Document ITH/15/10.COM/9 Decision 10.COM 9
343. The Vice-Chairperson (Belgium) opened the discussion on Item 9: Voluntary supplementary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, reminding the delegates that the financial issues addressed in the previous agenda item and in that one were closely linked to all other business of the Committee, in particular to the implementation of activities that could not be supported with the resources of UNESCO’s regular budget, which was going through a particularly difficult time.
344. The Vice-Chairperson recalled that, while it was the Committee’s prerogative to approve any project that might benefit from a voluntary supplementary contribution to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, in the interests of efficiency, last year the Committee authorised the Secretariat to accept any contribution of that type that would be received in favour of the overall programme of ‘Strengthening capacities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage for sustainable development’, some of which results had been appreciated by participants during the side event held the night before. Regretting that there were not many offers waiting for the Committee’s approval nor many contributions of which the Committee should take note, the Vice-Chairperson asked the Secretary to present the item in more detail.
345. The Secretary recalled that in Decision 9.COM 7 adopted during its previous session, the Committee approved the Concept Note for the 2014-2017 Complementary Additional Programme (CAP) entitled ‘Strengthening capacities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage for sustainable development’, which aimed at extending the reach and effectiveness of that global capacity-building strategy while informing donors of the financing requirements of the programme, since CAPs defined UNESCO’s programmes that sought donor support. Therefore, in approving that CAP, the Committee had integrated
it to its own fundraising strategy. In that same decision, the Secretary recalled that the Committee authorised the Secretariat to accept any voluntary supplementary contribution that might be paid between two sessions of the Committee to support capacity-building activities within the scope of that programmatic framework. The Secretary added that that decision was in line with the de-bureaucratisation of procedures and put an end to situations where a contribution was proposed by a donor in January but the Secretariat had to wait until November before the Committee could accept it. Following that decision, if a proposed contribution fell within the scope of the global capacity-building strategy, whoever the beneficiary countries might be, the Secretariat could accept it – because the Committee accepted it as part of its general strategy – and could start implementing it straight away.
The Secretary regretted that, since its ninth session, the Fund had received no contributions along those lines apart from an official confirmation by Spain (more specifically, the Government of Catalonia) to pay a contribution of €120,000 to continue a capacity-building project coming to an end at that time in Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.
That generous offer was mentioned in paragraph 6 of the draft decision.
346. The Secretary informed the Committee about another voluntary supplementary contribution proposed outside of the programmatic framework of the capacity-building strategy and which thus required the Committee’s formal approval. Amounting to US$50,000, that contribution was offered by the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China for UNESCO for the organization of a meeting that stemmed from a decision of the Committee.
That decision concerned the work of developing an overall results framework of the Convention, following the recommendation of the 2013 evaluation that the Committee had examined in Baku, Azerbaijan. At that time, the Committee considered that the evaluation had begun to draw up a draft results framework but which was not yet completed nor unquestionable and that prior reflection was necessary before such a framework could be proposed to the Committee and the General Assembly. The Secretary further specified that it was about a results framework for the Convention, and not for its Secretariat, which already had its C/5 as approved by UNESCO’s General Conference. Hence not only States Parties would be concerned but all actors who actually contribute to the results obtained by the Convention. Consequently, at its eight session in Baku, the Committee had rightly called for a prior discussion to be organized so that consensus could be reached on the different aspects of that results framework. At the suggestion of the Secretariat, the People’s Republic of China had offered US$50,000 to organize that discussion that the Secretariat was then proposing to hold in the form of a preliminary expert meeting in 2016, as the subject was complex enough not to move directly into an intergovernmental process.
The Secretary concluded by reiterating that the People’s Republic of China’s had generously proposed to host that meeting in 2016 and that its associated offer of a voluntary supplementary contribution could be found in Annex 1 of document ITH/15/10.COM/9 and required the Committee’s formal approval.
347. The Secretary presented Annex II of that same document which included a list of all voluntary contributions in support of the Convention received since the ninth session of the Committee, all modalities taken together, including in-kind contributions through staffing secondments. She drew the Committee’s attention to paragraph 10 of the draft decision in which all donors were thanked.
348. The Secretary continued by presenting the two figures included in the document that she considered to be quite meaningful and not very encouraging. Figure 1 showed the evolution of voluntary support to the global capacity-building programme where the outlook for 2016 and 2017 was cause for grave concern as, at that time, prospects were less than US$1 million, whereas in the past the programme had received much larger sums.
Referring to the previous agenda item, the Secretary suspected that certain donors did not see the need of making voluntary supplementary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund due to its significantly positive balance making them believe that the Secretariat was unable to spend the funds. The Secretary admitted the difficulty of
explaining that, in fact, it was not the Secretariat who could spend the money but the States who should request it and, therefore, unless States submitted assistance requests, money could not be spent. In contrast, when the Secretariat was responsible for implementing funds, in particular through projects benefiting from earmarked contributions, funds implementation was not problematic The Secretary wished to once again draw donors’
attention to that issue, emphasizing that, although the broaden interpretation of international assistance mentioned in the previous agenda item would undoubtedly open new opportunities for supporting States, the request from a State would remain a prerequisite for the funds to be released. Therefore, the Secretary felt that it would be advisable not to confuse that modus operandi with voluntary supplementary contributions, earmarked for capacity-building or a specific need expressed by the Committee that the Secretariat could implement immediately upon receipt of funds. The Secretary urged donors to kindly consider that distinction and not to be misled into believing that the unspent balance of the Fund of several million US$ meant that the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was well-off.
349. Turning to figure 2 which showed the evolution of voluntary support to the human resources of the Secretariat, including in-kind contributions on which the Secretariat had been able to put a figure, the Secretary noted that it was just as disheartening as figure 1. The Secretary explained that after a burst of generosity in 2010-2012, the situation deteriorated over time and prospects for 2016-2017 (US$500,000 approximately) were extremely worrying. The Secretary recalled that those sums were used to maintain the temporary staff of the Secretariat which accounted for half of all its staff, already inadequate, in its present configuration, to meet its obligations and a barely sustainable workload. She added that it was one of the reasons for her departure. She concluded that if support to the Secretariat was reduced further, staff numbers would diminish drastically and remaining staff would be unable to cope with all the demands that the Committee put on it in addition to its ordinary obligations. The Secretary noted that, in each of its decisions, the Committee had put new demands on the Secretariat and she listed them. She finally urged States to bear in mind that half of the Secretariat was supported by extrabudgetary resources and that if those resources shrank, the Secretariat would not be able to follow up on the Committee’s many recommendations and requests. The Secretary concluded that there had been a general downturn in support, including through Funds-in-Trust – outside the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund – due to, inter alia, understandable donor mobilization on post-conflict situations.
350. The Secretary noted a regrettable phenomenon regarding donors having already pledged contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund. One of them, Norway, had already confirmed that its outstanding contribution would not be paid and therefore the Committee had to take note that concerned projects would not be completed as planned. In another case, two voluntary supplementary contributions that the Committee had accepted from Brazil and Viet Nam had still not been received and consequently the associated projects approved by the Committee had not been implemented. The Secretary informed the Committee that, in its decision, all it could do was to take note of that situation.
351. The Vice-Chairperson thanked the Secretary for her clear explanation of the status of voluntary supplementary contributions to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund and the clear messages that she had wished to convey to members of the Committee. He also expressed his appreciation to the People’s Republic of China, through its National Commission and to Spain through the Government of Catalonia for showing confidence in the Committee to channel their support to the Convention. The Vice-Chairperson opened the floor for discussion. There were no requests, at which he invited the two donor countries (the People’s Republic of China and Spain) to take the floor if they so wished.
352. In the absence of requests for the floor, the Vice-Chairperson shared his enthusiasm over prospects enabled by the two generous contributions. Before moving to the adoption of the
decision, he expressed his gratitude to those who had provided support to the Convention and its Secretariat since the last Committee session, namely the Abu Dhabi Tourism &
Culture Authority, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Turkey, the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Centre from the United Arab Emirates and the Association for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage from Italy.
353. The Vice-Chairperson pointed out that seven of those donors had chosen to support a funding mechanism essential to the proper functioning of the Convention in all aspects including its governance, as well as its implementation at the national level, namely the sub-fund of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund to enhance the human resources of the Secretariat. Quoting the Secretary, he recalled that the sub-fund was established by the General Assembly in 2010 in response to the already modest human resources of the Secretariat at that time. The Vice-Chairperson said he was all the more grateful to the Secretariat, as the sub-fund had only received a quarter of the requirements identified by the General Assembly since its creation, leaving a significant shortfall. He thus expressed his hope that others would follow that example and that, with contributions from every State Party, each at a scale of its own ability, the Secretariat could be given the necessary resources to provide the Committee with the excellent services it had benefited from up to that time. With that note of hope, the Vice-Chairperson moved the discussion to the adoption of the draft decision, requesting the Committee to refer to document ITH/15/10.COM/9 and to the draft decision in paragraph 11 in order to proceed with its adoption paragraph by paragraph.
354. The Vice-Chairperson declared paragraphs 1 to 12 adopted without amendments. Having adopted each paragraph of the draft decision, the Vice-Chairperson stated that it was necessary to then adopt the decision as a whole. Seeing no objections, he declared decision 10.COM 9 adopted.
355. The Vice-Chairperson asked if any of the recipient countries wished to speak, inviting Morocco and Tunisia to do so since he believed that Mauritania was not attending that Committee session.
356. The delegation of Tunisia wished to thank the Government of Spain for their very generous assistance, which evidenced that Tunisia was on the right track insofar as capacity-building was concerned and represented an additional incentive for the future.
357. The delegation of Belize recognized the Government of Japan for their support to a project initiated in Belize in 2012 under which the country had recently completed its National Culture Policy. Looking ahead, the delegation of Belize shared with the Committee its commitment to move towards implementing the National Culture Policy from 2016, for the next 10 years, and reiterated its gratitude to the Government of Japan.
358. The delegation of Niger seized the opportunity to thank the Government of Spain who had assisted Niger by providing support for the implementation of a capacity-building project for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. The delegate of Niger stated that that support had enabled to the country to receive training on the 2003 Convention and participatory inventory-making as well as to equip itself with computer and audio-visual material. A whole new dynamic had been set in motion to conduct inventory work on two pilot locations that should be completed by December 2015. Niger thanked the Spanish government and UNESCO for their technical assistance and for advice received throughout the implementation of that project.
359. The Vice-Chairperson closed the debate by thanking again the donors and urging the members of the Committee and the distinguished delegates of the States Parties to the
Convention to follow in the footsteps of those to whom they had just expressed their gratitude.
ITEM 10 OF THE AGENDA:
REPORT OF THE EVALUATION BODY ON ITS WORK IN 2015