The General Assembly of State Parties to the Convention at its seventh session (UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, from 4 to 6 June 2018) approved the amendments to the Operational Directives on periodic reporting (Resolution 7.GA 10) as recommended by the twelfth session of the Intergovernmental Committee through its Decision 12.COM 10, thus transitioning towards a regional cycle of reporting on the implementation of the Convention (Form ICH-10).
A transition period for reforming the periodic reporting mechanism has started and will last until the submission of reports from the first region on 15 December 2020 for examination by the Committee at its sixteenth session in 2021. This means that no periodic reports on the implementation of the Convention and on elements inscribed on the Representative List is expected until 15 December 2020. The calendar for the first regional cycle of reporting has been established at the thirteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee (Port Louis, Republic of Mauritius, 26 November to 1 December 2018) and is as follows:
2020: Latin America and the Caribbean
2021: Europe
2022: Arab States
2023: Africa
2024: Asia and the Pacific
2025: Reflection year
It is to be duly noted that the above mentioned suspension does not affect the procedure for States Parties to report on the status of elements inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding (Form ICH-11) which will continue to follow the current rules and deadlines, notably 15 December of the fourth year following the year of inscription, and every fourth year thereafter.
In-depth studies of periodic reports: transmission/education and inventory-making
The following table presents all the reports submitted so far by States Parties as well as the upcoming deadlines for submitting reports on the status of elements inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List.
The reports submitted before the 15 December of a given year are examined by the Committee the year after.
