Morocco secured another diplomatic victory at UNESCO on Wednesday. During the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in New Delhi, the organization officially inscribed the caftan on the Intangible Heritage List in Morocco's name. The morning session was marked by a fresh attempt from the Algerian delegation to introduce an amendment seeking to designate the caftan as «shared» heritage with other countries. The Moroccan delegation immediately rejected the proposal, diplomatically recalling that while the caftan is indeed widespread across several regions, its origin, stylistic evolution, and cultural identity are fundamentally Moroccan. Algeria's move was also dismissed by several countries friendly to Morocco, notably the United Arab Emirates, Paraguay, and Burkina Faso, who voiced support for Rabat's position. Following the adoption of the final decision, Ambassador Samir Dhar, Morocco's permanent representative to UNESCO, condemned the «political instrumentalization» of the caftan file by «a State Party for political ends». This episode comes just two days after Algeria's first attempt to modify the session's agenda to add an amendment related to the «Wearing of the Caftan». Realizing that a vote would lead to another setback, Algiers ultimately withdrew its proposal, a move aimed at avoiding a second diplomatic defeat, after the failure of its candidacy to the UNESCO Executive Board on November 7. During that vote, Algeria's bid was rejected, while Morocco was elected with distinction, securing 146 votes, alongside Jordan (131) and Egypt (114).
