ABU DHABI — As many as 114 countries, which are signatories to Convention to Safeguard the Intangible Heritage, will attend the fourth conference of UNESCO’s Inter-governmental Committee to Safeguard Intangible Heritage, which begins in Abu Dhabi today.
Also present at the five-day conference will be representatives of more than 50 societies, regional associations and non-government organsiations.
The meeting will discuss the nomination for UNESCO’s Intangible List of World Heritage.
“The hosting of such a crucial meeting is the epitomisation of ADACH’s efforts since 2003, in collaboration with UNESCO and other organisations concerned with the intangible heritage,” said Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, director-general of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. The cultural authority had, in 2005, launched its own strategy for safeguarding, managing and promoting the cultural heritage of Abu Dhabi.
“This meeting under the chairmanship of the UAE, will discuss many of the issues concerning the intangible heritage, especially the expansion of the world’s register of intangible heritage to include more elements in the representation list, and the activation of the 2003 convention to safeguard the intangible heritage after the signatory countries finish their national register of such heritage elements,” added Al Mazrouei.