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STORY: UNESCO / INTANGIBLE HERITAGE ADDITIONS
TRT: 08:22
SOURCE: UNESCO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 8-11 DECEMBER, NEW DELHI, INDIA
1. Various shots, Delhi’s Lal Quila
2. Various shots, people from different countries visited Delhi for UNESCO’s annual meeting on ICH
3. Various shots, the art forms that were exhibited
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tim Curtis, Director of the UNESCO Office in New Delhi:
“So this year was the largest number of inscriptions for a committee, so it shows growth with 67 elements inscribed from 78 countries. Now you may wonder how that happens. It’s because some elements involve multiple countries in a living heritage and practices haven’t always followed the strict borders. They evolve through history so many times multiple countries share a similar practice and the convention stimulates and encourages countries to come together so we have a lot of things while we call multinational elements, elements which are present in many countries. Many countries come together, so it’s been a fantastic event here in New Delhi for the first time in India and of course the inscription of Diwali is a big celebration across India.”
5. Various shots, Kenya Celebration of their Mwazindika Spiritual Dance Inscription
6. Various shots, India Celebration of their Diwali Festival Inscription
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Oleksandr Butsenko, National Expert, Ukraine and UNESCO Facilitator:
“You can imagine that during the last three years, with the ongoing war in Ukraine, we have added about 18 new elements to our National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage, because local communities and bearers understand how important this is for their resilience, for their feeling of identity and belonging, and for the feeling that you truly live in this world.”
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Doreen Ruth Amule, Head of Delegation, Uganda:
“Intangible cultural heritage is about preserving those cultural elements that we cannot necessarily see, sell or buy, but which must still be passed from one generation to the next. That is why it is important to have such forums – where we can discuss what different communities around the globe believe in, make sure it is preserved, and ensure that it can be transmitted to this generation and to the generations yet to come.”
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Carolina Pérez, Vice Minister of Cultural Heritage, Chile:
“We have been working for a long time with the Circus community in Chile. For them it’s very important because now it’s not only recognise as intangible cultural heritage from the state of Chile but also from Unesco worldwide and it enhances the responsibility the state also has with these practices with this cultural elements in the country so it’s a tool for the communities in Chile to be able to work with the state to work with the state at different levels, form national level to regional level for working towards maintaining this Heritage and transferring it to the future generations, so I think it’s a very important tool that I’m sure they will use because they are very active community.”
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Jumeh, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Yemen to UNESCO:
“For the Republic of Yemen this is a significant and very important day, because we have had this element inscribed on the ICH list. It is very good news for the Yemeni people, especially in a time when most people expect only bad news from the country because of conflict and war. Now we are able to present this good news and congratulate our country, our people and our local community in the Hadramout province in eastern Yemen.”
The UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, meeting in New Delhi (India) from 8 to 13 December, examined 67 elements for inscription on the Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage, at the initiative of 77 countries.
Over the course of the week, the 24 Member States of the Committee examined 67 living heritage elements, including:
11 elements inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
53 elements inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity;
1 programme selected on the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Furthermore, in response to the positive impact of the safeguarding measures put in place since their inscription, 2 elements have also been transferred from the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and their corresponding safeguarding programmes have been added to the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.
With this year’s inscriptions, 849 cultural practices in 157 countries are now part of UNESCO's living heritage Lists.
With over 1400 participants, this session of the Committee was the largest to date, reflecting the growing importance attached to the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
Among the elements presented this year, 9 were multinational inscriptions submitted by 28 countries. This 2025 session also marked the first inscription for 7 countries: Barbados, Chad, the Comoros, El Salvador, Gabon, Libya, and Sao Tome and Principe.
These inscriptions reflect the growing role of the Convention in strengthening dialogue and cooperation between States, as well as their shared ambition to promote the safeguarding of living heritage.
Africa's continuous commitment was confirmed at this session with the inscription of 9 elements by 13 countries.
For some communities, they represent a source of sustainable livelihoods. Crucially, they demonstrate that intangible cultural heritage is not only transmitted symbolically, but represents a source of income for the bearers, echoing the thematic initiative developed on the economic dimensions of intangible cultural heritage safeguarding.
The next meeting of the Committee will take place in December 2026 in Xiamen, China.
