In accordance with Article 16 of the 1970 Convention, States Parties shall, on dates determined by the UNESCO General Conference, submit to UNESCO a report on the legislative and administrative provisions they have adopted and other action taken in implementing the Convention. Such reports aim to illustrate the actions taken to implement the Convention, as well as progress made and obstacles encountered. By its Resolution 38 the 32nd UNESCO General Conference set the periodicity for reporting at a four-year interval.   

Furthermore, the Operational Guidelines on the implementation of the 1970 Convention recall the binding character of the submission of Periodic Reports by States Parties. It emphasizes the importance of such reporting for the follow-up, monitoring and exchange of information to ensure an improved implementation of the Convention.

One of the Subsidiary Committee’s functions is the review of national reports presented to the UNESCO General Conference by States Parties to the 1970 Convention. During its seventh session (22 and 23 May 2019) the Subsidiary Committee reviewed the national reports submitted for the 2019 periodic cycle. The analytical report can be found here.