UN treaty to protect oral traditions enters into force

A United Nations treaty protecting the world’s oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, craftsmanship and knowledge of nature – the planet’s so-called intangible cultural heritage – came into force yesterday, three months after the 30th instrument of ratification was deposited.

“Contemporary lifestyles and the process of globalization are undermining considerably the living cultures inherited through tradition,” UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

“By offering them adequate means for their preservation, this instrument fills a legal loophole,” he added.

The treaty provides for drawing up national inventories of cultural elements that must be protected, the creation of an Intergovernmental Committee comprising experts from States Parties, and the creation of two lists: one covering the intangible heritage of humanity, and the other featuring parts of that heritage considered to be in urgent need of safeguarding.

Adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in 2003, it complements the agency’s normative instruments on the conservation of tangible cultural heritage. A total of 47 Member States have ratified the Convention to date.

It aims to safeguard oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible heritage, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, as well as know-how linked to traditional crafts.

The Convention stresses that intangible cultural heritage is transmitted from generation to generation, and at the same time is constantly being recreated by communities and groups whose sense of identity and continuity it reinforces.

Mindful of the need for urgent action, UNESCO has proclaimed 90 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage since 2001. This international distinction is aimed at raising public awareness of the value of intangible heritage and encouraging the adoption of action plans for its safeguarding. The Convention foresees the creation of a fund to further its aims, financed by States Parties and other sources.