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Opening of the ninth session of the Intangible Heritage Committee

Annual pilgrimage to the mausoleum of Sidi ‘Abd el-Qader Ben Mohammed (Sidi Cheikh)

© CNRPAH/2011

24 November 2014 – November 24, 2014 - The ninth session of the Intergovernmental Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee was inaugurated today at UNESCO headquarters. In his opening address, Mr. Alfredo Pérez Armiñán, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Culture, stressed that “The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage recognizes communities as key players in the identifying and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, and calls all States Parties to implement a true cultural democracy - very promising for the future of societies, their cohesion and sustainable development”, while also recalling the essential role of the Convention in the normative framework established by UNESCO in the field of culture. Chaired by H.E. Mr José Manuel Rodríguez, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Peru to UNESCO, the session will last from 24 to 28 November 2014 (audio broadcast in English, French and Arabic).

Receiving more than 900 delegates from 130 countries, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage welcomed the significant progress made in the implementation of the Convention. The Committee also welcomed the overall strategy of capacity building set up by UNESCO to support the states and communities in their safeguarding efforts and thanked the donors who have helped numerous programs to be implemented worldwide. Azerbaijan and the Netherlands have offered this year a new contribution of respectively $400 000 and 75 000 euros.
Tomorrow the Committee will begin its examination of nominations for inscription on the Urgent Safeguarding List. Follow the meeting on-line via:

• live audiocast of the whole meeting (audio in EN/FR/AR)
• Tweeter for live inscriptions: in Arabic (@unescoarabic), English (@unesco), French (@unesco_fr), Portuguese (@unescobrasil), Russian (@unesco_russian) and Spanish (@unesco_es)
• Facebook: in Arabic (UNESCOar), English (UNESCO), French (UNESCOfr), Portuguese (UNESCObrasil), Russian (UNESCOrussian) and Spanish (UNESCOes)
• Instagram: Instagram.com/UNESCO
• Google Plus: plus.ly/UNESCO
• Weibo: Weibo.com/UNESCO
• Extensive information on inscribed elements from the Lists page

25 November 2014 – Three new elements inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List19 November 2014 – Sunday 23 November: information session on the Committee