Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decisions 6.COM 8.10 and 11.COM 9.b.2,

Expresses its thanks to Iran for submitting, on time, its report on the status of the element ‘Traditional skills of building and sailing Iranian Lenj boats in the Persian Gulf’, inscribed in 2011 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;

Takes note of the efforts undertaken by the State Party to safeguard the element, especially through the financial assistance of its governmental and local institutions to support the documentation, research, education, capacity building, awareness raising and revitalization of the element, as well as of its efforts to increase opportunities to ensure the livelihood of tradition bearers;

Further takes note of the role of educational and research institutions in the safeguarding process, including museums that serve as a space for awareness raising and training relating to the element, and of the establishment of the Persian Gulf Maritime School, which combines modern sailing skills with traditional knowledge;

Invites the State Party to continue its efforts to develop and implement innovative, effective and sustainable measures for the safeguarding of the element in the context of contemporary maritime and shipbuilding education and industry;

Encourages the State Party to take particular heed of the impact of tourism on the safeguarding of the element in order to prevent its decontextualization and to take due account in its safeguarding plan of any risks to the element as a result of increased tourism;

Further encourages the State Party to safeguard associated aspects of the element, including ceremonies and rituals, musical traditions and performances, as well as traditional sailing terminologies, stories and poems related to the element;

Requests that the Secretariat inform the State Party at least nine months prior to the deadline of 15 December 2023 about the required submission of its next report on the status of this element.