Intangible Cultural Heritage 2 GA
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ITH/08/2.GA/CONF.202/7 Paris, 6 March 2008 Original: English
UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATES PARTIES TO THE
CONVENTION FOR THE SAFEGUARDING OF THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
Second Session
UNESCO Headquarters, Room II, 16 to 19 June 2008
Item 7 of the Provisional Agenda: Determination of a uniform percentage for the contribution of States Parties to the Fund
Resolution required: paragraph 5
1. Paragraph 1 of Article 26 of the Convention calls upon States Parties to contribute, at least every two years, to the Intangible Heritage Fund and calls upon the General Assembly to determine the amount of such contributions, in the form of a uniform percentage applicable to all States. The Article also states that in no case shall this compulsory contribution of the States Parties exceed one per cent of their contribution to the regular budget of UNESCO.
2. The provisions of Article 26.1 apply to all States that have not declared, at the time of the deposit of their instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, that they shall not be bound by it. Three States Parties to the Convention have declared that they shall not be bound by those provisions. As provided in Article 26.3, they shall endeavour to withdraw that declaration, and as provided in Article 26.4, they shall contribute an amount as close as possible to the contributions they would have owed if they had been bound by the provisions of Article 26.1. However, Rule 12.3 of the Rules of Procedure adopted by the General Assembly at its first session (Resolution 1.GA 3) provides that States Parties that have made such a declaration shall not vote on the decision concerning the uniform percentage applicable to all other States.
3. At its first ordinary session, the General Assembly decided to set the uniform percentage referred to in Article 26.1 at one per cent of each State’s contribution to the regular budget of UNESCO for the period from the entry into force of the Convention, 20 April 2006, until 31 December 2007.
4. In order to allow the Committee to plan its programmes most effectively, the General Assembly may consider setting the uniform percentage at one per cent of each State’s contribution to the regular budget of UNESCO for an indeterminate period of time, until such time as it may in the future wish to revise this percentage.
5. The General Assembly may wish to adopt the following Resolution.
DRAFT RESOLUTION 2.GA 7 The General Assembly,
1. Having examined document ITH/08/2.GA/CONF.202/7;
2. Recalling Article 26.1 of the Convention;
3. Decides to set the uniform percentage referred to in Article 26.1 of the Convention at one per cent of each State’s contribution to the regular budget of UNESCO for an indeterminate period of time, and recalls that it may in the future wish to revise this percentage;
4. Encourages those States Parties that have made the declaration referred to in Article 26.2 of the Convention to withdraw that declaration at the earliest possible opportunity.
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