heritage are of outstanding interest and therefore need to be preserved as “part of the world heritage of mankind as a whole”; hence the need to establish an “effective system of collective protection of the cultural and natural heritage of outstanding 1 universal values.” The 2003 UNESCO Convention seeks to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage (to this end, it invokes the international instruments on human rights), defined as “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills (...) that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of 2 their cultural heritage.” 11. The recent 2005 UNESCO Convention was preceded by its 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, which defines cultural diversity as the common heritage of humanity , and states its aspiration to greater solidarity on the basis of 3 recognition of cultural diversity, of “awareness of the unity of humankind.” Following the 2001 Declaration, the 2005 Convention, adopted (on October 20, 2005) after 4 extensive debates, reaffirmed the definition of cultural diversity as the common heritage of humanity, explaining that “culture takes diverse forms across time and space” and this diversity is embodied “in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities and cultural expressions of the peoples and societies making up 5 humanity.” The Convention added that cultural diversity can only be protected and 6 promoted through the safeguard of human rights. 12. In my opinion, the universal juridical conscience has evolved towards a clear recognition of the relevance of cultural diversity for the universality of human rights and vice-versa. It has further developed toward the humanization of International Law and the creation, at the beginning of the XXI century, of a new jus gentium, a new International Law for humankind, and the aforementioned triad of UNESCO Conventions (of 1972, 2003 and 2005) are, in my opinion, one of the many 7 contemporary manifestations of human conscience in this respect. 13. One cannot live in constant exile and displacement. Human beings share a spiritual need for roots. The members of traditional communities attribute particular 1 Consideranda 1 and 5. 2 Preamble and Article 2(1). 3 Preamble and Article 1 of the 2001 Declaration. 4 Cf., e.g., UNESCO/General Conference, document 33-C/23 of August 4, 2005, pp. 1-16, and Attachments; and cf. G. Gagné (ed.), La diversité culturelle: vers une Convention internationale effective?, Montréal/Québec, Éd. Fides, 2005, pp. 7-164. 5 Preamble, consideranda 1, 2 and 7 of the 2005 Convention. 6 Article 2(1) of the 2005 Convention. Cf., regarding, in general, v.g., A.Ch. Kiss and A.A. Cançado- Trindade, “Two Major Challenges of Our Time: Human Rights and the Environment”, in Human Rights, Sustainable Development and Environment (Brasilia Seminar of 1992, ed. A.A. Cançado-Trindade), 2nd ed., Brasilia/San José de Costa Rica, IIDH/BID, 1995, pp. 289-290; A.A. Cançado-Trindade, Direitos Humanos e Meio Ambiente: Paralelo dos Sistemas de Proteção Internacional, Porto Alegre/Brasil, S.A. Fabris Ed., 1993, pp. 282-283. 7 Cf. A.A. Cançado Trindade, “General Course on Public International Law - International Law for Humankind: Towards a New Jus Gentium”, Recueil des Cours de l’Académie de Droit International de la Haye (2005), chapter XIII (in print).