benefiting from International Assistance under the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, and requests that beneficiary States with projects experiencing delays in their implementation take corrective measures to ensure the timely implementation of the projects and to respect their reporting obligations;
  10. Recalls that the designations employed in the International Assistance requests and related reports presented by the beneficiary States Parties do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Committee nor UNESCO concerning: (a) the legal status of any country, territory, city or area; (b) the legal status of its authorities; (c) the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries; or (d) references to specific historical events;
  11. Expresses its appreciation for the work of the Secretariat in supporting States Parties in the implementation and follow up of International Assistance projects, and invites the Secretariat to pursue its efforts to strengthen, monitor and evaluate the mechanisms.

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