Established by the 2003 Convention, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund essentially provides assistance to States Parties in their efforts for safeguarding.
Use of the Fund
Article 7(c) of the Convention requests the Committee to ‘prepare and submit to the General Assembly for approval a draft plan for the use of the resources of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, in accordance with Article 25’. Article 25.4 of the Convention further provides that the use of the resources of the Fund by the Committee ‘shall be decided on the basis of guidelines laid down by the General Assembly’. Those guidelines were adopted by the General Assembly of the States Parties in its second session in 2008 and are found in Chapter II.1 of the Operational Directives for the Implementation of the Convention.
States can request International Assistance from the Fund:
- How to request assistance
- Assistance granted
The General Assembly approved the plan for the use of the resources of the Fund for the period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023 (Resolution 9.GA 10) for an indicative amount of 8.7 million US$:
- Working document of General Assembly on the use of the Fund for 2022/2023:
LHE/22/9.GA/10: English|French|Spanish|Russian|Arabic|Chinese
Contributions
Assessed contributions to the Fund
- latest: English/French
- for the period 01/01/2022 to 31/12/2023: English|French
Obligatory contribution
The States having ratified the Convention make an annual obligatory contribution, corresponding to 1% of their contribution to the regular budget of UNESCO.
Voluntary supplementary contributions
Voluntary supplementary contributions may also be made not only by States, but also by any other donor, including public or private organizations and individuals. These contributions can be:
Funding priorities (2022 - 2025)
- Priority 1 - Strengthening capacities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage: English|French
- Priority 2 - Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in formal and non-formal education: English|French
- earmarked for specific purposes, subject to approval by the Intergovernmental Committee to support projects for which States are invited to inform the Secretariat through a letter of intent three months prior to the Committee meeting at which their proposal will be examined (Model letters: English|French);
- donated to the sub-fund created within the Fund in June 2010 to be used exclusively for enhancing the human capacities of the Secretariat, in accordance with Resolution 3.GA.9 (Model letters: English|French);
- unrestricted, used according to the plan for the use of the resources of the Fund approved by the General Assembly of the State Parties every two years (Model letters: English|French).
| Voluntary contributor (States) | Nature of the contribution |
|---|---|
| Azerbaijan | Earmarked for a specific purpose Sub-fund |
| Bulgaria | Sub-fund |
| Burkina Faso | Sub-fund |
| China | Sub-fund Earmarked for a specific purpose |
| Estonia | Unrestricted |
| Finland | Sub-fund |
| France | Earmarked for a specific purpose Sub-fund |
| Georgia | Sub-fund |
| Hungary | Sub-fund |
| Indonesia | Sub-fund |
| Japan | Earmarked for a specific purpose Sub-fund |
| Kazakhstan | Sub-fund |
| Kuwait | Earmarked for a specific purpose |
| Lithuania | Sub-fund |
| Monaco | Earmarked for a specific purpose Unrestricted Sub-fund |
| Montenegro | Sub-fund |
| Norway | Earmarked for a specific purpose |
| Netherlands | Earmarked for a specific purpose Unrestricted |
| Oman | Unrestricted |
| Palestine | Sub-fund |
| Portugal | Sub-fund |
| Republic of Korea | Sub-fund Earmarked for a specific purpose |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Unrestricted |
| Slovakia | Sub-fund |
| Slovenia | Sub-fund |
| Spain | Earmarked for a specific purpose Sub-fund |
| Sweden | Sub-fund |
| Switzerland | Earmarked for a specific purpose |
| Turkey | Earmarked for a specific purpose |
| United Arab Emirates | Sub-fund |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | Sub-fund |
| Voluntary contributor (Category 2 centres under the auspices of UNESCO) | Nature of the contribution |
|---|---|
| International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP) | Earmarked for a specific purpose |
| Voluntary contributor (private bodies) | Nature of the contribution |
|---|---|
| Associazione per la salvaguardia del patrimonio culturale immateriale | Sub-fund |
| Fondazione Museo del Violino Antonio Stradivari | Sub-fund |
| Norwegian Centre of Traditional Music and dance | Sub-fund |
| Swiss-Japanese Chamber of Commerce | Unrestricted |