Intangible Cultural Heritage and Gender

The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) is a landmark development in UNESCO’s efforts to safeguard the world’s intangible heritage. However, the Convention does not address issues arising in the context of intellectual property. At the same time, the Convention requires State Parties to safeguard intangible cultural heritage through measures, including documentation, which can inadvertently expose this heritage to misappropriation by the intellectual property system, This situation could become the source of a “dilemma” for Arab countries, whishing to implement the UNESCO Convention, considering that no binding international norms have been developed in international bodies specialized in the area of intellectual property, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to prevent such misappropriation. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to complement the UNESCO 2003 Convention by legally binding measure that would both prevent the misappropriation of this heritage and guarantee a number of rights to its owners. Without this, efforts towards preserving and protecting this heritage will remain partial, fragmented and of limited effectiveness.