COVER N. 322 - FRANCE - UNESCO

Postmark: Premier Jour - UNESCO - La Poste - Paris  08.09.2023

Posted on the 8th September; received on the 26th September 2023

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Pierre was immensely kind in sending me not only the Conseil d'Europe cover form the previous post but also this nice UNESCO first day cover, which differs from the one I had already received thanks to the help of my French friends in that it uses what I think is an official UNESCO Envelope.

Thank you so much, Pierre.

UNESCO headquarters are located at Place Fontenoy, in Paris, France. By an agreement with the French postal authorities, UNESCO service stamps, denominated in Francs first and now Euro, have been issued since 1961, these being only usable on mail posted from the UNESCO headquarters.

On 11SEP2023, celebrating 20 years of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted on the 32nd Session of UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris from the 29 September to the 17 October 2003, La Poste issued the UNESCO service stamp on the cover.

Fittingly, it is illustrated with a photo depicting a Zaouli dancer. the Zaouli being a traditional dance of the Guro people of Ivory Coast, which has been inscribed in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2017. 

Although officially issued on the 11th, the First day Postmark states 08.09.2023,  which I presume was  the date of advance sale.