From 7 to 13 December 2025, New Delhi, India, hosted the 20th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Our Chair was represented by Prof. Hanna Schreiber, UNESCO Chair Holder, and Mateusz Zając, Assistant to the UNESCO Chair and a PhD candidate.
The Committee met at the Red Fort (Lal Qila), a 17th-century red sandstone complex built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1592–1666). A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007, the Red Fort served for nearly 200 years as the main residence of the rulers of the Mughal Empire and provided a historic setting for deliberations shaping the future of intangible cultural heritage worldwide.
During the session, the Committee approved 54 new inscriptions to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Among the newly inscribed elements were Polish basketry traditions. We extend our special recognition and sincere appreciation to basketry communities across Poland and to everyone dedicated to preserving and practising this craft around the world. The session also marked the inscription of Deepavali on the Representative List, and we extend our congratulations to our Indian hosts.
In addition, 11 elements were inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. We wish all the communities represented on this list every success in their safeguarding efforts, so that these elements can soon be transferred to the Representative List.
The session also brought encouraging news: two elements were transferred from the Urgent Safeguarding List to the Representative List (Al Sadu, traditional weaving skills in the United Arab Emirates, and Hezhen Yimakan storytelling in China), and one element was added to the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices (Community safeguarding and documenting of the “Lastovo Poklad” carnival custom in Croatia), highlighting the tangible results of long-term safeguarding work.
The Committee’s programme was complemented by a range of side events and expert meetings. On Monday, 8 December, Prof. Hanna Schreiber participated in a panel organized by the UNESCO Secretariat, Spain, and the ICH NGO Forum Executive Board, “Living Heritage and Sustainability: The Role of Accredited NGOs in Advancing the UN Development Agenda after MONDIACULT 2025,” which reflected on the outcomes of MONDIACULT 2025 (Barcelona, Spain). In her contribution, she addressed the challenges and gaps in the emerging AI governance agenda, as framed in the MONDIACULT 2025 Outcome Document, with regard to the role of NGOs in controlling living heritage data and access to intangible cultural heritage.
On Tuesday, 9 December, Prof. Schreiber presented the recent activities of her UNESCO Chair team and delivered a keynote address at the First Annual Forum of UNESCO Chairs on Intangible Cultural Heritage, organized on the initiative of Prof. Pier Luigi Petrillo from Sapienza University of Rome, under the theme “Democratising Intangible Cultural Heritage.” In her speech, she presented the results of the latest joint research conducted with Dr Julia Krzesicka-Haberko, a member and assistant of the UNESCO Chair. The research paper, entitled “Where is ‘democracy’ in the ‘most democratic heritage treaty’? An Investigation of the 2003 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention,” that will be published soon in the International Journal of Heritage Studies, draws on an analysis of official UN and UNESCO documents and data, as well as interviews with officials and experts, to examine how the actors of the 2003 Convention apply and interpret democratic terminology. On this occasion, we would also like to congratulate all living heritage UNESCO Chairs—19 worldwide—on their inspiring work and wish them continued success in their future initiatives.
Further strengthening our engagement, Prof. Schreiber also participated on Friday, 12 December, in the meeting of the Working Group on Legal and Policy Development of the ICH NGO Forum, which she co-founded with Prof. Janet Blake. The session reviewed the Group’s activities over the past year and provided an opportunity to discuss priorities for future work with the audience.
The Committee session was also significant for PhD candidate Mateusz Zając, who gained valuable first-hand experience observing UNESCO’s decision-making processes and conducted key interviews with experts from the UNESCO Global Network of Facilitators, making an important contribution to his doctoral research.
We extend our sincere thanks to the organisers for their excellent hospitality and to all partners of our UNESCO Chair engaged in implementing the 2003 Convention. We look forward to continuing this shared work and to meeting again at the General Assembly of the States Parties to the 2003 Convention, planned for June 2026 in Paris, and at the end of November and the beginning of December 2026 in Xiamen, China, the host of the 21st session of the Committee (21.COM).
