Mr. Ahmed Skounti has been working for more than two decades as a heritage professional and as a Professor of anthropology within the Moroccan Ministry of Culture. He holds a Ph.D. from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, France. He was the Focal Point of World Heritage in Morocco (2000-2014). He contributed to the drafting of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and is a facilitator of the UNESCO Global Network of Facilitators to support capacity building for the implementation of the Convention. He was member of the Evaluation Body of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2015-2017) and Chair of this Body in 2015 and 2017. He is a member of the Scientific Board of the International Journal of Heritage Studies. In 2019, he received the Jeonju International Award for the safeguarding and promotion of intangible cultural heritage.