A/HRC/46/34/Add.1 Rapporteur was pleased to hear that the Department of Culture had created, together with the Department of Tourism, a festival to celebrate Tuvaluan intangible heritage and foster its transmission. However, she also took note of the need for legislative and other measures to ensure the effective preservation, transmission and development of intangible heritage. In particular, the craft sector would benefit greatly from economic measures, such as regulation of the prices of handicrafts and trade facilitation with other island States in the region. 46. To strengthen this work and in line with a holistic cultural rights approach to heritage, the Special Rapporteur encourages Tuvalu to ratify without delay the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, as was officially planned at the time of her visit. This instrument would provide a stronger framework for the work on heritage of the Department of Culture, including related to protection and promotion of meaningful buildings, sites, collections of artefacts and the Tuvalu National Library and Archives. 47. The Special Rapporteur had the opportunity to meet with the Chief Librarian and Archivist of the National Library and Archives. The country’s only library is housed about 20 metres from the shore and is threatened by sea level rise. It contains more than 200 boxes of original archival documents, such as the letter officially recognizing the country’s independence and the history of the island States of the region, as well as meteorological and tide records that are critical tools for global climate change-related research. She commends the Chief Librarian and Archivist for his determination to save this collection and the efforts invested to digitize parts of the collection for broader access and preservation, with international collaboration from peer libraries in Fiji and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, as stressed by the Chief Librarian, much more needs to be done to improve access to this documentary heritage, including for students and researchers, to protect the highly fragile material and to make the resources known to a wider public. This would include raising the current budget, but most importantly, moving the Tuvalu National Library and Archives to a new building farther from the shore and better adapted for the sustainable preservation of this unique collection. Its loss would impact Tuvaluans the most, but it would also harm many more in the region and beyond. The Special Rapporteur hopes that such tasks will be undertaken without delay. 48. Tuvalu does not have a national museum to gather, preserve and showcase significant artefacts and traces of the country’s history and heritage, nor does it have a single gallery space to showcase the work of artists and craftsmasters. Although there can be many ways of organizing such objects besides a single museum or space, from a cultural rights perspective, the emphasis should be on making heritage resources and creative productions accessible for all Tuvaluans to see, enjoy and learn from them. A national cultural centre could facilitate coordination and the sharing of responsibilities between the various authorities in the field of culture and could contribute to giving more tangible importance to culture, as well as to creating more spaces for the enjoyment of cultural life, including for youth. Such a site could bring together the offices of the Department of Culture and the Tuvalu National Library and Archives and include spaces for a museum and for performing arts, workshops and exhibitions. Considering the scarcity of existing infrastructure facilitating participation in cultural life, this project should be a priority. It would vastly improve the conditions necessary for the exercise of cultural rights by all. D. Public spaces for the exercise of cultural rights 49. As stated in the Special Rapporteur’s thematic report issued in 2019, public spaces are essential for the enjoyment and exercise of human rights in general and are particularly relevant for cultural rights. Public spaces include not only urban, but also rural and natural spaces and real as well as virtual or digital spaces. They should be accessible to all without discrimination and provide spaces where people can share in the project of building a common society based on human rights, equality and dignity, where they can find ways to develop vivre ensemble, to build what they have in common and to share their common humanity, while still nurturing and expressing their own identities. Authorities have obligations to guarantee human rights, including cultural rights, in public spaces, as well as the collective and participatory character of spaces, and should promote the creation and 11