Permanent Delegations of the States
Parties to the Convention for the
Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage
9 October 2025
Culture Sector
The Assistant Director-General
Ref.: CLT/LHE/25/430
Subject: Twentieth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the
Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
(8 – 13 December 2025, New Delhi, Republic of India)
Dear Permanent Delegate,
On behalf of the Director-General, I have the honour to invite your country to the
twentieth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage, which will take place at the Red Fort in New Delhi,
Republic of India, from 8 to 13 December 2025. I would be grateful if you could
transmit this information to the national authorities in charge of the 2003
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in your country.
This session of the Committee will be preceded by an opening ceremony,
organized by the host country on Sunday, 7 December 2025. Registered
participants in the session are welcome to attend and more details will be provided
in due course.
Please find enclosed the provisional agenda for the session. Documents
corresponding to the items inscribed on this agenda will be published on the
webpage dedicated to the twentieth session (https://ich.unesco.org/en/20com) in
the two working languages of the Committee, English and French, by
10 November 2025 (all items except items 6.c, 8, 13, 14, 16) and
by 24 November 2025 (items 6.c, 8, 13, 14, 16). General information concerning
practical arrangements for the session will also be posted on the same webpage.
Out of concern for the environment and in order to reduce costs, hard copies of the
documents will not be provided. Furthermore, please be advised that all debates
will be transmitted live by webcast on the webpage dedicated to the session,
allowing participants to follow the meeting remotely.
Kindly confirm your country’s participation in this Committee session, as well as
the participation of the expert for whom financial assistance is requested, if relevant,
by registering online as soon as possible and before 10 November 2025 on the
following webpage: https://indico.un.org/event/1019922/. In the event that you
encounter technical difficulties, kindly send an e-mail to the Secretariat of the
Convention (
[email protected]).
…/…
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
7, Place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP France
T: +33 (0)1 45 68 01 78
-2-
Expenses incurred by participants will be borne by the government they represent.
Participation costs for representatives from developing States Parties to the
Convention may, however, be covered by the Fund for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage (‘the Fund’), subject to the availability of resources and
provided that such representatives are experts in intangible cultural heritage.
Kindly note that only one request for one expert per State Party shall be considered
for such assistance from the Fund.
Requests for financial assistance must reach the Secretariat of the Convention
(
[email protected]) no later than 23 October 2025 (Rule 5.5 of the Rules
of Procedure of the Committee). Nevertheless, taking into account UNESCO’s
regulations regarding the purchase of tickets, and to fulfil other administrative and
logistical requirements, I invite eligible States to send their request as soon as
possible. Such requests should be accompanied by the curriculum vitae of the
proposed expert, a scanned copy of her/his valid passport, her/his travel itinerary
(in particular, the departure city) and a supporting correspondence from the
relevant national authorities designating the expert (if the request is not directly
submitted by the national authorities).
For all enquiries concerning visas and other formalities required to enter India,
participants are invited to refer to the General Information document, which will
shortly be made available on the abovementioned webpage dedicated to the
twentieth session. To ensure visas are issued in time for the session, all
participants are strongly encouraged to take the necessary steps to obtain their
visa (including transit visas, where relevant) as soon as possible following the
completion of their online registration. Please bear in mind that only the authorities
of India may determine whether a visa is granted; the Secretariat will not be able
to intervene regarding decisions taken by the host country on visa applications.
Throughout the Committee session, a series of side events on the theme of living
heritage safeguarding may be organized outside the plenary meetings, in
coordination with the host country and subject to available spaces. Please consult
the webpage dedicated to the session for more information, including the calendar
of events which will be regularly updated with details of approved side events.
As is customary, a meeting of the ICH NGO Forum will take place on Sunday,
7 December 2025. Further information on the agenda for that meeting will be made
available at http://www.ichngoforum.org/.
Furthermore, an information and exchange meeting will be held at UNESCO
Headquarters on 23 October 2025 to present the working methods of the
Committee as well as practical information concerning this twentieth session. This
meeting will also be broadcast live on the webpage dedicated to the session. More
information will be provided in due course as to the modalities of participation.
…/…
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Thank you for your interest and support in the implementation of the Convention
for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Yours sincerely,
Ernesto Ottone R.
Enc.: Provisional agenda of the twentieth session of the Committee (Document
LHE/25/20.COM/2)
cc: Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Committee
Permanent Delegation of the Republic of India to UNESCO
Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO
National Commissions of the countries concerned
20 COM
LHE/25/20.COM/2
Paris, 9 October 2025
Original: English
CONVENTION FOR THE SAFEGUARDING OF THE
INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR THE
SAFEGUARDING OF THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
Twentieth session
New Delhi, Republic of India
8 to 13 December 2025
Item 2 of the provisional agenda:
Adoption of the agenda
Decision required: paragraph 1
LHE/25/20.COM/2 – page 2
1. The Committee may wish to adopt the following decision:
DRAFT DECISION 20.COM 2
The Committee,
1. Having examined document LHE/25/20.COM/2,
2. Adopts the agenda of its twentieth session (New Delhi, Republic of India, 8 to
13 December 2025) as follows:
Agenda
1. Opening
2. Adoption of the agenda
3. Observers
4. Adoption of the summary records of the nineteenth session of the Committee
5. Report by the Secretariat on its activities (January 2024 to June 2025)
6. Periodic reporting
a. Examination of the reports by States Parties on the current status of elements
inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
b. Examination of the reports of the regional cycle of periodic reporting on the
implementation of the Convention and on the current status of elements inscribed
on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by States
Parties in Asia and the Pacific
c. Update on the regional cycles of the Convention’s periodic reporting and proposal
for related amendments to the Operational Directives
7. Report of the Evaluation Body on its work in 2025
a. Examination of nominations for inscription on the List of Intangible Cultural
Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
b. Examination of nominations for inscription on the Representative List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
c. Examination of requests for transfer of elements from one list to the other
d. Examination of proposals to the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices
8. Treatment of files for the listing mechanisms of the Convention
9. Follow-up on elements inscribed on the Lists of the Convention
10. Report on International Assistance from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund
11. Broader implementation of Article 18 of the Convention
12. Thematic initiatives on living heritage and sustainable development
13. Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund: voluntary supplementary contributions and other
issues
14. Draft plan for the use of the resources of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund in 2026
and 2027
LHE/25/20.COM/2 – page 3
15. Report of the non-governmental organizations forum
16. Accreditation of new non-governmental organizations and review of accredited non-
governmental organizations
17. Establishment of the Evaluation Body for the 2026 cycle
18. Date and place of the twenty-first session of the Committee
19. Election of the members of the Bureau of the twenty-first session of the Committee
20. Report by the Committee to the General Assembly on its activities (January 2024 to
December 2025)
21. Other business
22. Adoption of the list of decisions
23. Closure