The UN’s cultural agency has recognized traditions and customs from all over the world at the 20th Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee session in Delhi this week.

The UNESCO meeting’s adoption of Diwali on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list secured early headlines in India and beyond for the week-long gathering, which runs until Saturday.

But dozens of cultural practices, skills and traditions have been singled out for recognition, or, in some cases, had their status altered in recognition of successful efforts to safeguard them since they were first identified as knowledge at risk of being lost. Some notable examples follow.

Swiss yodeling

Alpine wanderers surely wailed with glee at the recognition for yodeling, added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

"As the emblematic song of Switzerland, yodeling encompasses a wide variety of artistic expressions and is deeply rooted in the population," the Swiss Culture Ministry said. "As a characteristic vocal technique, yodeling alternates between chest and head voice and uses meaningless syllables that are often associated with local dialects."

Swiss practitioners of yodeling, such as professional teacher Nadja Räss, can now sing of UNESCO recognition of their noisy artImage: Michael Probst/AP Photo/picture alliance

While yodeling is also sung in Austria and Germany, Switzerland pursued the nomination independently.

Italian cuisine

You’re probably thinking pizza and pasta, but Italy’s government was explicit in seeking recognition for the wider definition of *cucina italiana *("Italian cuisine").

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has championed "Made in Italy" products as part of her right-wing government’s nationalist agenda. She said the designation "honors who we are and our identity."

Italy lit up the Colosseum in Rome, itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated way back in 1980, to honor the national cuisine’s entry onto the cultural heritage listImage: Remo Casilli/REUTERS

"Because for us Italians, cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes. It is much more: it is culture, tradition, work, wealth," Meloni said in a statement.

The art of breeding Turkmen Alabay

The Alabay, or Alabai or Central Asian Shepherd dog, is one of the largest and most powerful dog breeds on the planet.

Bred to follow and protect livestock on the vast expanses of the steppe from predators like wolves and even humans, the dogs are native to several central Asian countries.

But they’re a particular point of pride in Turkmenistan. Although the national animal is the Akhal-Teke horse, Alabays are revered dogs deemed a national treasure. A golden statue to honor the breed was unveiled in the capital, Ashgabat, in 2020.

Despite their imposing physiques, Alabays are known for a calm demeanor, at least until they’re provokedImage: Vyacheslav Sarkisyan/REUTERS

Alabay pups are also a common gift to foreign leaders when Turkmen politicians go on state visits, in countries including South Korea, Russia and Turkey in recent years.

Turkic yurt-making knowledge and skills

The knowledge and skills involved in making traditional Turkic nomadic dwellings, known as yurts, were first inscribed on the list in 2014.

But initially it was registered as intangible cultural hertiage from Krgyyzstan and Kazakhstan. As of 2025’s meeting, Uzbekistan joins the list in recognition of the Karakalpak yurts most commonly associated with the northwest of the country have been added to the designation.

Yurts, like this one not far from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, provide shelter and are more resilient against earthquakes than many more solid structuresImage: Vladimir Voronin/AP Photo/picture alliance

Yurts can also often be found in Turkmenistan and Mongolia, as well as in parts of China and Russia. One reason they are favored over basic wooden and stone structures is their impressive resilience against earthquakes, owing to their circular design and flexible frame.

Safeguarding efforts lauded in China, Croatia and the Middle East

Efforts to preserve and maintain cultural knowledge previously highlighted as endangered were also praised at the meeting in Delhi.

When Hezhen Yimakan storytelling was first inscribed, "only five storytellers were still capable of performing certain Yimakan cantos, and the traditional practices associated with the Hezhen oral narratives faced several threats," UNESCO wrote on its website. The oral storytelling tradition is a core component of the historical worldview of the minority Hezhen ethnic group.

Community and school programs as part of a safeguarding program have helped revivify the practice, meaning it was removed from the list of practices in "urgent need of safeguarding" and instead put on the main intangible cultural heritage list.

A safeguarding program was also put in place to try to protect Al Sadu weaving knowledge between 2011 and 2013, with the "knowhow preserved by a dwindling number of older women" at the time.

Al Sadu is a tradition Bedouin weaving craft from the Arabian PeninsulaImage: Ashraf Amra/APA Images/ZUMA/picture alliance

UNESCO said various actors’ efforts had since "ensured the continuity and transmission of the element while creating employment and income-generating opportunities for many people."

And in Croatia, efforts to engage young people with the history and tradition of the "Lastovo Poklad" carnival that takes place between January and Ash Wednesday was lauded for promoting "an increased practice and awareness among younger generations."

Edited by: Sean Sinico