 The organization was previously known as The International Folk Music Council (IFMC).In 1949, it helped found the UNESCO International Music Council and remains a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with UNESCO.Since 2013, its president has been Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, director of the Instituto de Etnomusicologia – Centro de Estudos em Música e Dança at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.