LHE/20/8.GA/INF.1 - page 77

- Vice-Chair invited Russia, who had wished to speak earlier on the previous item.
- 410. The delegation of the Russian Federation (Observer) , although a non-State Party to the Convention, observed carefully and attentively the work carried out under the Convention. It was very impressed by the competence of the Secretariat, and despite the fact that it only held the status of Observer, it nevertheless had elements on the Representative List. The delegation believed that the move to regional periodic reports and the idea of capacity building, exchanging experience and good practices at the regional level was a wonderful opportunity for dialogue, and it hoped to participate in regional consultations as active Observers and thus learn more about drafting these reports.
- 411. The Vice-Chairperson reminded the Assembly that the Bureau meeting would be held the following morning and that it was open to Observers.
- 412. The Secretary informed the Assembly that the audiovisual exhibition would continue with youth videos, and delegations were invited to record their own personal, living heritage stories. Also, the facilitators of the capacity-building programme were invited the following morning for a meeting with the Secretariat.
- 413. The Vice-Chairperson adjourned the day's session.
- 414. The Secretary wished to remind the Assembly that the morning session would begin with agenda item 14 and the election of the Members of Committee, as approved in the timetable.

### [Wednesday 6 June, morning session]

## ITEM 14 OF THE AGENDA: ELECTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR THE SAFEGUARDING OF THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE Document: ITH/18/7.GA/14 Document: ITH/18/7.GA/INF.14.Rev.9 Resolution: 7.GA 14

### [The Chairperson reprised her role]

- 415. The Chairperson began by thanking the Vice-Chair from Serbia who had chaired the previous session so effectively during her absence in the examination of items 10 and 11. The morning session would begin with the election of the members of the Committee under agenda item 14. Following the election and pending the vote count, the Bureau had decided to continue the Assembly's work by examining agenda items 12 and 13, after which the results of the election would be made known before continuing with the remaining items on the agenda. The Chairperson invited the Secretariat to present the election of the members of the Committee.
- 416. The Secretariat, Ms Fumiko Ohinata , recalled that in conformity with Article 6 of the Convention, every two years the General Assembly shall renew half of the States Members of the Committee. In accordance with Article 14.1 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, the Secretariat requested that all States Parties indicate three months before the opening of the session of the Assembly whether they intended to stand for election to the Committee. The Secretariat then published the provisional list of candidate States Parties four weeks before the opening of the Assembly, as contained in Information Document 14. The latest version was issued that morning. The Secretariat also provided information in Information Document 14 on all the compulsory and voluntary contributions made by each of the candidates to the ICH Fund. These revisions were necessary because some States withdrew their candidacies, or the state of compulsory and voluntary contributions of candidate States had to be updated. The Secretariat confirmed that all the candidates for election had satisfied their obligations to the Fund, as required by Article 26.5 of the Convention and Rule 14.2 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, and were thus