- multinational elements which were particularly important to Switzerland.
- 328. The delegation of Viet Nam supported the overall results framework as a very useful tool to evaluate and monitor the implementation of the Convention at the national and international levels. The delegation thanked all those who had contributed to the development of the framework, China, the working group, the experts and the Secretariat. Viet Nam was ready to cooperate with the Secretariat, NGOs and other countries in the implementation of this framework.
- 329. The delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic welcomed the framework and hoped that this would lead to success in implementing the Convention. It believed that the overall results framework, containing guidance notes and the various indicators, would help assess and evaluate the achievements of States Parties and thus determine the level of progress in implementing the Convention. Furthermore, it believed in the need for partnership within the Convention, with national, international and NGO actors having a clear role in this regard. The delegation wished to see contributions from the communities, i.e., those entrusted with the task of implementing these indicators and criteria, and it believed that country offices and UNESCO had a major role to play in implementing this framework. The delegation thanked the People's Republic of China for its efforts and generosity, as well as the open-ended working group and the Secretariat for their work.
- 330. The delegation of the Philippines saw the draft overall results framework as a comprehensive tool for taking the implementation and evaluation of the Convention forward to a newer and higher level. However, there were some factors to consider before adopting this new, ambitious framework. First, since the results framework would depend on information from periodic reports, the non-submission or late submission of these reports may hinder the development of the new system. Second, the large number of core indicators, as alluded to by some delegations, might pose a challenge to many States Parties that did not have existing procedures in place to measure these given the complexity of the framework that mayrequire substantial resources. For example, the 't hematic areas ' and i ndicators such as legal aspects, education, media, vulnerable groups, among others, would involve various ministries and line agencies. Thus, dedicated capacity building over a significant amount of time would be required for the results framework to bear fruition and become feasible as a template for all States Parties. Third, the objective was not to inadvertently create a quasi- grading system between States Parties as the indicators may superficially capture quantitative statistics over qualitative ones without really looking at the specificities of each element or community. This should be kept in mind as each State Party - and in fact each community - is different and faces different challenges, and of course each one has different resources and conditions to promote the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. However, this also presented new opportunities such as bringing the true objectives of the Convention to light more, as opposed to branding or listing elements, thus opening the door for a wider engagement of communities and accredited NGOs in the mechanisms of the Convention. Nevertheless, this would be challenging and must be approached in a progressive and incremental manner.
- 331. The delegation of India joined in the remarks so eloquently made by the Philippines regarding quantity over quality. It also wished to share the significant challenges faced by the country in implementing this framework. India is roughly five times the size of France. Its largest state, Uttar Pradesh, has a population of a little over 200 million, or about the same as the population of Brazil. In India, there are 640,860 villages, 53 cities with a population of over 1 million, 22 constitutionally recognized languages, 700 other languages, 1,400 dialects and of course 1.3 billion people to which 86 assessment factors would be applied to feed into 26 core indicators over 8 thematic groups. While it thanked the Secretariat and the working group for preparing this excellent report, the delegation again reiterated that the capacity- building exercise should not result in training people to fill out forms. The idea of the Convention was to promote intangible cultural heritage itself, which had existed for years and centuries, and in the case of India for millennia, having been passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, teacher to student within communities. However, when one element of