Kiri

Permanent Delegations of the States Parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 12 September 2024 Culture Sector The Assistant Director-General Ref.: CLT/LHE/24/70 Subject: Nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2 – 7 December 2024, Asunción, Republic of Paraguay) Dear Permanent Delegate, On behalf of the Director-General, I have the honour to invite your country to the nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which will take place at the Conmebol Convention Centre and Gran Bourbon Hotel in Asunción, Republic of Paraguay, from 2 to 7 December 2024. 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, 1 December 2024. 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 items inscribed on this agenda will be published on the webpage of the Convention dedicated to the nineteenth session (https://ich.unesco.org/en/19com) no later than 4 November 2024 in the two working languages of the Committee, English and French (Rule 42 of the Rules of Procedure of the Committee). General information concerning practical arrangements for the session has been posted on the above-mentioned webpage dedicated to the nineteenth session. Out of concern for the environment and in order to reduce costs, hard copies of the documents will not be provided unless they are specifically requested. In the event that you are unable to download the documents, kindly send an e-mail to the Secretariat of the Convention at: [email protected]. Please be advised that the debates of the meeting will be transmitted by webcast, which will be made available in real time on the webpage dedicated to the nineteenth session indicated above. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, Place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP France T: +33 (0)1 45 68 11 12  -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 persons 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 assistance must reach the Secretariat of the Convention no later than 7 October 2024 (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 logistical requirements, I invite eligible States to kindly send their request to the e-mail address of the Secretariat indicated above 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, and her/his travel itinerary. For all enquiries concerning visas and other formalities required to enter Paraguay, participants are requested to contact the embassy or consulate of Paraguay in their own country directly. The present letter, together with a letter stating the name(s) of your country’s representative(s), may be used when applying for a visa. If the host country of the Committee does not have diplomatic representation in your country, you may wish to send requests to the aforementioned e-mail address of the Secretariat of the Convention, which will transmit it to the host country. Please bear in mind that only the authorities of Paraguay may determine whether a visa is granted. 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 in any case before 4 November 2024 on the following webpage (https://indico.un.org/event/1013040/). In the event that you encounter technical difficulties, kindly send an e-mail to the Secretariat. 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 above-mentioned webpage dedicated to the nineteenth session for more information, including the calendar of events which will be regularly updated with details of approved side events. As is customary, a gathering of the ICH NGO Forum will take place on Sunday, 1 December 2024. Further information on the agenda for that meeting will be made available at: http://www.ichngoforum.org/. Furthermore, an information and exchange session will be held at UNESCO Headquarters on 1 October 2024 to present the working methods of the Intergovernmental Committee as well as practical information concerning this nineteenth session. This information and exchange meeting will also be broadcast live on the abovementioned webpage dedicated to the nineteenth session. More information will be provided in due course as to the modalities of participation.  -3- 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 nineteenth session of the Committee (Document LHE/24/19.COM/2) cc: Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Committee Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Paraguay to UNESCO Paraguay National Commission for cooperation with UNESCO National Commissions of the countries concerned