On 20th April 2006 UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICHC) entered into force. At this time, 30 States Parties had ratified it. Since then, the volume of support for the ICHC has increased and by June 2017 the number of states ratifying the Convention had increased to 174 (UNESCO 2003). This relatively rapid increase compares favourably with the much older 1972 World Heritage Convention (WHC), which has been accepted/ ratified by 193 State Parties in January 2017 (UNESCO 1972, see also Blake, this volume, p. 17). However, a number of states have been exceedingly cautious about engaging with the ICHC. These include states of different compositions and sizes from a range of locations worldwide. In Africa and the Middle East, absentees include Kuwait, Liberia, Libya, Sierra Leone and Somalia. Notable absentees from the Convention in Asia and the Pacific include Australia, New Zealand and Singapore as well as the Cook Islands, Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands. While much of Europe has engaged with the Convention, absentees include the United Kingdom (UK) and the Faroe Islands. Neither Canada nor the USA have ratified the Convention. Absentees from Latin America and the Caribbean include the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Monserrat and Saint Maarten.