0 com ith/15/10. Com/Decisions Windhoek, December 2015 Original: English/French

DECISION 10.COM 6.b.1

The Committee,

1. 
   Having examined document ITH/15/10.COM/6.b,
   
2. 
   Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decision 5.COM 5.4,
   
3. 
   Expresses its thanks to Croatia for submitting its report on the status of the element ‘Ojkanje singing’, inscribed in 2010 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
   
4. 
   Takes note of the continued efforts undertaken by the State Party to revitalize and safeguard the element, in particular through encouraging traditional modes of oral transmission, as well as newer approaches taken by cultural associations and through the promotion of the element in festivals, performances and other events in the context of community life;
   
5. 
   Invites the State Party to ensure the long-term viability and sustainability of the element, in particular through providing sufficient state funding for this purpose, and appropriate repartition of available funds between the various safeguarding activities and beneficiaries;
   
6. 
   Encourages the State Party to assess the role of tourism entities in promoting the element and performances of Ojkanje singing in order to avoid commodification or denaturation of the element;
   
7. 
   Reiterates its encouragement to other States and communities with similar forms of singing to collaborate actively in the opportunities for international exchange that are proposed by the State Party;
   
8. 
   Requests the Secretariat to inform the State Party twelve months prior to the deadline of 15 December 2018 for the submission of its next report on the status of this element.
   

DECISION 10.COM 6.b.2

The Committee,

0. 
   Having examined document ITH/15/10.COM/6.b,
   
1. 
   Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decision 8.COM 7.a.5,
   
2. 
   Expresses its thanks to Guatemala for submitting its report on the status of the element ‘Paach ceremony’, inscribed in 2013 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
   
3. 
   Takes note of the continued efforts by the State Party to safeguard the element and, in particular, its attempts to involve bearers, communities and cultural associations in inventorying and other safeguarding activities, and to encourage new recruits to the element;
   
4. 
   Encourages the State Party to pursue its efforts to ensure that bearers are included in the decision-making process and that local promotional activities for the element are not dominated by an external cultural organisation;
   
5. 
   Invites the State Party to develop new strategies for supporting modes of transmission that are better suited to the Maya-Mam people, including information, training and sensitisation of the bearers to obtain their free, prior and informed consent;
   
6. 
   Further invites the State Party to provide funding for priority measures in the safeguarding plan such as documentation and recording and to make sure that those activities that are community-funded be carried out efficiently;
   
7. 
   Further encourages the State Party to consider establishing a permanent fund for safeguarding activities by local authorities;
   
8. 
   Decides that its next report will follow the normal four-year cycle, in conformity with paragraph 161 of the Operational Directives, and will therefore be expected on 15 December 2017;
   
9. 
   Requests the Secretariat to inform the State Party twelve months prior to the deadline of 15 December 2017 for the submission of its next report on the status of this element.
   

DECISION 10.COM 6.b.3

The Committee,

1. 
   Having examined document ITH/15/10.COM/6.b,
   
2. 
   Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decision 8.COM 7.a.12,
   
3. 
   Expresses its thanks to Uganda for submitting its report on the status of the element ‘Empaako tradition of the Batooro, Banyoro, Batuku, Batagwenda and Banyabindi of western Uganda’, inscribed in 2013 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
   
4. 
   Takes note of the continued efforts undertaken by Uganda to safeguard the element and, in particular, its proactive approach towards the participatory design of the safeguarding plan and mechanisms for effective participation of the communities and stakeholders concerned in their implementation;
   
5. 
   Invites the State Party to continue developing its fund-raising strategy to ensure that reliance on external donors does not drive safeguarding priorities, and that community-funded projects have a reliable source of funding and human resources for continuous implementation;
   
6. 
   Encourages the State Party to continue to address the loss of knowledge among bearers of the rituals and ceremonies, and the decline in observance of the practice by addressing external factors affecting this element, such as the declining use of the Runyoro-Rutooro language;
   
7. 
   Decides that its next report will follow the normal four-year cycle, in conformity with paragraph 161 of the Operational Directives, and will therefore be expected on 15 December 2017;
   
8. 
   Requests the Secretariat to inform the State Party twelve months prior to the deadline of 15 December 2017 for the submission of its next report on the status of the element.
   

DECISION 10.COM 6.c

The Committee,

1. 
   Having examined document ITH/15/10.COM/6.c,
   
2. 
   Recalling Article 24.3 of the Convention,
   
3. 
   Expresses satisfaction that developing countries continue to be the main beneficiaries of International Assistance from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund and particularly those in Africa;
   
4. 
   Thanks beneficiary States for submitting final or progress reports for projects that benefit from International Assistance under the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund;
   
5. 
   Appreciates the impact that the assistance brought to the beneficiary States for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage present in their territories and encourages them to continue to ensure the sustainability and enhancement of the results of the projects;
   
6. 
   Notes with satisfaction the promising initial results of the first emergency international assistance provided through the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund as a contribution to the reconstruction and social cohesion and encourages Mali to continue its efforts in this direction despite the contextual difficulties;
   
7. 
   Congratulates Kenya and Uganda for submitting nominations to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding as a result of the preparatory assistance granted;
   
8. 
   Requests States Parties to use the ICH-04-Report Form when reporting on the use made of the assistance provided;
   
9. 
   Invites States Parties to explore the possibilities of increasing voluntary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund with a view to supporting those States Parties who may be in need of technical and financial assistance to prepare and develop also their inventories of intangible cultural heritage at the national level.
   

DECISION 10.COM 7.a

The Committee,

1. 
   Having examined document ITH/15/10.COM/7.a,
   
2. 
   Recalling Article 30 of the Convention,
   
3. 
   Welcomes the two States that have ratified the Convention since the fifth session of the General Assembly, encourages States non Parties to ratify it and requests the Secretariat to continue its efforts to promote the ratification;
   
4. 
   Adopts the provisional report on its activities between the fifth and sixth sessions of the General Assembly as annexed to the document ITH/15/10.COM/7.a;
   
5. 
   Delegates to the Bureau the authority to approve the final report to be updated before the next session of the General Assembly.
   

DECISION 10.COM 7.b

The Committee,

1. 
   Having examined document ITH/15/10.COM/7.b,
   
2. 
   Welcomes the new structure of the report of the Secretariat by performance indicators;
   
3. 
   Commends the Secretariat for its initiatives to ensure the effective implementation of the decisions of the Committee, the effective organization of statutory meetings and its steady progress towards the longer-term expected results over the past biennium, and takes note with interest of a number of improvements made in the working methods of the Secretariat such as the provision of Technical Assistance, summary for periodic reports and the timely treatment of nominations;
   
4. 
   Welcomes with satisfaction the expanded reach and continued effectiveness of the global capacity-building programme and also appreciates the regular review, adaptation and enrichment of its content and format to respond effectively to major implementation challenges at the national level, while noting the effort of the Secretariat in establishing a follow-up and evaluation mechanism for capacity-building activities to generate data on their effectiveness;
   
5. 
   Thanks the States Parties that have generously provided extrabudgetary support to make the global capacity-building strategy possible and to support the other statutory functions of the Secretariat and invites States Parties to offer further support, particularly in the form of contributions to the sub-fund for enhancing the human resources of the Secretariat in order to allow it to address longer-term efforts, including in-kind human resource contributions;
   
6. 
   Further welcomes the initiative from the Secretariat to develop a fully renovated website that facilitates access to existing information, and encourages the Secretariat and States Parties to continue exploring the possibilities of further developing online tools to broaden the outreach and networking;
   
7. 
   Appreciates the efforts of the Secretariat to coordinate the growing network of category 2 centres and stimulate their ability to contribute effectively to UNESCO’s strategic objectives in the field of intangible cultural heritage, and encourages the Secretariat to strengthen the cooperation with UNESCO Chairs in the field of intangible cultural heritage.
   

DECISION 10.COM 8

The Committee,

1. 
   Having examined document ITH/15/10.COM/8,
   
2. 
   Recalling Article 7(c) of the Convention and Resolution 5.GA 7 of the General Assembly,
   
3. 
   Decides to base the draft plan for the use of the resources of the Fund for the periods of 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017 and 1 January to 30 June 2018 on the total unrestricted operating reserves available as of 31 December 2015, including any unused balance;
   
4. 
   Submits for approval to the General Assembly the plan for the use of the resources of the Fund, as included in annex of this decision and proposes to the General Assembly to provisionally allocate for the first semester of 2018 one fourth of the amount established for the two-year period from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017;
   
5. 
   Recalls that the payment of assessed compulsory contributions is, as per Article 26 of the Convention, an obligation incumbent on States having ratified the Convention, thanks the States Parties who have already made their contributions and calls upon the other States Parties to ensure that their contributions are paid as soon as possible;
   
6. 
   Delegates to its Bureau the authority to decide upon the utilization of the funds allocated under item 3 of the Plan, ‘Other functions of the Committee’, on the basis of specific proposals to be prepared by the Secretariat;
   
7. 
   Authorizes the Secretariat, when utilizing the funds allocated under item 3 of the Plan, to make transfers between activities included within the specific proposals approved by the Bureau up to a cumulative amount equivalent to 2% of the initial total allocation proposed to the General Assembly for this purpose, informing the Members of the Bureau in writing, at the session following such action, of the details and reasons for these transfers;
   
8. 
   Takes note of the Secretariat’s efforts to apply the Organization’s cost recovery policy when using the resources of the Fund, in the direction set by 195 EX/Decision 5 (IV) (C) to bring the recovery of costs for management staff time related to the implementation of extrabudgetary projects to 2% of the total regular staff costs;
   
9. 
   Further decides to set the amount of the Reserve Fund at US$1 million;
   
10. 
    Requests the Secretariat to revise the Form ICH-04 in such a way that it better reflects the provisions in Article 21 of the Convention regarding the forms of International Assistance.
    
    ANNEX
    

Draft plan for the use of the resources of the Fund
For the period 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017, as well as for the period 1 January to 30 June 2018, the resources of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund may be used for the following purposes:		% of the total amount
1.	International Assistance, comprising the safeguarding of the heritage inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List, preparation of inventories and support for other safeguarding programmes, projects and activities;	59.00%
2.	Preparatory assistance for nomination files for the Urgent Safeguarding List, as well as for proposals for the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices and international assistance requests;	5.50%
3.	Other functions of the Committee as described in Article 7 of the Convention, aimed at promoting the objectives of the Convention and encouraging and monitoring its implementation, in particular through strengthening capacities for effectively safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, raising awareness of the importance of such heritage, providing guidance on best safeguarding practices and updating and publishing the Lists and the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices;	20.00%
4.	Participation in the sessions of the Committee, its Bureau and its subsidiary bodies of experts in intangible cultural heritage representing developing States Members of the Committee;	2.25%
5.	Participation in the sessions of the Committee and its consultative bodies of experts in intangible cultural heritage representing developing States that are Parties to the Convention but not Members of the Committee;	2.75%
6.	Participation in the sessions of the Committee, its Bureau and its consultative bodies of public or private bodies, private persons, notably members of communities and groups, that have been invited by the Committee to advise them on specific matters, as well as experts in intangible cultural heritage representing accredited NGOs from developing countries;	4.50%
7.	The costs of advisory services to be provided at the request of the Committee, including support to developing States whose representatives have been appointed to the Evaluation Body;	6.00%
	Sub-total	100%
8.	To build up the Reserve Fund referred to in Article 6 of the Fund’s Financial Regulations.	U$24,190
Funds that have not been committed at the end of the period of this Plan are carried over to the next financial period and shall be allocated in accordance with the Plan approved by the General Assembly at that time.

DECISION 10.COM 9

The Committee,

1. 
   Having examined document ITH/15/10.COM/9 and its annexes,
   
2. 
   Recalling Article 25.5 of the Convention and Chapter II of the Operational Directives,
   
3. 
   Further recalling Decisions 7.COM 18, 8.COM 12 and 9.COM 7,
   
4. 
   Commends the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China for its generous offer of a voluntary supplementary contribution to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund to support the organization in 2016 of a preliminary meeting of experts to lay the foundation upon which an overall results framework of the Convention could be constructed;
   
5. 
   Accepts with gratitude the generous contribution of the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China, approves its specific purpose and requests the Secretariat to ensure the proper organization of the expert meeting;
   
6. 
   Expresses its concern on the non-receipt of new voluntary supplementary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund to support the programmatic framework of the 2014-2017 Complementary Additional Programme entitled ‘Strengthening capacities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage for sustainable development’ since its last session while noting the commitment of the Government of Catalonia (Spain) to offer a contribution to further support Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia within this scope;
   
7. 
   Acknowledges the significant and pioneering support that Norway provided to the global capacity-building strategy while regretting that the supplementary voluntary contribution accepted in 2012 was reduced by 5%;
   
8. 
   Takes note that Brazil and Viet Nam have to date, not been able to honour the offers that it approved in 2013 and invites them to inform the Secretariat of the status of these outstanding contributions at the earliest opportunity;
   
9. 
   Further takes note that States, as well as other entities, have made use of different forms of support, financial or in-kind, such as earmarked supplementary voluntary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund or to the sub-fund for enhancing the human capacities of the Secretariat, Funds-in-Trust, appropriations to the Regular Programme or loaned personnel;
   
10. 
    Thanks all the contributors that have generously supported the Convention and its Secretariat, since its last session, namely the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Catalonia (Spain), China, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Turkey, the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Centre (United Arab Emirates) and the Association for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Italy);
    
11. 
    Encourages other contributors to consider the possibility of supporting the Convention, in particular through the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, while inviting them to disburse their contribution on time and therefore shorten as much as possible the time lapse between their offer and the payment of the announced contributions, thus allowing for smooth and timely implementation of activities;
    
12. 
    Requests the Secretariat to report, at its eleventh session, on the progress of implementation of any voluntary supplementary contributions it may have received since its last session.
    

DECISION 10.COM 10

The Committee,

1. 
   Recalling Chapter I of the Operational Directives,
   
2. 
   Having examined documents ITH/15/10.COM/10, ITH/15/10.COM/10.a, ITH/15/10.COM/10.b and ITH/15/10.COM/10.c, and the files submitted by the respective States Parties,
   
3. 
   Commends the submitting States for the diversity of intangible cultural heritage presented during this cycle and congratulates in particular those submitting States having presented nominations that can serve as models for future submissions;
   
4. 
   Expresses its satisfaction with the work of the newly established Evaluation Body as a single body which allows greater coherency and consistency in the evaluation across different mechanisms of the Convention and is thankful to its members for their efforts and for the quality of the present report;
   
5. 
   Appreciates the assistance of the Secretariat during the work of the Evaluation Body;
   
6. 
   Renews its concern that the number of nominations for inscription on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, proposals to the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices and requests for International Assistance continue to be limited;
   
7. 
   Invites States Parties to pay careful attention to the different purposes of the Lists and to the associated criteria when elaborating the nomination;
   
8. 
   Recalls that the purpose of the Representative List is to ensure better visibility and awareness of the intangible cultural heritage in general, and to encourage dialogue which respects cultural diversity and therefore encourages the States Parties, when responding to criterion R.2, to clearly elucidate among the possible consequences of inscription those related to this overall purpose, while ensuring that responses to other criteria support such information;
   
9. 
   Further recalls that the Urgent Safeguarding List offers international recognition of specific threats to the viability of an element and should be accompanied by a well-elaborated safeguarding plan that adequately responds to those threats for a certain period of time following the inscription;
   
10. 
    Requests the Secretariat, in conformity with Decision 8.COM 5.c.1, to develop alternate, lighter ways of sharing safeguarding experiences to complement the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices;
    
11. 
    Notes with appreciation the work of the Secretariat in compiling a new aide-mémoire for International Assistance making accessible the issues discussed by past bodies and the Committee and related decisions, and reaffirms its invitation to States Parties to take full advantage of all three existing aides-mémoires when preparing future submissions;
    
12. 
    Takes note that the issue of adequate description of the contours of the community or group persists, particularly when nominations cover both an entire country or many sub-groups but also when they concern a part of the community, and reminds States Parties of the importance of providing a sufficiently detailed and comprehensive description of the communities, groups or, if applicable, individuals concerned and their participation in the elaboration of the nomination, and be consistent in this regard throughout the file;
    
13. 
    Further reminds States Parties that free, prior and informed consent above all means ‘consent to the nomination of the element, as formulated in the file’, instead of support for the element itself, its merits and/or its recognition by the international community;
    
14. 
    Further appreciates the efforts of submitting States to address the contribution of the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage to sustainable development, notably in terms of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, environmental sustainability, gender equality or enhancement of local economies, and encourages States Parties to continue elaborating submissions that address these aspects, thus contributing to the objectives of the Convention;
    
15. 
    Welcomes the growing submission of multinational nominations and, in reference to Decision 9.COM 10, decides that such nominations must demonstrate the awareness of all stakeholders concerned regarding the shared nature of the proposed element, their commitment to the multinational character of the nomination, as well as their participation and mutual cooperation in safeguarding measures;
    
16. 
    Further invites submitting States, when elaborating multinational nominations, to include all sub-groups sharing the same practices and traditions in their varied contexts across national boundaries, when appropriate, and to make use of the online tool introduced by the Secretariat to encourage multinational nominations;
    
17. 
    Reiterates, as emphasized in Decision 9.COM 10, the need to avoid inappropriate expressions or vocabulary that are not in line with the spirit of the Convention or may provoke misunderstanding among communities or groups and affect dialogue and mutual respect;
    
18. 
    Acknowledges the importance of the involvement of children in the transmission and enactment of intangible cultural heritage, and calls upon future Evaluation Bodies to continue reflecting on this involvement including challenging aspects such as the issue of child labour;
    
19. 
    Further Invites submitting States nominating elements that involve oral traditions to provide translation of lyrics and verse in order to achieve greater overall audience understanding, thus encouraging dialogue and mutual respect beyond national and language boundaries;
    
20. 
    Also reiterates that identification and definition of the various elements of the intangible cultural heritage are among the most important safeguarding obligations of States Parties and a prerequisite for nomination, and considers that, while each State Party is free to draw up one or more inventories in a manner geared to its own situation as stipulated in Article 12 of the Convention, the extract of the inventory provided in the nominations and the corresponding section in the nomination file taken together should:
    

1. 
   demonstrate that the inventory concerned relates clearly to living heritage;
   
2. 
   demonstrate that the inventory concerned meets the requirements laid out in Article 11 of the Convention with regard to the participation of communities, groups and relevant non-governmental organizations and if necessary, research institutes, and centres of expertise, in the elaboration and updating of the inventory, and include the demonstration of such participation;
   
3. 
   demonstrate that the inventory concerned meets the requirements laid out in Article 12 of the Convention with regard to regular updating, indicating the periodicity and modality of updating, understood not only as adding new elements but also as revising existing information on the evolving nature of the elements already included therein;
   
4. 
   indicate the name of the inventory concerned and the entity responsible (not necessarily at the national level) for maintaining and updating it, the date of inclusion of the element in the inventory and its reference;
   
5. 
   contain in the extract of the inventory provided more information than a name of the element in a list or just a few lines of description; in particular, the name of the communities, groups or, if applicable, individuals concerned, their geographic location and the range of the element should be specified and not contradict those described in the nomination form;
   

21. 
    Decides that criterion R.5/U.5 will not be considered satisfied if the relevant extracts of inventories and the corresponding section in the nomination taken together do not respect the above-mentioned guiding principles; the information contained in these extracts should be considered as complementary to the information included in the nomination file and therefore can be taken into account for evaluation;
    
22. 
    Further decides that, if a file has been referred, a criterion having been satisfied, on the basis of the information contained in the original file, will not be considered automatically as such in the future examination of the resubmitted file;
    
23. 
    Requests the Secretariat to prepare a guideline on inventories for the States Parties, including the above-mentioned minimum standard, taking into account the past decisions of the Committee and recommendations of the bodies, and to adjust the nomination forms accordingly;
    
24. 
    Further encourages the States Parties to take advantage of the combined Form ICH-01bis that allows the submission of nomination for inscription to the Urgent Safeguarding List and, simultaneously, of a request for International Assistance from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund to finance the proposed safeguarding plan associated to that nomination;
    
25. 
    Further encourages the Secretariat to continue to offer technical assistance and other support to States Parties wishing to request International Assistance and invites States Parties to take advantage of these possibilities.