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- to in Articles 2.3 and 14 of the Convention). In order to kick-start this process, the Secretariat had held a strategic intersectoral consultation meeting with the Regional Offices for Education and Education Institutes and Programmes in May 2017. The Secretary was glad to report that it had been extremely positive. Education colleagues acknowledged and understood that intangible cultural heritage can provide context-specific content and pedagogy for all levels of education on a wide range of topics, for example, education for sustainable development, education for the prevention of violent extremism, global citizenship education, and technical and vocational training. These were prominent in SDG 4 on quality education and lifelong learning for all. It was thus clear during that meeting that there was a sense of shared interest between colleagues from the two sectors, as integrating intangible cultural heritage into formal and non-formal education would benefit the ambitions of both, enhancing the transmission and safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, as well as addressing key issues in improving the quality and relevance of education. The intention was that this would be implemented primarily by UNESCOField Offices. It was clear that close collaboration with the Education Sector would be indispensable. Moreover, nine work plans of Field Offices for this current biennium (the 39 C/5 covering 2018 - 2019) would focus on this area.
- 124. The Secretary then addressed another important emerging area: intangible cultural heritage in emergencies . The Secretariat had been increasingly called upon to contribute th to UNESCO's global response, largely framed by the strategy adopted at the 38 session of the General Conference in 2015 to reinforce UNESCO's action for the protection of culture and for the promotion of cultural pluralism in the event of armed conflict, as well as its addendum on natural disasters. The Secretariat initiated a reflection on the role communities play in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage at risk in situations of emergency, and how this can be mobilized as a tool for preparedness, resilience and reconciliation through pilot projects and desk studies, some of which were financed by the Heritage Emergency Fund. The Secretariat was also actively engaged in the UNESCO initiative reviving the spirit of Mosul, in particular, as regards the intangible cultural heritage of Iraqi returnees to Mosul under a project funded by the European Union. The Secretariat also continued to support the preparation and implementation of Emergency International Assistance requests in Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Vanuatu. Reports on the activities carried at the sector level in this area were most relevant for intangible cultural heritage, and the Secretary explained that discussions had been initiated with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in view of establishing a partnership on a human-rights based approach to the safeguarding of cultural heritage, including intangible heritage, targeting, in particular, humanitarian, peace- keeping and peace-building practitioners. UNESCO had developed a training module on coordinating post-disaster needs assessments for culture (PDNA), which integrated the 'People, Place and Story' model to support the assessment of needs for intangible cultural heritage in the aftermath of disasters. Consideration for intangible cultural heritage was also progressively integrated within the framework of other Conventions, in principle, dealing with tangible heritage in the context of emergency preparedness, response and recovery. In the context of the World Heritage Convention, for example, the Secretary quoted the Warsaw Recommendation on Recovery and Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage, which had recently 2 been agreed in Warsaw in May 2018 at a conference organized to provide guidance for the reconstruction of destroyed or severely damaged World Heritage properties; this recognized that ' reconstruction of physical assets must give due consideration to their associated intangible practices, beliefs and traditional knowledge which are essential for sustaining cultural values among local communities. ' The recommendation also states that it is essential to understand and integrate in the reconstruction process the values identified in the heritage property by the local communities, including new values resulting from the traumatic events associated with the destruction together with the corresponding physical attributes and related intangible cultural practices and traditional knowledge.
- 125. Another new initiative concerned the outreach and communications plan . The Secretary referred to Information Document 7. The document outlined important steps taken by the