The youth joining in the occasion © National Heritage Fund, Mauritius, 2015 & Nipon Medhi, 2015

From November 26 to December 1 2018, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will come together for its thirteenth session in Port Louis, Republic of Mauritius. Nearly 800 participants – representatives of States Parties, non-governmental organizations, cultural institutions and other stakeholders – from all corners of the world are expected to attend the meeting. The agenda, provisional timetable, and documents of the meeting are available for consultation at the meeting’s dedicated webpage (https://ich.unesco.org/en/13com).

An opening ceremony organized by national authorities of Mauritius is scheduled to take place in the gardens of the Maritim Resort & Spa on Sunday, November 25 2018, at 7 p.m. All the participants to the Committee are warmly invited to this ceremony.

All delegates are also welcome to attend an event ‘Dive into Intangible Cultural Heritage’ which will take place at 1.30 p.m. on November 26. The event will showcase a new dynamic and interactive web-based tool, developed using innovative technology to offer an alternative way of visualizing the vast array of living heritage practices and expression inscribed on the Lists and Register of the Convention. It allows demonstrating the inter-relatedness of cultural practices enacted by communities in all corners of the world.

On Tuesday November 27 at 1.30 p.m., a roundtable discussion is organized about the global network of facilitators of the capacity-building programme. The aim of the event is to raise awareness about this network, and to encourage States Parties to use it to support their work in implementing the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

As the start of the meeting is fast approaching, those participants who did not register yet are invited to do so at : https://ich.unesco.org/en/registration-01006.