To the Parties to the Convention on the
Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions, not
Members of the Intergovernmental
Committee, and to the States Members
of UNESCO, not Parties to the
Convention
12 December 2025
Culture Sector
The Assistant Director-General
Ref: CLT/EO-CGM/DCE/25/10622
Subject: Nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the
Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
(17-20 February 2026)
Madam/Sir,
On behalf of the Director-General, I am pleased to invite your government to participate,
as observer, in the nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the
Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which will be
held at UNESCO Headquarters in Room I (Fontenoy Building) from
17 to 20 February 2026. The opening ceremony will take place on Tuesday,
17 February at 10 a.m. and registration will begin at 9 a.m. Please find enclosed the
provisional agenda for this session.
Further information as well as the working documents corresponding to the items
inscribed on the provisional agenda will be made available in accordance with the
statutory deadline (four weeks before the opening session of the Committee) at the
following address: https://www.unesco.org/creativity/en/statutory-meeting/nineteenth-
session-intergovernmental-committee. The working languages for the session will be
English and French, with simultaneous interpretation provided in both languages.
Travel and subsistence expenses of participants will be borne by the government they
represent. For all enquiries concerning visas or other formalities required to enter France,
I kindly invite you to contact the French consulate or mission in your city or country. The
present letter, together with a letter from your government indicating the name of your
country’s representative(s), may be used when applying for a visa.
…/…
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
7, Place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP France
T: +33 (0)1 45 68 11 15
I would be grateful if you could confirm your participation or that of your designated
representative(s) by registering online, no later than 23 January 2026, at the following
address: https://indico.un.org/event/1020510/. Should you have any questions, please
do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat of the Convention at the following email
address:
[email protected].
Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Ernesto Ottone R.
Enc.: Provisional agenda
Cc: Permanent Delegations to UNESCO of the States concerned
National Commissions for UNESCO of the States concerned
2005 Convention National Points of Contact of the States concerned
2/2
19 IGC
DCE/26/19.IGC/1
Paris, 5 December 2025
Original: English
INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE
FOR THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION
OF THE DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS
Nineteenth session
UNESCO Headquarters, Room I
17 – 20 February 2026
Item 1 of the provisional agenda: Adoption of the agenda
Decision required: paragraph 1
DCE/26/19.IGC/1 – page 2
1. The Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions (hereinafter “the Committee”) may wish to adopt the following
decision:
DRAFT DECISION 19.IGC 1
The Committee,
1. Having examined document DCE/26/19.IGC/1,
2. Adopts the agenda of its nineteenth session as follows:
Opening
1. Adoption of the agenda
2. Approval of the list of observers
3. Adoption of the detailed summary record of the eighteenth session of the
Committee
4. Report of the Secretariat on its activities and the implementation of the
Committee’s decisions (2025)
5. Collaboration with civil society and conclusions of the fifth edition of the Civil
Society Forum
6. Future activities of the Committee: workplan and calendar (2026-2027)
7. Implementation of the Convention in the digital environment
7.a Report on the implementation of the adopted recommendations
7.b Proposed revisions to the Operational Guidelines on the implementation
of the Convention in the digital environment
7.c Preliminary study on feasible legal options for the implementation of the
Convention in the digital environment
8. Report on the implementation of the adopted recommendations on Article 16
“Preferential Treatment for Developing Countries”
9. Implementation of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity
9.a Narrative report (2025) and recommended projects from the sixteenth call
for funding requests
9.b Provisional budget (2026-2027)
10. Outcomes of the celebrations for the twentieth anniversary of the Convention
(2025)
11. Date of the twentieth session of the Committee
12. Election of the members of the Bureau of the twentieth session of the
Committee
13. Other business
Closing