Paris, 17 October 2003
The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization hereinafter referred to as UNESCO, meeting in Paris, from
29 September to 17 October 2003, at its 32nd session,
Referring to existing international human rights instruments, in particular
to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 1948, the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, and the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights of 1966,
Considering the importance of the intangible cultural heritage as a
mainspring of cultural diversity and a guarantee of sustainable development, as
underscored in the UNESCO Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional
Culture and Folklore of 1989, in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural
Diversity of 2001, and in the Istanbul Declaration of 2002 adopted by the Third
Round Table of Ministers of Culture,
Considering the deep-seated interdependence between the intangible cultural
heritage and the tangible cultural and natural heritage,
Recognizing that the processes of globalization and social transformation,
alongside the conditions they create for renewed dialogue among communities,
also give rise, as does the phenomenon of intolerance, to grave threats of
deterioration, disappearance and destruction of the intangible cultural
heritage, in particular owing to a lack of resources for safeguarding such
heritage,
Being aware of the universal will and the common concern to safeguard the
intangible cultural heritage of humanity,
Recognizing that communities, in particular indigenous communities, groups
and, in some cases, individuals, play an important role in the production,
safeguarding, maintenance and re-creation of the intangible cultural heritage,
thus helping to enrich cultural diversity and human creativity,
Noting the far-reaching impact of the activities of UNESCO in establishing
normative instruments for the protection of the cultural heritage, in particular
the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of
1972,
Noting further that no binding multilateral instrument as
yet exists for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage.
