Phase III: National and multinational projects for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria*

MEDLIHER Phase III is devoted to the development and implementation of national and multinational projects.

The five selected projects, currently under development are:

• Egypt: “Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nile River”.
  
• Jordan: “Establishment of an inventory of intangible cultural heritage in the governorate of Madaba”.
  
• Lebanon: “Pre-inventory of oral traditions and expressions in Lebanon (especially the Zajal tradition)”.
  
• Syria*: “Inventory of the performing arts in the region of Aleppo”.
  
• Regional (involving all partners), “Making a documentary film on the intangible cultural heritage of the region”.
  
  

These projects were identified during the review meeting for Phase II, held in Cairo, Egypt, from 28 to 30 November 2010. Based on the findings of national assessments conducted during the Phase I project, all partners have recognized the importance to focus, as part of Phase III of MEDLIHER, on the creation of heritage inventories of cultural heritage, through pilot projects focusing on a region and / or domain. They also wished to strengthen regional cooperation and awareness of this living heritage through a joint audio-visual documentary.

These projects will be implemented in 2011-2012. Detailed information will be made available once the project documents are finalizes. At the completion of the projects, an evaluation mission will be undertaken to assess the projects achievements and difficulties.

A final evaluation meeting of the MEDLIHER project will be organized in 2012. It will gather all partners and stakeholders from the region. The event will be held at the Maison des Cultures du Monde in Paris and will focus on measuring the impact of national and multinational projects and the effectiveness of regional cooperation network.
      
*Given the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, the activities led in Syria in the project MedLiHer have been suspended since October 2011.