Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 17.COM 6.a.23

The Committee,

  1. Having examined document LHE/22/17.COM/6.a Rev.,
  2. Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decisions 4.COM 14.01, 6.COM 11, 9.COM 5.b.1 and 13.COM 7.b.2,
  3. Expresses its appreciation to Belarus for submitting, on time, its fourth report on the status of the element ‘The Rite of the Kalyady Tsars (Christmas Tsars)’, inscribed in 2009 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
  4. Takes note of the efforts undertaken by the State Party to safeguard the element, in particular through transmitting the element to younger generations, involving the community in its inventorying and in the transmission of associated knowledge and practices, such as traditional cuisine and crafts, promoting the element through exhibitions and media, ensuring regular monitoring and participatory approach to the safeguarding;
  5. Notes the adoption of a Community Protocol to regulate access to the rite and to define respective rules of conduct, and its usefulness for the community;
  6. Further takes note of the efforts of community members, organizations and institutions to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, by temporarily postponing the rite and adjusting the practice to the introduced hygiene protocols;
  7. Encourages the State Party to pursue its efforts to transmit the element to younger generations, uphold its social and cultural functions to the community, sustain the knowledge and practices of local cuisine and crafts associated to the element, promote it, and improve livelihoods of villagers through sustainable use of their heritage as a resource for community development;
  8. Invites the State Party to support the community in its wish to learn other domestic and foreign safeguarding practices and ethical principles, and to exchange experiences with other communities in different countries;
  9. Further encourages the State Party to continue its fundraising efforts and develop synergies among various funding sources;
  10. Requests that the Secretariat inform the State Party at least nine months prior to the deadline of 15 December 2025 about the required submission of its next report on the status of this element.

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