The eighth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was opened today in Baku (Azerbaijan). In his message sent to participants, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Mr Ilham Aliyev underlined: “Since its adoption in 2003, the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has played an important role in the implementation of the international strategy to promote cultural diversity … around the world”. On the other hand, Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, emphasized that the Convention “…has changed our way of thinking about cultural heritage, highlighting the importance of living heritage and recognizing communities as its legitimate keepers”. The session will last from 2 to 7 December 2013 (webcast in Arabic, English, French and Spanish) and will be chaired by Mr Abulfas Garayev, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan.
Hosting over 800 delegates from 100 countries, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage welcomed the significant progress made in the implementation of the Convention, in particular the measures taken by States Parties to safeguard intangible heritage present on their territory. The Committee also welcomed the overall strategy for capacity building set up by UNESCO to support states and communities in their efforts to safeguard and thanked the generous donors who have helped to establish many of the programs worldwide.
The Committee also discussed in depth the findings of the recent evaluation of the impact of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Tomorrow, the Committee will consider the periodic reports of States parties on their implementation of the Convention and on the state of elements inscribed on the Representative List. Then it will begin its examination of nominations for inscription on the Urgent Safeguarding List. Follow the meeting live:
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Meeting:
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8th session of the Intergovernmental Committee (2 December 2013 – 7 December 2013)