After seven months of field work in the communities of Boa Morte and Santo Antonio the National Directorate of Culture of Sao Tomé and Principe evaluates the results of the Inventory exercise, which was launched in April this year. From 23 to 27 November 2015 some 25 actors involved in gathering the information during this period meet to identify lessons learnt and consolidate an action plan for the future ICH safeguarding efforts in the archipelago. To ensure continuity of the April workshop, UNESCO expert facilitators will provide guidance in taking stock of the findings and developing the national strategy. In the same vein of continuity the culture officer from Cabo Verde will once more participate in Sao Tome to share the experience gained in the process with his colleagues in Cabo Verde who currently develop their own community-based inventory.

The National Cultural Heritage Institute of Angola and UNESCO jointly organize a workshop on the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at national level. The workshop, which will take place from 9 to 13 November 2015 in Luanda, will discuss the scope and objectives as well as the obligations of the State Parties under this international legal instrument.

As part of UNESCO’s global strategy aiming to enhance national capacity for safeguarding of living heritage in the Portuguese speaking countries in Africa (PALOP), the workshop will gather some 20 Angolan participants, including stakeholders from local to national levels. With the aim to strengthen regional cooperation among PALOP countries, the training will be entirely facilitated by two Mozambican experts who have been previously trained through the same programme.

This workshop is made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

This workshop was not included in the J-FIT Phase II workplan. A workshop on community-based inventorying was already conducted in Lao PDR with J-FIT funding in 2013 during Phase I. However, the Heritage Department team expressed the need to follow a refresher course before undertaking the pilot field inventory earmarked as part of this project. External funding was identified for this refresher. The workshop was organized in the city of Luang Prabang, situated in the province where the pilot inventory was to take place. Community members and members of the Provincial Department, as well as 5 practitioners were invited as trainees. They could gain a thorough understanding of community-based inventories techniques as well as participate in the following field activities. Participants were divided into 4 teams for field practicum to document the epok puppet theatre of Xieng Thong village, ‘khap’ singing in Phone Phaeng village, silversmithing and hand-made textiles in Pha Nom village. Two teams were led by workshop’s participants who were also practitioners.

Efforts to safeguard intangible cultural heritage (ICH) are gaining momentum throughout Asia-Pacific, resulting in a need for more highly-trained professionals in this area. Universities can play an important role in this regard, which is why UNESCO is organizing a regional symposium on 2-3 November in Bangkok to promote the integration of ICH at post-graduate levels in Asia-Pacific higher education. This event was made possible with financial support from the Fund for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The past decade has seen an increase in the number of post-graduate programmes in heritage education in general; however few focus specifically on intangible cultural heritage. Professionals in the cultural heritage sector tend to instead have backgrounds that emphasize the management of tangible heritage (architecture conservation and archaeology, for example).
The UNESCO symposium aims to encourage universities in Asia-Pacific to develop post-graduate level trainings in the field of intangible cultural heritage.
Twenty-two executives, professors and course conveners from 20 universities will take part in the two day event to discuss and share knowledge and resources on these issues. The institutions come from thirteen countries across the region: Australia, China, Kazakhstan, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Discussions will include the identification of key principles of ICH safeguarding for post-graduate studies; exploring disciplines and structures for ICH programmes; and embedding ICH safeguarding in the development of ICH studies at the post-graduate level.
The symposium will also help deepen the knowledge base of participants on methodologies and resources pertinent to ICH as well as promote networking opportunities among them as well as with UNESCO for further collaboration on ICH educational programmes at the post-graduate level.

Documents

• Agenda: English
• Background note: English

The workshop on the preparation of nomination files for inscription on the lists of the 2003 Convention (the Representative List and the Urgent Safeguarding List) and the preparation of requests for international assistance is held under the implementation of the project “Safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage through the strengthening of national capacities in the Maghreb” following the workshops on the implementation of the Convention and on participatory inventories.
This workshop held in the city of Nabeul from 2 to 6 November 2015 aims at developing and strengthening the capacity of representatives of officials from various ministries, actors of civil society, community members and other heritage specialists concerning the the development of nomination files on the lists of the Convention and the preparation of requests for international assistance. The implementation and monitoring of this workshop will allow Tunisia to count on institutional staff with the required knowledge of the mechanisms of the Convention which will contribute to the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ratified by Tunisia who will be able to develop quality files.

The first of three capacity-building workshops will take place this week in the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from 25-29 October, 2015.
This workshop will focus on the key concepts of the 2003 Convention and their implementation, through community based inventorying, safeguarding measures, and policy development strategies. It will also provide a good opportunity to demonstrate to the participants some good examples on the best practices of safeguarding ICH, as well as other projects from the Arab World.
Comprising of 25 participants from the Center’s staff and various stakeholders working in the field of cultural heritage.
Conducted by UNESCO and two of its expert facilitators, this workshop is an example of a training requested and financed by an institution wishing to build its capacities to better integrate the provisions of the Convention in its activities.

A second series of workshops on transmission of Kallawaya knowledge and practices from experienced healers to young apprentices were held from 17 to 22 October 2015 in Curva, one of the cradles of Kallawaya healers, in the province of Bautista Saavedra.
Topics covered ranged from childbirth practices and diseases of women and children to prevention and cure of respiratory diseases, digestive diseases and diseases of the elderly. More than 30 Kallawaya participants were able to enhance their knowledge of community-based inventorying and received training on audio-visual information collection techniques.
Following the workshops, participants shared outcomes of project with other communities of the province who attended the final session. This last workshop highlighted the importance not only of Kallawaya knowledge and practices but intangible cultural heritage in general to finding responses to challenges faced in peacebuilding and sustainable development.
These workshops bring to an end activities carried out under the project ‘Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of Kallawaya communities’ which has been possible thanks to the endeavours of the Kallawaya authorities, the Ministry of Cultures and Tourism, the Bolivian Catholic University ‘San Pablo’, UNESCO and the generous and continual support of the Government of Japan.

Documents

Mongolia was very eager to undertake this workshop that included field visits to communities to research ICH elements and practice drafting nomination dossier. Two groups visited and interviewed practitioners at the camp, while three other groups visited ICH practitioners in their communities.
The five groups explored:
1. Traditional steel carving art – Double carving technique of Suriya;
2. Horse culture: Traditional technique of making Airag in Khokhuur and its associated customs;
3. Mongolian traditional shaman’s knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
4. Traditional technique of coin-table embroidery;
5. Horse culture: Traditional knowledge and technique of making horse tools, such as a bridle, halter, whips, tri-hobble and swift horse scraper.

Curaçao focused its field exercise on the elements of kachu, the harvest festival and playing the benta. Ten participants (5 females  and5 males) were selected from different NGOs and were trained by a local anthropologist and the director of the focal institution for the implementation of the Convention (who also participated in all training workshops). The training utilized the UNESCO training materials for Field Inventory, which were translated into Papiamento). Participants were able to undertake secondary documentation on the elements as primary documentation was not possible due to the seasonal nature of kachu use and because no performances were planned during this period where the benta would have been played. Arrangements were made for primary documentation during the harvest season, so the team could document the use of kachu  during harvest (seú) as well as during the elaborate harvest parade.  Documentation consisted of interviews and demonstrations. Playing the benta was shown along with the interview. Instructions on how it was made were given during the beginning of the two‐day training by a benta maker and player. The kachu session also included more elaborate demonstrations of construction of this instrument. 

Le Niger, conscient du rôle primordial que le PCI joue dans l’identité des différentes communautés, a exprimé à plusieurs reprises, et notamment lors de son mandat comme membre du Comité intergouvernemental de 2008 à 2012, sa nécessité de renforcer les capacités au niveau nationale pour la sauvegarde de son PCI grâce à la mise en œuvre efficace de la Convention et son souhait d’être accompagnés dans son appropriation des concepts et outils offerts par la Convention. Dans ce sens, le Niger a réalisé des efforts considérables ces dernières années. En effet, sur le plan national, en 1997, la Loi 97-022 relative à la « Préservation et à la mise en valeur du patrimoine culturel national » a été adoptée et les premières initiatives d’inventaire ont été menées à la fin des années 80. De plus, le Niger a ratifié la Convention 2003 le 27 avril 2007. Cependant, cette ratification n’avait pas encore donné lieu à un travail méthodologique et systématique d’inventaire, en ligne avec l’esprit de la Convention et avec la participation des communautés détentrices et des organisations non gouvernementales pertinentes Ce projet, qui s’insère dans la stratégie globale de l’UNESCO pour renforcer et consolider les capacités humaines et institutionnelles pour la sauvegarde du PCI et la mise en œuvre de la Convention 2003 sur le long terme, a reçu le soutien du Royaume d’Espagne qui par une généreuse contribution volontaire supplémentaire au Fonds du PCI a permis la réalisation de ce projet.

The Cultural Heritage Institute of Cabo Verde, in cooperation with UNESCO HQ and the UNESCO Office in Dakar, organizes a training workshop on community-based inventorying in Cabo Verde. The workshop, which will take place from 23 September to 3 October 2015 in Ribeira Grande de Santiago, will introduce the concepts, objectives and methods of inventorying and includes a practical field work in the communities of Centro histórico, Salineiro and Calabaceira.

As part of UNESCO’s global strategy aiming to enhance national capacity for safeguarding of living heritage in the Portuguese speaking countries in Africa (PALOP), the workshop will gather some 30 Cabo Verdean participants, including stakeholders from local to national levels. With the aim to strengthen regional cooperation among PALOP countries, the training will be co-facilitated by a Brazilian and a Mozambican expert who have been previously trained through the same programme. Moreover, culture officers from Angola and Guinea-Bissau will attend the training.

This workshop is made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

DOCUMENTS:

LIST_DOCUMENTS:00498-0

The town of Taunggyi, Shan State, in Myanmar hosted from 14 to 18 September 2015 a workshop on how to elaborate nomination files for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. This was the final chapter of the capacity-building project, which had been generously supported by the Royal Norwegian Government through a contribution to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund. The two-year national project has been implemented since 2013 with the aim to strengthen skills of human resources in Myanmar for the inventorying and safeguarding of its intangible cultural heritage.

The 24 participants, comprising of cultural officers, scholars and actual ICH practitioners, acquired hands-on skills in elaborating nomination dossiers and learned how to use the lists of the 2003 Convention as an effective tool for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Combining theoretical training on how to devise community-based safeguarding measures and practical exercises of evaluating mock nominations, the workshop provided an opportunity to clarify the different objectives of each of the international mechanisms established by the Convention so policy-makers can use them in the most appropriate and effective manner.

The five-day training workshop that was facilitated by two members of the network of UNESCO-trained experts, included a practical field exercise with local communities in Inle Lake.

The organization of the workshop was timely in the context of the efforts that are paid by cultural institutions in Albania in the last two years to enhance the national capacity for ICH safeguarding, as well as in light of the needs assessment report of 2014. The latter made specific recommendations on organizing workshops and training activities on ICH related activities with the widest possible participation of people with different backgrounds and coming from different towns and institutions in Albania. This has been the first workshop of its kind in the country and the expectations invested in it were great. The workshop was supposed to fill a void in focused presentations and discussions on the major themes related to the implementation of 2003 Convention on a national level, and to facilitate the undertaking of organized activities in this regard. Despite the high sensitivity and interest in cultural heritage issues in the country, so far no special workshop has been held on these topics in the country and this explains the enthusiasm that it produced among the colleagues working in the sphere of culture. The call for participation that colleagues from the Ministry of Culture at the Republic of Albania distributed attracted more that 40 participants and at some point there were several late applications which had to be declined in order to maintain at least some interactivity during the sessions.

Kallawaya healers and apprentices met in Charazani, the capital of the Bolivian province of Bautista Saavedra, from 13 to 18 September to participate in a workshop on how elders can transmit their medical knowledge and practices to younger generations for future benefit. Authorities from different Kallawaya organizations selected around 20 apprentices among Kallawaya men and women, who had already made the decision to dedicate themselves to the practice, to learn more about it. It also provided the opportunity for a UNESCO-trained facilitator to introduce the basic concepts of the 2003 Convention as an appropriate framework for the Kallawaya communities, and indigenous communities in general, to safeguard their intangible cultural heritage. Practical inventorying exercises were also involved that addressed the fundamental issue of the free, prior and informed consent of concerned communities.
This activity is part of a broader initiative on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of Kallawaya communities carried out by the Ministry of Cultures and Tourism, the Radio and Television Training for Development Service of the Bolivian Catholic University ‘San Pablo’ and UNESCO thanks to the generous support of the Government of Japan.

Documents

• Agenda: Spanish
• List of participants: Spanish

From 2 to 7 September 2015, the inventorying process moved to the city of Loja, Loja province, where members of Saraguro, Shuar and mestizo communities along with representatives of local governments (Calvas, Catamayo, Chaguarpamba, Gonzanamá, Loja, Olmedo, Paltas, Puyango, Quilanga and Zapotillo) and cultural ministries, were trained on community-based inventorying in the town of Malacatos. This was followed by an inventory exercise where they registered oral traditions and knowledge systems.

Organized by UNESCO and INPC, the workshop was made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the Government of Japan.

Documents

• Agenda: Spanish

The inventorying continues in Riobamba, Chimborazo province with a workshop from 24 to 29 August 2015, assembling stonecutters, bearers of oral traditions of the Zapara Culture and the Qhapac Ñan communities, civil servants from several municipalities (Alausí, Chambo, Chunchi, Colta, Cumandá, Guamote, Guano, Pallatanga, Penipe and Riobamba), and representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage (INPC). The core of the workshop focuses on community participation in the identification and definition of intangible cultural heritage, data collection, organization and management as an important step in safeguarding intangible heritage. An inventorying field exercise follows in the populations of Guano and Calpi, focusing on the living heritage of stonecutters and includes the mapping of the quarries in the slopes of Chimborazo.

Organized by UNESCO and INPC, the workshop is made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the Government of Japan.

Documents

• Agenda: Spanish

The assessment of the main needs for the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the safeguarding of the ICH in Egypt is part of a regional project for the enhancement of ICH safeguarding capacities in eight African countries and the Arab region . This project, executed by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section of UNESCO, is funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (ADTCA)

This report reports on activities carried out as part of a 10-day mission carried out in April and August in Cairo, Egypt, with the support of the UNESCO Regional Office in Egypt. The mission was to meet the main actors of public institutions and associations involved in the ICH safeguarding process with the aim of identifying needs and proposing a project for capacity building in Egypt.

The Cultural Heritage Institute of Cabo Verde, in cooperation with UNESCO HQ and the UNESCO Office in Dakar, organizes a workshop on the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at national level. The workshop, which will take place from 27 to 31 July 2015 in the capital of Cabo Verde, will discuss the scope and objectives as well as the obligations of the State Parties under this international legal instrument.

As part of UNESCO’s global strategy aiming to enhance national capacity for safeguarding of living heritage in the Portuguese speaking countries in Africa (PALOP), the workshop will gather some 30 Cabo Verdean participants, including stakeholders from local to national levels. With the aim to strengthen regional cooperation among PALOP countries, the training will be co-facilitated by a Brazilian and a Mozambican expert who have been previously trained through the same programme. Moreover, culture officers from Angola and Guinea-Bissau will attend the training.

This workshop is made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

Documents

• Agenda: Portuguese
• List of participants: Portuguese

As Suriname moves closer towards the ratification of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, it is timely for community members, policy-makers, and governmental and non-governmental representatives to come together to chart the way forward in the safeguarding of their living heritage.

From 27 to 31 July 2015, a five-day workshop will be held in Paramaribo aiming to clarify the process and mechanisms for successful ratification and implementation of the 2003 Convention, including an overview of its objectives and key concepts and principles. The workshop will also provide a platform for participants to reflect collectively on experiences and challenges in safeguarding their intangible cultural heritage.

Organized by the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean in close cooperation with the Directorate of Culture (Suriname) and the Suriname National Commission for UNESCO, this workshop is a part of a capacity-building project to reinforce the safeguarding of living heritage in the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname. It is made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of the Netherlands to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

International Assistance is at the very core of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Regrettably, however, it has not yet been utilized to the full extend envisaged when the Convention was drafted, with few requests submitted by States Parties and even fewer of sufficient quality to warrant approval by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. In order to face this challenge, technical assistance has been provided by experts to a number of States Parties on an experimental basis for the past year.

In an effort to galvanize further the option of International Assistance for State Parties, a pool of experts, who have conducted technical assistance or may be invited to do so in the future, will join UNESCO staff for a 3-day workshop in Paris from 20 to 22 July 2015 to assess the experiences to date implementing technical assistance. This workshop will provide the opportunity to review the latest advice of the Committee concerning International Assistance, examine other informational materials developed by the Secretariat to support States Parties and technical experts, and provide guidance concerning the development of future capacity-building curriculum materials on International Assistance.

Documents

• Annotated Timetable
  ITH/15/WOR/2: English|French
• List of participants: English
• Summary Report
  ITH/15/WOR/3: English

Sint Maarten focused its field exercise on their national dance, the Ponum dance which dates to the 19th century from the days of slavery and emancipation. This element was chosen because only a few practitioners and or performers are directly involved in the enactment or practice of the element. There were also recognizable threats to its continued enactment and transmission, hence its safeguarding was considered extremely important. Two training sessions were held with youth from various youth organizations and discussions were held on the purpose of the inventorying exercise. A total of 17 youth (9 females and 8 males) were trained in the inventorying activity, and worked along with the ICH Committee and 9 practitioners.

A needs assessment activity has been carried out in the Gambia in 2015 during which national stakeholders addressed the importance of promoting local cultures and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. These activities allowed to point out the need to raise awareness and support national institutions to reinforce their knowledge of the 2003 Convention and its implementation mechanisms. The importance of building a national strategy to safeguard intangible heritage and to review current strategy documents on culture in general was also underlined. This activity aimed also do develop a project proposal based on the identified needs.

Following the signing of the Plan of Operations between UNESCO and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Ecuador (INPC) a few months ago, representatives of bearer communities, municipalities, as well as governmental and non-governmental experts, have fully mobilised to launch another significant step in the safeguarding of their living heritage.

Aiming to develop an inventory of intangible heritage in the Ecuadorian province of Manabi, representatives came together for a workshop on community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage in the city of Portoviejo from 24 to 29 June 2015. The first of a series of action undertaken as part of a capacity-building project to reinforce the safeguarding of living heritage in Ecuador, the workshop focused on the identification and definition of intangible cultural heritage, data collection, free, prior and informed consent, and data organization. It was followed by a practical inventorying exercise in Machalilla, during the Saint Peter and Saint Paul festivity and the Meeting of Presidents from the Castilla and Guinea Governments.

Organized by the UNESCO Office in Quito and INPC, the workshop was made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the Government of Japan.

Documents

• Agenda: Spanish
• List of participants: Spanish

From 8 to 12 June, the Lombardy region (Italy) and the canton of Graubünden (Switzerland) hosted a training workshop on the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Tirano (province of Sondrio, Italy) and Valposchiavo (Switzerland), demonstrating the increasing awareness in Europe of the need for capacity-building to better safeguard living heritage.

Bringing together 25 participants, including representatives of the local administration, civil society, tradition bearers, academia and professionals from the tourism and environment sectors, the workshop introduced fundamental objectives and concepts of the 2003 Convention and enhanced the understanding of participants about obligations and safeguarding activities involved in implementing the Convention at national and local levels. Combining four days of presentations, discussions and exercises, as well as one day of fieldwork in the terraced vineyards of Valtellina, the workshop also addressed linkages between the 2003 Convention, the Convention concerning the protection of the World cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Convention, 1972) and the Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions (2005).

The workshop specifically highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and of cooperation across sectors directly and indirectly impacting the viability of living heritage.

Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and its INTERREG mechanism supporting interregional cooperation and sustainable regional development across Europe, the training workshop was held within the framework of the project ‘Italo-Swiss Ethnography for the Promotion of Intangible Heritage’ initiated by the region of Lombardy. Conducted in Italian by a UNESCO-trained facilitator and an international law expert, and based on UNESCO’s global capacity-building programme and training materials, the activity was organized by the Regional Agency for Services to Agricultural and Forestry (Italy) and the Association for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Italy).

Documents

• Agenda : Italian
• Generic references for facilitators - Capacity-building resources: Cession of rights: English
• Generic references for facilitators - Capacity-building resources: Workshop report: English
• List of participants: English
• Presentation - Meeting: Poster: Italian

UNESCO put in place since 2009 a global capacity-building programme to assist countries in building the institutional and professional environment required for the effective safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. The programme is part of global and national efforts to attain long-term development goals. It intends to assist beneficiary countries with making development more sustainable, ensuring the viability of the intangible cultural heritage present in their territories and strengthening relations within and between communities, through the effective implementation of the Convention. However, stakeholders interviewed stressed the importance of capacity building for its successful implementation and many considered the capacity-building programme to be the most important of all mechanisms established so far. A systematic monitoring mechanism would allow UNESCO to follow up several months and years after the results and impact of these capacity-building interventions at the country level. While some information on project results, strengths and weaknesses is available in reports on project implementation, review meetings and facilitators’ assessments at the end of training delivery, no longer term analysis exists yet on any sustained behaviour or structural change (different approaches or practices used) and on the ultimate impact resulting from UNESCO’s intervention through capacity-building activities: improved inventories, better policy and legislative environment, increased community involvement, successful participation in international mechanisms, etc.
Supported by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO has embarked on the establishment of a follow-up and evaluation mechanism for activities implemented within the context of the global capacity-building strategy.
Such mechanism is challenging and will require creative thinking and commitment from key constituents. The involvement of all constituents — national counterparts, including national commissions, UNESCO Field Offices, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section at Headquarters, but also all relevant other stakeholders — is indispensable.

Documents

• Background note : English|French
• Timetable: English|French
• Working Document: English|French

This activity took place in May and June 2015 with a total of 22 participants (14 females and 8 males). The exercise was organised by the Bonaire UNESCO Work group in collaboration with the NGO Fundashon Historiko Kultural di Boneiru (FuHiKuBO) which has been documenting the intangible heritage of Bonaire and the Dutch Caribbean. Additional expertise was provided by the Bonaire UNESCO Work group (ICH Committee) who had all attended previous workshops (IMP and INV), and Rose Mary Allen, an anthropologist from Curaçao. Bonaire focussed its inventorying exercise on practitioners of traditional Bonaire music, haladó (traditional healing) and maskarada. Participants represented cultural foundations, the Ministry of Culture and migrant communities in Bonaire (Venezuelan and Colombian).

A stakeholder’s workshop on Eritrean Cultural and Natural Heritage Legislation took place on 26 and 27 May 2015 in Asmara organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Asmara Heritage Project in coordination with UNESCO Nairobi Office. Workshop participants were Eritrean experts who represented stakeholder institutions such as the National Museum of Eritrea, National Commission of Eritrea for UNESCO, Research and Documentation Centre, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Energy and Mines, Department of Religious Affairs, Eritrean Institute of Technology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Eritrean Police and the School of Law.

Prior to the workshop, a local expert was contracted to collect information on existing legal, policy and institutional frameworks. The workshop was facilitated by Mr Silverse Anami, a UNESCO trained facilitator.

The workshop was supported by the Kingdom of Norway voluntary supplementary contribution to the UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

The workshop, which is organized by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture and the UNESCO Ramallah Office, will include participants from various ministries, the Palestinian National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, relevant civil society organizations and research institutions. They will provide their inputs and perspectives to the draft Law in line with the principles and provisions of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage ratified by Palestine in 2011. Once finalized, the draft Law will be submitted to the relevant Palestinian authorities for endorsement.

The workshop is a continuation of a process that started in 2012 when the Ministry of Culture with UNESCO’s technical support and through broad consultation with civil society institutions, prepared an initial draft. The Law will be an important safeguarding measure and together with the participatory process through which it emerged, demonstrate the strong commitment of national authorities to ensure the viability of living heritage in Palestine.

Nigerian officials, policymakers, civil society and members of its United Nations Country Team met in Abuja to discuss the revision of the 1988 Cultural Policy and other national legislation.

The one-day workshop, which featured a cross-section of attendees, including those in fields other than culture such as agriculture, education and health, looked at gaps in current safeguarding policy for Nigeria’s living heritage and associated legal frameworks for amendment.

The initiative is part of the 2014 UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust cooperation project ‘Support to the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nigeria’.

A national expert has been assigned to conduct a detailed assessment of the situation and propose recommendations, which is expected to be completed by the end of August 2015.

Document

• Agenda: English
• List of participants: English

The field exercise in Saba was organized by the ICH Committee and started with a meeting to inform all practitioners that attended the consultation in January about the community-based inventory training in Curaçao, as well as the organisation of the field exercise. Additionally, participants identified different forms of ICH to focus on in the field exercise, among which the Maypole dance, the preparation of traditional dishes within families and ICH related to agriculture and the production of food were highlighted. In the end, the Maypole dance was considered to be the most suitable as it was well known, had not been documented thus far and had few practitioners remaining.

Participants (7 females and 3 males) were trained to work with the UNESCO sample framework by members of the ICH Committee. A short documentary was produced about the Maypole dance that focused on the inventorying process. Practitioners were also trained in the various methodologies from the inventory workshop and in the use of the audio-visual equipment. Saba benefited from the participation of a maypole practitioner from St Maarten who conducted workshops with the children of Saba as well as worked with local practitioners. These children also formed part of the team trained to document this element.

The ICH Committee focused its field exercise on Sint Eustatius (Statia) string band music due to its important role in social life and the urgency to safeguard the related knowledge and skills, as practitioners were getting older. Community members involved, as well as active practitioners, formerly active senior practitioners and people who identify with band music but aren’t active practitioners. The key persons from within the string band music community were approached by the ICH Committee to ask for their willingness to participate and their consent to be interviewed and provide information about this element. This was received with enthusiasm. There was great effort to involve youth in the field exercise, with two participants coming from the Simon Doncker Club, the youth organization of the St. Eustatius Historical Foundation. The involvement of this youth organization also provided a basis for future involvement in the inventorying of ICH. To involve more youth outside the cultural field, the ICH Committee organized a specific activity for youth focused on the transfer of knowledge and skills related to playing string band music and the manufacturing of the instruments. The footage of the field exercise will be used to produce a documentary on the Killi Killi band music to further raise awareness.

UNESCO New Delhi office was the guest of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa on 27 and 28 April 2015 to orgnaize a two-day training workshop on UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, with a particular focus on inventory making.

Animated by UNESCO resource persons – Dr Shubha Chaudhuri (Director of Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology), Ananya Bhattacharya (Director, Contact Base / banglanatak dot com), and Moe Chiba (Chief, Culture Sector, UNESCO New Delhi), some 27 professionals from Goa took part in the lecture-cum practical sessions to discuss how an inventory of ICH for the State of Goa would look like and what could be the working methodologies.

In India, the protection of heritage is the responsibility of both the Union Government and State Governments. In a vast country such as India with diverse cultural traditions, it could be more effective if each State Government takes the responsibility of drawing up the inventory and implementing the safeguarding plan rather than expecting the Central Government’s initiative. Accordingly, UNESCO New Delhi, in partnership with Sangeet Natak Academi has started since last year the sensitization of State level government officers on the UNESCO Convention. Following the workshop in Delhi in December 2014, the Government of Goa is the very first State to have expressed its willingness to move forward in development of the State-level ICH inventory. The two-day workshop was not intended to provide any clear-cut advice on how an ICH inventory of Goa should be, but rather aimed at steering the attention of the participants on those issues that need to be discussed and planned prior to conducting any survey and data collection for the Inventory. These include the size of the inventory and the type of ICH elements to be covered, data to be collected for each of the ICH elements, method of data organization, modalities of data sourcing, intended follow-up action for the ICH elements under the inventory etc.

Madagascar is one of the French-speaking countries chosen to benefit from the financial support of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Tourism (ADTCA) in the field of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. The mission in which we took part was prepared by the Nairobi multi-country UNESCO office in close contact with the Ministry of Culture of Madagascar. It took place from April 24 to May 3, 2015. The mission was also an opportunity to visit a local PCI to know the traditional know-how related to the production and the craft of silk in the village of Ambohitrabiby, about fifty kilometers from Antananarivo. Madagascar is a large island with 18 socio-cultural groups and a very strong Comorian community with a population of about 23 million. The country is divided into 22 administrative regions, but the Ministry of Culture is deconcentrated in only 11 regions at present.

The main objective of the mission is working closely with the responsible national cultural institution to identify institutional capacities, perspective, human resource needs of whom are working in the Intangible Culture heritage sector. The outcome of the mission is to develop a realistic project proposal within the local context in the field of ICH safeguarding. Later on the project proposal will be funded by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (ADTCA).The consultant mission was organized in partnership with the Intangible Cultural Heritage section – UNESCO- HQ, the UNESCO’s Khartoum Office and the Federal Ministry of Culture in Sudan. The mission was conducted by the expert Ms Marina Calvo.

The National Directorate of Culture of Sao Tome and Principe in cooperation with UNESCO convenes a workshop on the elaboration of community-based inventories of living heritage in the spirit of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The workshop, which will take place from 30 March to 10 April 2015 in the capital of Sao Tome, will introduce the concepts, objectives and methods of inventorying and includes practical field work in the community of Boa Morte.
As part of the capacity-building project to reinforce the safeguarding of living heritage in the Portuguese speaking countries in Africa (PALOP), the workshop will gather some 25 Santomean particpants including stakeholders from local to national levels. With the aim to strengthen regional cooperation among PALOP countries the training will be co-facilitated by a Brazilian and a Mozambican expert who has been previously trained through the same programme. Moreover, a culture officer from Cabo Verde will attend the workshop in view of similar activities planned in the Archipelago off the coast of Western Africa.
This workshop is made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

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As part of the activity “Strengthening National Capacity for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Djibouti: Needs Assessment and Project Proposal Development” led by UNESCO and funded by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Tourism and Culture (ADTCA), expertise was provided between March and May 2015 to assess Djibouti’s capacity building needs for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, with the aim of proposing a future project.

In the context of UNESCO’s activity “Strengthening national capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in Sudan: assessing needs and developing a project proposal” funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (ADTCA), a consultancy service has been delivered from March to May 2015,including a mission to Sudan that was carried out from 3 to 10 April 2015. The mission aimed at identifying, in collaboration with institutions responsible for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Sudan, the needs and keys objectives that can be addressed in the context of UNESCO’s capacity-building strategy for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.
The activity was coordinated by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section of UNESCO and UNESCO Office in Khartoum (Sudan), in cooperation with the Sudanese National Commission for UNESCO (NATCOM) and the Ministry of Culture of Sudan.

This mission falls within the framework of the National Capacity Building Project for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in eight countries in Africa and the Arab region (Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Madagascar, Palestine, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen): needs assessment and development of project proposals funded by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Tourism and Culture (ADTCA). Within this framework, this 7-day mission took place from February 28 to March 7, 2015 in the Comoros to establish a solid base to support this country in its efforts to safeguard its living heritage, in accordance with the 2003 UNESCO Convention.

Having completed the first joint training on the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage last September, representatives of the Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) are taking the next significant step in the implementation of a coordinated strategy to safeguard their living heritage.

From 22 to 28 February 2015, community practitioners, as well as governmental and non-governmental experts, will gather in Curacao for a workshop on community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage with the primary aim to develop a framework for the inventory of their heritage. The core of the workshop will focus on community participation in the identification and definition of intangible cultural heritage, data collection, organization and management, laying the foundation not only for a 5-day field inventorying exercise to follow in the six respective islands, but for future inventorying and safeguarding work.

Organized by the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean in close cooperation with national partners across the islands, this workshop is a part of a capacity-building project to reinforce the safeguarding of living heritage in the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname, made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of the Netherlands to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

The workshop had the overall objective of increasing the awareness-raising and improve the understanding of the 2003 Convention for its effective implementation and for the establishment of a sound policy for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of the communities in North Kivu.

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Training of trainers workshop on safeguarding in Asia-Pacific

What are the knowledge and skills required to elaborate safeguarding plans for intangible cultural heritage effectively? How to acquire these competencies successfully? These questions are at the centre of a training workshop with eleven expert facilitators and ten UNESCO culture officers involved in implementing the global capacity-building strategy for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in the Asia Pacific region. Participants will test a new interactive methodology that UNESCO elaborated for this purpose and, furthermore, discuss new training approaches in two other thematic areas: policy development and gender.

The International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (CRIHAP) is hosting and generously supporting this training of trainers workshop on safeguarding plans and policy support, which will take place from 19 to 23 January 2015 in Shenzhen, China. Five specialists from China identified by CRIHAP are participating as observers in the training that UNESCO is co-facilitating together with Mr. Rieks Smeets and Ms. Janet Blake, both senior specialists on the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Shenzhen training workshop on safeguarding plans and policy support for intangible cultural heritage is addressed to UNESCO-trained facilitators from the Asia-Pacific Region who have substantial experience in providing training and advisory services in the context of UNESCO’s global capacity building strategy for the effective implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). It will furthermore welcome some additional experts selected to become future facilitators together with colleagues from the Region’s Field Offices and five Chinese experts. In total the workshop will bring together 26 participants.

The focus of the training is on elaborating safeguarding plans, because this theme was identified as a priority need in recent programme review meetings held with facilitators and Field Office colleagues in several regions. Indeed, without mastering the skills and knowledge required to elaborate solid plans for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, safeguarding is not sustainable. Well-conceived, time-bound and budgeted safeguarding plans are furthermore a requirement for obtaining International Assistance from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for safeguarding projects and for preparing nomination files for the Urgent Safeguarding List.

Therefore, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section developed a methodology on this topic, and will invite participating experts to provide feedback in order to finalize the materials. Similarly, UNESCO will share with participants for feedback and advice the progress made in developing training approaches and materials on two other themes: policy development and gender. These topics figured prominently in the recent evaluation of UNESCO’s standard-setting work of the Culture Sector, which concluded that they deserve more attention in the capacity-building programme. The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage endorsed the recommendation in a decision about the follow-up to the Evaluation (DECISION 8.COM 5.c.1).

The purpose of the training workshop is thus two-fold: it intends to upgrade participants’ competencies in the areas of safeguarding, policy development and gender, while at the same time drawing upon experts’ knowledge and experience for advice.

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• Agenda: English
• List of participants: English

The project aims, on the one hand, to encourage a better understanding on the part of beneficiary communities of what intangible cultural heritage (ICH) means and strengthen the capacities of these communities to elaborate inventories. On the other hand, it also aims to strengthen the capacities of municipalities that formulate local policies aimed at safeguarding ICH. In order to achieve these aims, a series of actors working in the field of ICH at both national and local levels will benefit from a series of training workshops on the topics of implementing the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, community-based inventorying, including the implementation of a pilot inventory project. The direct beneficiaries will primarily be municipal officials and community representatives, ICH bearers and community leaders who contribute to the development of their respective communities. The project is also expected to help strengthen the capacities of the Technical Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The main beneficiary municipalities will be Quetzaltenango and Chiquimula.

With the successful completion of Phase I, thanks to the continued generous contribution of the Government of Japan, it was possible to implement the second phase of the regional programme for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage through the strengthening of national capacities from April 2015 to October 2017. The principal aims of the second phase were the following:

• Reinforce the human and institutional capacities for the development of sustainable safeguarding measures, building on the inventorying work carried out under the initial phase of the regional capacity building programme. To that extent, activities focused in particular on safeguarding plans – with workshops based on a new module, and policy development – through the set-up of policy missions and consultations at the national level.
• Initiate a comprehensive first phase project to strengthen national capacities in Fiji, a new beneficiary country;
• Provide individualized support to the development of policy and legal frameworks for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in the beneficiary countries

2011-2017 Project Completion Report: English
© Nepali Ministry of Culture/S.Dangol - UNESCO 2017

Over the 30-month implementation period, the programme has completed the planned activities and accomplished its objectives. Institutional partners have been identified in each of the beneficiary countries, with the close cooperation of UNESCO Field Offices. Almost 300 stakeholders in different domains were trained and their capacity was strengthened by a series of 11 workshop and different activities, including 4 pilot field inventorying in Fiji, Lao PDR, Mongolia and Samoa. Experts facilitated the planned workshops using the updated content and guidance available on the online repository of materials. The newly-developed module on Developing Safeguarding Plans for intangible cultural heritage was tested in all five countries using different formats and case studies. Participants had the opportunity to strengthen their community-based inventory skills during the pilot fieldwork. Policy missions, which is a new component experimented during Phase II, were conducted in Lao PDR, Samoa and Sri Lanka, resulting in a revised cultural policy for Samoa and new strategic directions for Lao PDR and Sri Lanka. In general, the workshops and activities were well received, despite difficulties inherent to the time gap between the 2 phases and related staff turnover in the participating countries.

A final report covering both phases of the Project financed by the Government of Japan (2011-2017) is available in English in this same webpage.

Ecuador ratified the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Culture Heritage in 2008. Despite important efforts mobilized by the State Party for the effective safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and an institutional environment conducive to the integration of culture in public policies, as in most countries, the viability of intangible cultural heritage present in Ecuador also faces serious threats of social and demographic nature. Work remains to be done to strengthen the capacities of existing public policies in the areas of sustainable development, gender equality, poverty alleviation, social cohesion and education to effectively contribute to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and vice versa.

The country has implemented a national information system for registering intangible cultural heritage elements and elaborated guidelines for their safeguarding. However community participation is not systematic in drawing up inventories, designing and implementing safeguarding plans or related public policies. The participation is even less important when it comes to communities whose rights are vulnerable.

Activities proposed in the present project aim at providing both national and local institutions and bearers of intangible cultural heritage with knowledge and tools for the safeguarding of such heritage with a particular emphasis on its identification and definition. It will contribute to integrate into existing inventory approaches and relevant public principles of the 2003 Convention, in particular regarding community participation. The present project will thereby complement the work already achieved by the Ecuadorian Government while contributing to implement the political and legal framework in which intangible cultural heritage management is sustained at national, regional and local level. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the National Institute of Culture Heritage and the municipalities.