UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

10/02/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/02/2024 13:28

West Africa mobilizes to safeguard its intangible cultural heritage

UNESCO organized in Abuja a subregional workshop to share experiences and good practices in safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in West Africa.

UNESCO Dakar

2 October 2024

From September 17 to 19, 2024, the UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa, with the support of the National Office in Abuja, organized a subregional workshop to share experiences and good practices in safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in West Africa.Held in a hybrid format, the meeting took place in Abuja, Nigeria, and was attended by some thirty participants from Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Such workshops offer opportunity of mentorship and skills here among countries that share many cultural traditions in the same vein, broadly, countries such as those present here today should be prepared to reach and share best practice on awareness, creation, protection, promotion of intangible cultural heritage.

Mr. Abdoulie JOBEMinister of Tourism, Arts and Culture of the Gambia, September 2024

Through participative sessions, delivered by two experts from UNESCO's global network of facilitators for safeguarding ICH, participants had the opportunity to share their respective experiences at national or regional level. They also revisited the key principles of the2003 Conventionand its instruments (Lists, Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, international assistance requests, etc.), the central role of communities, the notion of gender, the challenges of integrating ICH into education, etc. Divided into two groups, the beneficiaries were also able to practice directly in the field on the second day.

This workshop is also a valuable opportunity to strengthen South-South collaboration in this field, and to ensure better protection of cultural heritage in all its forms, throughout the African continent. In addition, it is important to emphasize that the promotion of the ICH and associated creativity can help generate some opportunities for the communities and individuals, contribute to sustainable development and build peace.

Mr. Abdourahamane DIALLOHead of the Abuja Office (Nigeria), on behalf of the Director of the UNESCO's Regional Office for West Africa, Mr. Dimitri SANGA, September 2024

As for the final day, it was marked by highlights such as an intergenerational round table on "The role of communities and young people in safeguarding and promoting ICH, and the contribution of ICH to sustainable development, including sustainable tourism, and peacebuilding in West Africa". The closing ceremony was also accompanied by aKwagh-Hir theatrical performance, element of Nigeria, inscribed in 2019 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

We should engage through community meetings, educational workshops and cultural festivals while at the same time, creating a space for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and mutual understanding as yardstick to safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage

J. Rufus PaulAssistant Minister for Cultural Affairs, Republic of Liberia

Finally, this sub-regional meeting provided an opportunity to encourage States that are not Parties to the 2003 Convention to embark on a process of ratification, to better understand the various mechanisms for its effective implementation and adaptation in the national legal arsenal, to master the methodology for inventorying elements of cultural heritage thanks to theoretical and practical field exercises, and to create a platform for exchange bringing together actors in the field of intangible cultural heritage in West Africa.

Culture is not anything detached from life. It is an integral part of our daily reality. Without culture, there, our reality remains questionable.

Gankhanani MOYOUNESCO ICH facilitator

This initiative was organized by the UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar, in close collaboration with the National Offices in Abuja (Nigeria) and Accra (Ghana) and the Secretariat of the 2003 Convention. It is in line with UNESCO's Priority Africa flagship program and the declaration of UNESCO's World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development -MONDIACULT 2022. It comes as a prelude to MONDIACULT 2025, to hear the voice of African countries, in particular those of West Africa.

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