Focal points for periodic reporting from countries across Asia and the Pacific (ASPAC) met in Jeonju, Republic of Korea, from 26 February to 1 March 2024, for a training on periodic reporting under the 2003 Convention.

The 5-day workshop, hosted by the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region, a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO, was opened by Mr Kyung Hoon Yi, Vice Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration. The opening ceremony also featured speeches by Ms Susanne Schnuttgen, Chief of the Capacity-Building and Heritage Policy Unit (UNESCO Living Heritage Entity), and Mr Ji Sung Kim, Director-General of ICHCAP.

Over the 5 days, the focal points received training on how to set up and undertake the periodic reporting exercise in their country. They received training on participatory methodologies for data collection, stakeholder participation in the reporting process and the use of the online form.

Asia and the Pacific is the fifth and final region to report under the Convention’s reformed periodic reporting mechanism, in place since 2018. This exercise will generate data on safeguarding living heritage in ASPAC in a systematic manner. The results will feed into the Global Report on Cultural Policies in 2025, a commitment adopted by the Ministers of Culture during the 2022 UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT).

The focal points were supported throughout the capacity-building process by the ASPAC chapter of the UNESCO facilitators network and the UNESCO Offices in the region, who will be critical in facilitating sub-regional follow-up training sessions.