04000 General Conference resolution 36 C/Res.37 for Major Programme IV

The General Conference,

1.     Authorizes the Director-General:

       (a)     to implement the plan of action for Major Programme IV, structured around the following two biennial sectoral priorities and six main lines of action, with special emphasis on Africa, gender equality, youth, LDCs and SIDS and the most vulnerable segments of society, including indigenous peoples;

       (b)     to resort also in the implementation of the plan of action for Major Programme IV to South-South and North-South-South cooperation as complementary modalities for delivery of the programme and to continue to develop partnerships with civil society, the private sector, organizations of the United Nations system and other international organizations at all stages of programme development, in order to:

        Biennial sectoral priority 1: Protecting and promoting heritage and cultural expressions

          (i)      provide effective support to States Parties in implementing the 1972 World Heritage Convention through the organization of the statutory meetings of its governing bodies – the General Assembly of States Parties and the World Heritage Committee – and ensuring the timely and effective implementation of their decisions;

          (ii)      increase awareness of heritage protection and conservation through the further development of an integrated and comprehensive information and knowledge-management system, as well as through promotional and awareness-raising activities that enhance the visibility of the Convention, and to this end facilitate the greater involvement of young people, women, indigenous communities and vulnerable groups in World Heritage conservation;

          (iii)      promote cultural and natural heritage conservation as a key vector of sustainable development, social cohesion, dialogue and peace in particular by working with States Parties to manage the impact of tourism, urbanization and climate change;

          (iv)      undertake action to promote the inscription on the World Heritage List of properties from under-represented regions and of under-represented categories of heritage, and operational conservation projects in priority regions and countries, including for properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger and in post-conflict and post-disaster situations;

          (v)      reinforce standard-setting activities for the protection of cultural objects by supporting the statutory meetings of the High Contracting Parties to the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and of the Parties to its Second Protocol, as well as of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict established under the Second Protocol, and undertake capacity-building and awareness-raising activities at the international, regional and national levels;

          (vi)      ensure the effective implementation of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage by providing effective support to meetings of States Parties to the Convention, encouraging new ratifications and undertaking capacitybuilding and awareness-raising activities in Member States;

          (vii)      reinforce the implementation of the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, and provide support to the meetings of States Parties to the Convention, as well as to the meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation;

          (viii)      promote related awareness of and involvement in the UNESCO policy on fighting traffic in cultural property through capacity-building activities and information sharing, including the expansion, translation and updating of the UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws;

          (ix) ensure the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, by facilitating the decision-making process of its governing bodies and the advisory services of their subsidiary and consultative bodies; support and process requests for international assistance from the Fund for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage;

          (x)      enhance the safeguarding and transmission of the intangible cultural heritage by supporting States Parties in developing and/or strengthening national policies and human capacities in the field of the intangible cultural heritage; facilitate the participation of communities, practitioners, cultural actors, NGOs, non-profit making organizations, experts, and centres of expertise in the implementation of the Convention, with a special focus on youth and women; implement international assistance-funded safeguarding activities; and effective utilization of best practices for public awareness and strengthened safeguarding capacities, targeting, in particular, youth and women;

          (xi)      increase general awareness of the importance of the intangible cultural heritage and its safeguarding for sustainable development, social cohesion, dialogue and peace through the further development of an integrated and comprehensive information and knowledge-management system, as well as the effective promotion of best practices in safeguarding;

          (xii)      support the governing bodies of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions through the timely organization of statutory meetings and analysis of the periodic reports provided by States Parties, as well as by ensuring the effective management of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity, and the further development of knowledge-management resources and tools;

          (xiii)      develop awareness-raising activities to enhance the visibility of the Convention and further increase the number of States Parties thereto; support the development and strengthening of policies that promote the creation, production, distribution and enjoyment of cultural expressions, as well as the development of cultural industries at the national level; and collect and disseminate best practices in this regard;

        Biennial sectoral priority 2: Advocating the inclusion of culture and intercultural dialogue in development policies to foster a culture of peace and non-violence

          (xiv)      advocate the inclusion of culture in international development policies and its integration into United Nations joint programming exercises, including United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs), and develop strategic partnerships promoting the role of culture in sustainable development, through appropriate means;

          (xv)      strengthen management for sustainable development in cities through heritage preservation and the Creative Cities Network, and enhance cooperation between cities of developed and developing countries;

          (xvi)      continue efforts to create an enabling environment for the emergence of cultural and creative industries, and for their positive impact on socio-economic development in developing countries;

          (xvii)      mobilize innovative partnerships to promote and strengthen the role of museums as social, educational and economic channels, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries (LDCs), in order to build their capacities in the fields of safeguarding the heritage, raising awareness of cultural diversity, and promoting economic entrepreneurship in local handicrafts, cultural industries and cultural tourism;

          (xviii)      demonstrate the role of cultural expressions, arts education and heritage in fostering dialogue and social cohesion, especially in post-conflict and post-disaster contexts, paying special attention to the needs of youth;

          (xix)      promote the pedagogical use of the UNESCO general and regional histories, in particular the General History of Africa through the production of teaching materials and their integration into school curricula;

          (xx)      consolidate efforts to promote dialogue among cultures and increase awareness of cultural interactions, through flagship projects such as the Slave Route project: Resistance, Liberty, Heritage, the Silk Road project, the intersectoral initiative Rabindranath Tagore, Pablo Neruda and Aimé Césaire for a Reconciled Universal, the Arabia Plan, and the Roads to Independence: the African Liberation Heritage project;

          (xxi)      promote multilingualism and enhance the intercultural skills of youth through information and communication technologies (ICTs);

          (xxii)      Promote and protect indigenous and endangered languages; contribute financially to the implementation of activities regarding multilingualism through extrabudgetary resources, with a view to ensuring linguistic diversity and endogenous development;

        (c)      to allocate for this purpose an amount of $15,708,400 for activity costs, and $36,504,800 for staff costs;

2.     Requests the Director-General:

        (a)      to implement the various activities authorized by this resolution, to the maximum extent possible, through intersectoral platforms;

        (b)      to report periodically to the governing bodies, in the statutory reports, on the achievement of the following expected results, including relevant performance indicators:

             Main line of action 1: Protecting and conserving cultural and natural heritage through the effective implementation of the 1972 Convention

             (1)      The 1972 World Heritage Convention effectively implemented;

             (2)      Contribution of World Heritage properties to sustainable development enhanced;

             (3)      Cultural and natural heritage protection and promotion strengthened, especially in Africa, in post-conflict and post-disaster situations, in small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs);

          Main line of action 2: Enhancing the protection of cultural property and fighting against traffic in cultural property through the effective implementation of the 1954, 1970 and 2001 Conventions

            (4)      Protection of cultural properties through the effective implementation of the 1954 Convention and its two Protocols enhanced;

            (5)      Effective implementation of the 2001 Convention encouraged and international cooperation for the preservation of the underwater cultural heritage increased;

            (6)      Implementation of the 1970 Convention made effective and reinforced, and measures enabling the fight against the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property strengthened;

           Main line of action 3: Safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage through the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention

            (7)      Safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage enhanced through the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention;

            (8)      The role of the governing bodies of the 2003 Convention strengthened, particularly through the effective organization of the statutory meetings;

            (9)      The national safeguarding capacities of Member States in particular of developing countries, strengthened;

           Main line of action 4: Sustaining and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions through the effective implementation of the 2005 Convention

            (10)      The 2005 Convention effectively implemented;

            (11)      Policies, measures and programmes pertaining to the 2005 Convention supported and strengthened at the national, regional and international levels;

            (12)      Information and best practices on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions identified, disseminated and shared with States Parties to the 2005 Convention;

            (13)      The role of culture in sustainable development fostered through creative and cultural industries and initiatives that encourage joint projects to promote cultural innovation, production and exchange as vectors of growth;

           Main line of action 5: Promoting the role of culture in development at the global, regional and national levels

            (14)      Approaches to culture and development clarified in order to guide and assist Member States in devising inclusive development policies;

            (15)      The role of culture in sustainable development better integrated into international development policies and within United Nations common country programming exercises in order to reinforce social inclusion and community cohesion, human development and economic growth;

            (16)      Contributions of cities to sustainable development enhanced;

            (17)      Activities in the fields of books, translation and crafts promoted;

            (18)      Social, economic and educational roles of museums as vectors of sustainable development and intercultural dialogue promoted and capacity-building in this area strengthened, in particular in developing countries;

            (19)      Indigenous and endangered languages promoted and protected;

          Main line of action 6: Promoting intercultural dialogue, social cohesion and a culture of peace and non-violence

            (20)      Heritage promoted as a vector of dialogue, cooperation and mutual understanding, especially in post-conflict countries as a specific component of broader initiatives to promote innovative and creative approaches to culture as a bridge to sustainable social, economic and human development;

            (21)      Promotion and use of the general and regional histories published by UNESCO strengthened, for educational purposes;

            (22)      Knowledge of the slave trade, slavery and the African diaspora enhanced;

            (23)      Conditions, capacities and arrangements for intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace strengthened locally, nationally and regionally;

3.      Also requests the Director-General to report in her six-monthly statutory reports on the execution of the programme adopted by the General Conference on measures taken to optimize the use of resources in the implementation of programme activities, including travel, contractual services and publications;

4.      Further requests the Director-General to implement the programme in such a manner that the expected results defined for the two global priorities, Africa and gender equality, pertaining to Major Programme IV are also being fully achieved.