Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 13.COM 7.B.8

The Committee,

  1. Having examined document ITH/18/13.COM/7.b,
  2. Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decisions 4.COM 14.07 and 9.COM 5.b.3,
  3. Expresses its thanks to Latvia for submitting, on time, its second report on the status of the element ‘Suiti cultural space’, inscribed in 2009 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
  4. Takes note of the continued efforts undertaken by Latvia to safeguard the element and, in particular, to support its transmission and the successful integration of suiti traditions into formal and non-formal education;
  5. Invites the State Party to continue giving the suiti community and its associations a central role in planning and implementing the safeguarding initiatives, in particular those with a medium- to long-term outlook;
  6. Encourages the State Party to consolidate its commitment to safeguarding the element by enhancing related research and documentation, raising awareness of its importance as well as developing entrepreneurship and creative industries, bearing in mind the possible negative impacts that over-commercialization could have on the social and cultural functions and meanings of the element;
  7. Further invites the State Party to seek new patterns to diversify the fundraising channels in order to implement additional safeguarding measures and to explore new methods for the promotion of the element so as to ensure greater efficiency in the use of the funds and the sustainability of the safeguarding efforts;
  8. Requests that the Secretariat inform the State Party at least nine months prior to the deadline of 15 December 2021 about the required submission of its next report on the status of this element.

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