India has been elected to the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage

India has been elected to the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural  Heritage

India has been elected to the Inter-Governmental Committee of UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Protection of Intangible CulturalHeritage (ICH) for the period 2022-2026. India has served as a member of the ICH committee twice, from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018. It will help India to promote community participation, strengthen international cooperation through intangible heritage, promote academic research on intangible cultural heritage and align thework of the Convention with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

India will endeavor to encourage intra-state international dialogue for the Convention to appropriately reflect the diversity and importance of living heritage.

UNESCO convention for the protection of intangible heritage

The Convention on the Protectionof the Intangible Cultural Heritag was adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2003 and entered into force in 2006. It consists of 24 members and is elected by the General Assembly of the Convention according to the principles of equal geographical representation and rotation. The members of the committee are elected for a term of four years.Recognized Indian Heritage as ICH

ICH's prestigious UNESCO Representative List of Humanity includes 14 Intangible Cultural Heritage of India. Apart from Durga Puja, there are 13 traditions recognized by UNESCO as ICH in India.

Intangible Cultural Heritage

Intangible Cultural Heritage is the practices, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities, groups and sometimes individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. It is also called living cultural heritage.