Relevant organs of the Convention

Assembly of States parties

The assembly of States parties is the highest authority of the Convention for the protection of the intangible cultural heritage, and holds an ordinary session every two years. If it makes such a decision or the Intergovernmental Committee for the protection of the intangible cultural heritage or at least one third of the States parties so request, it may hold a special session. The General Assembly should adopt its own rules of procedure.

Intergovernmental Committee for the protection of intangible cultural heritage

After the entry into force of the Convention for the protection of the intangible cultural heritage in accordance with Article 34, the Intergovernmental Committee for the protection of the intangible cultural heritage shall be composed of representatives of 18 states parties elected by the States parties participating in the conference. After the number of States parties to the Convention for the protection of the intangible cultural heritage reaches 50, the number of member states of the committee will increase to 24.
Without prejudice to the other functions and powers conferred on the committee by the Convention, its functions are as follows:
1、 Publicize the objectives of the Convention, encourage and monitor its implementation;
2、 Put forward suggestions on good practices and measures to protect intangible cultural heritage;
3、 In accordance with the provisions of Article 25, draw up a plan for the use of the fund funds and submit it to the general assembly for approval;
4、 In accordance with the provisions of Article 25, strive to find ways and means to increase its funds, and take necessary measures to this end;
5、 Prepare operational guidelines for the implementation of the Convention and submit them to the general assembly for approval;
6、 Consider the reports of States parties and submit a summary of the reports to the general assembly in accordance with Article 29;
7、 In accordance with the objective selection criteria established by the Committee and approved by the general assembly, consider the applications submitted by States parties and make decisions on the following matters:
（1） Included in the list and nomination referred to in Articles 16, 17 and 18;
（2） Provide international assistance in accordance with Article 22.

Review body

In accordance with Article 8, paragraph 3, of the Convention, the Committee of review bodies established an advisory body called the "review body" to complete the application for inclusion in the list of intangible cultural heritage in urgent need of protection and the list of representative works of human intangible cultural heritage, the recommendation of plans, projects and activities that best reflect the principles and objectives of the Convention, and the review of applications for international assistance of more than 100000 US dollars. The review body will make recommendations to the Committee for its decision. Taking into account equitable geographical representation and various fields of intangible cultural heritage, the committee shall designate twelve members to constitute the review body, namely, six qualified experts in various fields of intangible cultural heritage and six accredited non-governmental organizations representing states parties that are not members of the Committee.
The term of office of the members of the review body shall not exceed four years. The committee should replace one quarter of the members of the review body every year. The Secretariat shall notify the States parties of the electoral groups of the vacancies to be filled no later than three months before the opening of the session of the Committee. At least six weeks before the opening of the session, the chairman of the relevant election group shall send the materials of up to three candidates to the Secretariat. Once appointed by the committee, the members of the review body shall act impartially in the interests of all States parties and the Convention.
The review body shall submit a review report to the committee, including the following recommendations:
1、 Include or exclude the declared heritage items in the list of intangible cultural heritage to be protected or the representative list of human intangible cultural heritage, or return them to the declaring country for supplementary information;
2、 Select or not select the recommended plan, project or activity, or return it to the reporting country for supplementary information; or
3、 Approve or disapprove the application for international assistance, or return it to the reporting country for additional information.

Source: Convention for the protection of intangible cultural heritage