site.btaUNESCO Picks Bulgaria as Centre for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage Yet Again

During the 42nd session of UNESCO’s General Conference, Bulgarian Culture Minister Krastyu Krastev and UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone signed an аgreement to extend for a period of 8 years of Sofia's designation as Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe, Krastev’s Ministry said on Monday. Entirely run by a Bulgarian team, the Centre under the auspices of UNESCO is one of the eight Category 2 regional centres in the world whose mission is to preserve humanity’s intangible cultural heritage.

"This is an important recognition of a job well done for me and the Regional Centre’s team. It is also a great responsibility – there are many significant tasks ahead of us in the next few years. I believe that through the necessary efforts and hard work, we will continue to contribute to keeping the intangible cultural heritage in South-Eastern Europe on par with the rest of the ones in the world", Regional Centre Sofia Executive Director Irena Todorova said.

The General Conference is taking place at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, from November 7 to 22, 2023. It is attended by all member states of the organization. The conference meets every two years and its duty is to set UNESCO's programmes and budget.  

The Regional Centre Sofia was officially inaugurated on February 20, 2012. Its founders are this country’s ministries of culture and foreign affairs and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The necessary funds for the Centre’s running costs are provided by the Government. For this purpose, a specific article in the Bulgarian Cultural Heritage Act was amended.