© National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO, 2010
Despite initial hesitations expressed by some when preparing for the adoption of the 2003 Convention, Member States of UNESCO opted for an international listing system. It was hoped that such a system would act as a driving force to raise the visibility of the new international legal instrument in favour of the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
Since the first nomination cycle in 2009, States Parties have repeatedly highlighted the challenges related to the inscription procedure, the criteria and fundamental issues concerning the listing mechanisms. Many of these issues were already extensively debated during the drafting of the Convention and its Operational Directives, including the inscription criteria. In 2017, the Committee clearly expressed the need for a reflection on the listing mechanisms, for the first time.
This resource page contains working and information documents that accompanied those discussions and the resulting Committee decisions and General Assembly resolutions as well as links to the relevant meetings.
| Meeting | Document | Decision / Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Fifteenth session of the Committee | Number of files submitted for the 2020 and 2021 cycles and number of files that can be treated in the 2022 and 2023 cycles English|French Report of the Evaluation Body on its work in 2020 English|French | Decision 15.COM 9 Decision 15.COM 8 |
| Eighth session of the General Assembly | Revision of the Operational Directives for the implementation of the Convention English|French|Spanish|Russian|Arabic|Chinese Update on the reflection on the listing mechanisms of the Convention English|French|Spanish|Russian|Arabic|Chinese | Resolution 8.GA 10 Resolution 8.GA 11 |
| Fourteenth session of the Committee | Reflection on the listing mechanisms of the Convention English|French Report of the Evaluation Body on its work in 2019 English|French | Decision 14.COM 14 Decision 14.COM 10 |
| Thirteenth session of the Committee | Issues concerning the follow-up of inscribed elements on the Lists of the Convention English|French Report of the Evaluation Body on its work in 2018 English|French | Decision 13.COM 9 Decision 13.COM 10 |
| Twelfth session of the Committee | Removal of an element from the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and its transfer to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity English|French Reflection on the transfer of an element from one List to the other and the removal of an element from a List English|French | Decision 12.COM 11.c Decision 12.COM 14 |
| Tenth session of the Committee | - | Decision 10.COM 19 |
| Sixth session of the Committee | Reflection on the criteria for inscription on the Lists English|French | Decision 6.COM 16 Resolution 3.GA 5 |
| Fifth session of the Committee | Reflection on revising the Operational Directives concerning the criteria for inscription on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity English: Part 1 - Part 2|French: Part 1 - Part 2 | Decision 5.COM 10.1 Resolution 3.GA 5 |