The Committee

1. Takes note that Guatemala has requested International Assistance in the amount of US$48,828 for Inventory of the intangible cultural heritage of Guatemala:

Lacking at present an inventory of intangible cultural heritage, and facing a shortage of human and material resources necessary to drawing one up, Guatemala sought assistance for initiating inventories in six municipalities and building capacities at different levels including community, municipal and institutional human resources. To be undertaken by the Technical Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the project proposes to develop a methodology for inventories and identify persons and institutions to be involved in data collection and validation including cultural promoters, local authorities and associations as well as students from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala. Field work would be conducted for some twenty elements of intangible cultural heritage and a digital database would be created. Coordination and consultation workshops would bring together all stakeholders, and capacity-building workshops would be organized on key concepts of the Convention and the establishment of inventories in line with its spirit and objectives. Through this project, the implementing organization intended to see its capacities and functions consolidated and to make a step forward in the integration of inventory-making of intangible cultural heritage in national cultural policies.

2. Decides that, from the information provided in file 00692 the request responds as follows to the criteria for granting International Assistance given in Paragraphs 10 and 12 of the Operational Directives:

A.1:   The request does not clearly identify the communities of the six targeted municipalities in the preparation of the request and provides unclear explanations of how they will be fully involved in the project’s implementation;

A.2:   The appropriateness of the amount requested cannot readily be determined because the budget does not correspond with the planned activities and timetable; certain costs appear to be disproportionate and others underestimated or not included, even though these are major components of the project such as the organization of community-based inventory workshops; certain large lump sums are not sufficiently detailed;

A.3:   The feasibility of the project cannot be justified because the objectives seem not to be coherent with the purpose of the request; details are lacking regarding many of the activities, particularly for the phase concerning fieldwork and its follow up; the methodologies to be utilized and the role of each partner in the implementation of the project should be further specified;

A.4:   Although the information collected during the project could be the basis of a future inventory and could have an impact on the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage beyond the duration of the project itself, the information provided on its sustainability does not seem to be sufficiently detailed;

A.5:   Supporting 28% of the project costs, the State Party intends to share with the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund the cost of the activities for which international assistance is requested;

A.6:   The project aims at building capacities for safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of Guatemala at different levels including community, municipal and national human resources;

A.7:   The State Party received international assistance from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for an amount of US$8,000 in 2009 for the preparation of a nomination to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding; the nomination was prepared and submitted, the work foreseen by the contract was successfully completed, and according to the regulations of UNESCO, the contract was duly closed;

10(a):    The project is national in scope and would involve national implementing partners;

10(b):    The request does not properly address the question of possible multiplier effects and does not describe how the project would stimulate financial and technical contributions from other sources;

3. Decides not to approve the request, and invites the State Party to submit a revised request responding more fully to the criteria for selection and to the considerations noted in the present decision;
4. Commends the important initiative and commitment of the State Party in seeking to inventory the intangible cultural heritage present in its territory, and its recognition of the importance of setting up solid institutional capacities for the implementation of the 2003 Convention;
5. Recommends that the State Party fully describe the role of communities in the implementation of the project and in its follow-up;
6. Invites the State Party to ensure a rigorous correspondence between the title and the general purpose of the project as well as between its proposed activities, budget and timetable and to respond precisely to the specific sections of the request form.