The next session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2013, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced Friday.

The decision was made at the close of the 7th session of the Committee, which met at UNESCO headquarters from Monday to Friday. The Baku session will coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Nearly 800 delegates attended the 7th session and examined periodic reports submitted by 16 States Parties to the Convention concerning legislative, regulatory, institutional or other measures for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and the impact of inscription on the Representative List.

The Committee also evaluated about 60 candidates for inscription and finally added four new elements to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and 27 elements to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Meanwhile, two new inscriptions were selected to the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices.

The Committee also granted four international assistance requests totaling $660,000 during the session.

The List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding now totals 31 elements and the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity now numbers 257 elements. The Register of Best Safeguarding Practices numbers 10 programs.