9th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the ICH Opens in Paris

The ninth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage opened today, 24th November, 2014 at the UNESCO Headquarters, in Paris, France.

Composed of 24 States and elected by the General Assembly of the States Parties to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Intergovernmental Committee meets once every year.

The Committee Members are Afghanistan, Algeria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, Hungary, India, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mongolia, Namibia, Nigeria, Peru, Republic of Korea, Saint Lucia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda and Uruguay.

Chaired by His Excellency Mr. José Manuel Rodríguez Cuadros of Peru, the Committee will review periodic reports submitted by 27 States Parties on their implementation of the Convention and reports on the status of eight elements inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List.
The agenda of the meeting states that, the Committee will also discuss a first Draft of possible Operational Directives on Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development at the national level, the result of an expert meeting held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 29th September to 1st October 2014, and examine Draft Amendments to the Directives on periodic reporting.

For the first time, the Committee will establish an Evaluation Body to evaluate, beginning with the 2015 cycle, Nominations to the Urgent Safeguarding List and Representative List, Proposals to the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices and Requests for International Assistance.

Furthermore, the Committee will examine eight nominations for inscription on the Urgent Safeguarding List and 45 on the Representative List, four proposals to the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices and two requests for financial assistance.

The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage meeting, which is a Category 2 one, has the Ambassador of the Permanent Delegation of Nigeria to UNESCO, Her Excellency Mrs. Maryam Y. Katagum, Executive Secretary of National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, Deputy Director/UNESCO Programme Officer in the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism & National Orientation, Mr. Augustus Ajibola, and Mr. Ayo Kehinde of the Nigeria’s Permanent Delegation to UNESCO in attendance, and ends Friday, 28th November 2014.

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