objectives of this Convention, taking into account the special needs of developing countries.
2. To this end, it shall receive, examine and approve requests for international assistance from States Parties for the preparation of such proposals.
3. The Committee shall accompany the implementation of such projects, programmes and activities by disseminating best practices using means to be determined by it. V. International cooperation and assistance Article 19 – Cooperation
1. For the purposes of this Convention, international cooperation includes, inter alia, the exchange of information and experience, joint initiatives, and the establishment of a mechanism of assistance to States Parties in their efforts to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of their national legislation and customary law and practices, the States Parties recognize that the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage is of
general interest to humanity, and to that end undertake to cooperate at the bilateral, subregional, regional and international levels. Article 20 – Purposes of international assistance
International assistance may be granted for the following purposes:
(a) the safeguarding of the heritage inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
(b) the preparation of inventories in the sense of Articles 11 and 12;
(c) support for programmes, projects and activities carried out at the national, subregional and regional levels aimed at the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage;
(d) any other purpose the Committee may deem necessary. Article 21 – Forms of international assistance
The assistance granted by the Committee to a State Party shall be governed by the operational
directives foreseen in Article 7 and by the agreement referred to in Article 24, and may take
the following forms:
(a) studies concerning various aspects of safeguarding; (b) the provision of experts and practitioners; (c) the training of all necessary staff;
(d) the elaboration of standard-setting and other measures; - 9 -
(e) the creation and operation of infrastructures; (f) the supply of equipment and know-how;
(g) other forms of financial and technical assistance, including, where appropriate, the granting of low-interest loans and donations.
Article 22 – Conditions governing international assistance
1. The Committee shall establish the procedure for examining requests for international assistance, and shall specify what information shall be included in the requests, such as the
measures envisaged and the interventions required, together with an assessment of their cost.
2. In emergencies, requests for assistance shall be examined by the Committee as a matter of priority.
3. In order to reach a decision, the Committee shall undertake such studies and consultations as it deems necessary.
Article 23 – Requests for international assistance
1. Each State Party may submit to the Committee a request for international assistance for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage present in its territory. 2. Such a request may also be jointly submitted by two or more States Parties.
3. The request shall include the information stipulated in Article 22, paragraph 1, together with the necessary documentation.
Article 24 – Role of beneficiary States Parties
1. In conformity with the provisions of this Convention, the international assistance
granted shall be regulated by means of an agreement between the beneficiary State Party and
the Committee.
2. As a general rule, the beneficiary State Party shall, within the limits of its resources, share the cost of the safeguarding measures for which international assistance is provided.
3. The beneficiary State Party shall submit to the Committee a report on the use made of the assistance provided for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. VI. Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund
Article 25 – Nature and resources of the Fund
1. A “Fund for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage”, hereinafter referred to as “the Fund”, is hereby established.
2. The Fund shall consist of funds-in-trust established in accordance with the Financial Regulations of UNESCO. - 10 -
3. The resources of the Fund shall consist of: (a) contributions made by States Parties;
(b) funds appropriated for this purpose by the General Conference of UNESCO; (c) contributions, gifts or bequests which may be made by: (i) other States;
(ii) organizations and programmes of the United Nations system, particularly the United Nations Development Programme, as well as other international organizations;
(iii) public or private bodies or individuals;
(d) any interest due on the resources of the Fund;
(e) funds raised through collections, and receipts from events organized for the benefit of the Fund;
(f) any other resources authorized by the Fund’s regulations, to be drawn up by the Committee.
4. The use of resources by the Committee shall be decided on the basis of guidelines laid down by the General Assembly.
5. The Committee may accept contributions and other forms of assistance for general and
specific purposes relating to specific projects, provided that those projects have been approved by the Committee.
6. No political, economic or other conditions which are incompatible with the objectives of this Convention may be attached to contributions made to the Fund. Article 26 – Contributions of States Parties to the Fund
1. Without prejudice to any supplementary voluntary contribution, the States Parties to this
Convention undertake to pay into the Fund, at least every two years, a contribution, the amount of which, in the form of a uniform percentage applicable to all States, shall be determined by the General Assembly. This decision of the General Assembly shall be taken
by a majority of the States Parties present and voting which have not made the declaration
referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article. In no case shall the contribution of the State Party
exceed 1% of its contribution to the regular budget of UNESCO.
2. However, each State referred to in Article 32 or in Article 33 of this Convention may declare, at the time of the deposit of its instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or
accession, that it shall not be bound by the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article. 3. A State Party to this Convention which has made the declaration referred to in
paragraph 2 of this Article shall endeavour to withdraw the said declaration by notifying the
Director-General of UNESCO. However, the withdrawal of the declaration shall not take - 11 -
effect in regard to the contribution due by the State until the date on which the subsequent session of the General Assembly opens.
4. In order to enable the Committee to plan its operations effectively, the contributions of States Parties to this Convention which have made the declaration referred to in paragraph 2
of this Article shall be paid on a regular basis, at least every two years, and should be as close
as possible to the contributions they would have owed if they had been bound by the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article.
5. Any State Party to this Convention which is in arrears with the payment of its compulsory or voluntary contribution for the current year and the calendar year immediately
preceding it shall not be eligible as a Member of the Committee; this provision shall not apply
to the first election. The term of office of any such State which is already a Member of the
Committee shall come to an end at the time of the elections provided for in Article 6 of this
Convention.
Article 27 – Voluntary supplementary contributions to the Fund
States Parties wishing to provide voluntary contributions in addition to those foreseen
under
Article 26 shall inform the Committee, as soon as possible, so as to enable it to plan its operations accordingly.
Article 28 – International fund-raising campaigns
The States Parties shall, insofar as is possible, lend their support to international fund-raising
campaigns organized for the benefit of the Fund under the auspices of UNESCO. VII. Reports
Article 29 – Reports by the States Parties
The States Parties shall submit to the Committee, observing the forms and periodicity to be
defined by the Committee, reports on the legislative, regulatory and other measures taken for
the implementation of this Convention. Article 30 – Reports by the Committee
1. On the basis of its activities and the reports by States Parties referred to in Article 29, the Committee shall submit a report to the General Assembly at each of its sessions. 2. The report shall be brought to the attention of the General Conference of UNESCO. VIII. Transitional clause
Article 31 – Relationship to the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
1. The Committee shall incorporate in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity the items proclaimed “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage
of Humanity” before the entry into force of this Convention. - 12 -
2. The incorporation of these items in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity shall in no way prejudge the criteria for future inscriptions decided upon in accordance with Article 16, paragraph 2.
3. No further Proclamation will be made after the entry into force of this Convention. IX. Final clauses
Article 32 – Ratification, acceptance or approval
1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by States Members of UNESCO in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures. 2. The instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Director-General of UNESCO. Article 33 – Accession
1. This Convention shall be open to accession by all States not Members of UNESCO that
are invited by the General Conference of UNESCO to accede to it.
2. This Convention shall also be open to accession by territories which enjoy full internal self-government recognized as such by the United Nations, but have not attained full independence in accordance with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), and which have
competence over the matters governed by this Convention, including the competence to enter
into treaties in respect of such matters.
3. The instrument of accession shall be deposited with the Director-General of UNESCO. Article 34 – Entry into force
This Convention shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of the thirtieth
instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, but only with respect to those
States that have deposited their respective instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval, or
accession on or before that date. It shall enter into force with respect to any other State Party
three months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
Article 35 – Federal or non-unitary constitutional systems
The following provisions shall apply to States Parties which have a federal or non-unitary constitutional system:
(a) with regard to the provisions of this Convention, the implementation of which comes under the legal jurisdiction of the federal or central legislative power, the obligations of the federal or central government shall be the same as for those States Parties which are not federal States;
(b) with regard to the provisions of this Convention, the implementation of which comes under the jurisdiction of individual constituent States, countries, provinces or cantons which are not obliged by the constitutional system of the federation to - 13 -
take legislative measures, the federal government shall inform the competent authorities of such States, countries, provinces or cantons of the said provisions, with its recommendation for their adoption. Article 36 – Denunciation
1. Each State Party may denounce this Convention.
2. The denunciation shall be notified by an instrument in writing, deposited with the Director-General of UNESCO.
3. The denunciation shall take effect twelve months after the receipt of the instrument of denunciation. It shall in no way affect the financial obligations of the denouncing State Party
until the date on which the withdrawal takes effect. Article 37 – Depositary functions
The Director-General of UNESCO, as the Depositary of this Convention, shall inform the States Members of the Organization, the States not Members of the Organization referred to
in Article 33, as well as the United Nations, of the deposit of all the instruments of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession provided for in Articles 32 and 33, and of the
denunciations provided for in Article 36. Article 38 – Amendments
1. A State Party may, by written communication addressed to the Director-General, propose amendments to this Convention. The Director-General shall circulate such
communication to all States Parties. If, within six months from the date of the circulation of
the communication, not less than one half of the States Parties reply favourably to the request,
the Director-General shall present such proposal to the next session of the General Assembly
for discussion and possible adoption.
2. Amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of States Parties present and voting.
3. Once adopted, amendments to this Convention shall be submitted for ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the States Parties.
4. Amendments shall enter into force, but solely with respect to the States Parties that have
ratified, accepted, approved or acceded to them, three months after the deposit of the instruments referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article by two-thirds of the States Parties. Thereafter, for each State Party that ratifies, accepts, approves or accedes to an amendment,
the said amendment shall enter into force three months after the date of deposit by that State
Party of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
5. The procedure set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 shall not apply to amendments to Article 5 concerning the number of States Members of the Committee. These amendments shall enter
into force at the time they are adopted. - 14 -
6. A State which becomes a Party to this Convention after the entry into force of
amendments in conformity with paragraph 4 of this Article shall, failing an expression of different intention, be considered:
(a) as a Party to this Convention as so amended; and
(b) as a Party to the unamended Convention in relation to any State Party not bound by the amendments.
Article 39 – Authoritative texts
This Convention has been drawn up in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, the six texts being equally authoritative. Article 40 – Registration
In conformity with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, this Convention shall be
registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations at the request of the Director-General of UNESCO.