Recent events in the life of the Convention: the third session of the General Assembly

1. Recent events in the life of the Convention: the third session of the General Assembly CécileDuvelle Secretary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Chief of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section UNESCO Regional consultation among category 2 centres, Bangkok 19 July 2010

2. The General Assemblyof the States Parties • Third General Assembly took place at UNESCO Headquarters from 22 to 24 June 2010 • Sovereign body of the Convention • Meets every two years and gives strategic orientations for its implementation

3. Major issues at the third session of the Assembly • Adoption of new chapters of the Operational Directives • Revision of parts of the Directives adopted in 2008 • Adoption of the budget for 2010-2011 • Emphasized strengthening capacities of States Parties • Recognized importance of enhancing capacity of the Secretariat

4. Experience of the Convention since 2008 • Great interest in the Representative List (111 nominations for first cycle; 147 for the second) • Less interest in the Urgent Safeguarding List (12 nominations for first cycle, 5 for the second and 34 for the third) and the Register of Best Practices (3 proposals for the first cycle and 15 for the second cycle ) • Low number and weak quality of International Assistance requests

5. Experience of the Convention since 2008 • 2008 Operational Directives established procedures that have proven, in practice, to be cumbersome • Different procedures produced results that were not always mutually coherent from one List to another • Complicated calendar with its different deadlines and rhythms of examination is confusing for submitting States

6. Revised Directives proposed by working group • Paragraphs rearranged in a more logical, consistent and harmonized manner • Editorial improvements for ease of use • Removal of repetitions: e.g. merging of all procedures into a single timetable Revised directives

7. Consultative Body for examinations • New paragraph 26 applies to nominations to the Urgent Safeguarding List, International Assistance requests greater than US$25,000 and proposals for the Register of Best Practices • Body composed of six accredited NGOs and six independent experts, with half of its members renewed annually Revised directives

8. Representative List: nomination and examination • Simplification of the nomination form for the Representative List • Services of the Secretariat limited to technical requests • Suggested revisions in working methods of the Subsidiary Body to permit it to examine a greater number of nominations • New paragraph 30 • Referral of incomplete files to submitting States for additional information Revised directives

9. Consolidated timetable for most procedures Revised section I.15: Timetable • Single date of submission for all files: March 31 • Secretariat processes files: until June 30 • States complete files: until September 30 • Examination by relevant body: from December to May (meetings April or May) • Committee meeting: November Revised directives

10. New Directives proposed by the Committee Three new chapters, as requested by second General Assembly: • Means to increase the resources of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund • Raising awareness concerning intangible cultural heritage • Use of the emblem of the Convention New directives

11. Means to increase the resources of the Fund New Chapter II.2 • II.2.I. (paragraphs 68 to 71): different categories of donors • II.2.2 (paragraphs 72 to 75): conditions applicable to all donations • II.2.3 (paragraphs 76 to 78): benefits for donors and donor recognition New directives

12. Raising awareness of ICH and its importance New Chapter IV.1 • Based on inputs from large number of States Parties • IV.1.1 (paragraphs 100 to 102): general provisions: principles to be respected by all actors in awareness-raising activities • IV.1.2 (paragraphs 103 to 118): awareness raising actions to be taken at local and national levels New directives

13. Raising awareness of ICH and its importance • Two paragraphs (116 and 117) concern commercial activities related to intangible heritage • Paragraphs 118 to 123 concern international actions • Category 2 centres have an important role in awareness-raising actions, extending UNESCO's reach through their complementary efforts New directives

14. Use of the emblem of the Convention • New chapter IV.2 (paragraphs 124-150) • Emblem as shown on the upper left corner of each slide • To be used always alongside the logo of UNESCO • Directives for the use of the emblem are as consistent as possible with the guidelines approved by the General Conference for the UNESCO logo New directives

15. Chapters unchangedfrom 2008 Directives • Chapter II.1 on the use of the resources of the Fund • Chapter III on participation in the implementation of the Convention • Chapter V on periodic reports by States Parties to the Committee Unchanged chapters

16. Use of the resources of the Intangible Heritage Fund • GA adopted budget for 2010-2011, approximately US$4.7 million • 18% of resources for Committee's capacity-building and awareness-raising activities • Aim is to better equip States Parties to implement the Convention and benefit from its international cooperation mechanisms Other issues addressed by the Assembly

17. Human capacities of the Secretariat • The Assembly acknowledged the need to enhance the human capacities of the Secretariat on a lasting basis • Created a subfund within the ICH Fund for dedicated contributions • Recognized that funds are needed in the amount of approximately US$1.1 million per year Other issues addressed by the Assembly

18. Tenth anniversary of the Convention in 2013 2003-2013 • The Committee is invited to submit for the consideration of the fourth session of the General Assembly in June 2012 a programme and schedule for this celebration Other issues addressed by the Assembly

19. Intangible Cultural Heritage UNESCO 1, rue Miollis75732 Paris Cedex 15France Cécile Duvelle: c.duvelle@unesco.org www.unesco.org/culture/ich