The country will be chairing the 21st session of the Unesco Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, officials announced.
The decision to hold the 2026 meeting in Xiamen, China, from Nov 30 to Dec 5 was finalised on Friday at the committee’s 20th regular session in New Delhi.
The committee is the statutory body of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
It meets once a year in a regular session to oversee the implementation of the convention, elaborate operational directives, examine periodic reports submitted by States Parties and evaluate nominations to Unesco’s Lists and Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage as well as requests for international assistance.
The Unesco committee, during its ongoing 20th session in New Delhi, decided to move China’s “Hezhen Yimakan storytelling” from the urgent protection list to the prestigious Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The committee also approved the inclusion of the safeguarding programme for Hezhen Yimakan’s storytelling in the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices. — Xinhua
