ICHCAP

Since 2008 UNESCO has been implementing capacity-building workshops to help States Party implement the 2003 Convention and build their ICH safeguarding capacities. The first two of 2017 were held in Bangladesh and Fiji, respectively.

The first workshop took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 29 January to 1 February 2017. This workshop was made possible under the project Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Development in Bangladesh and funded by the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund with a generous contribution from the Republic of Azerbaijan.

This workshop provided an overview of the Convention and its implementation, addressing the obligations of Bangladesh as State Party and the possible ways to safeguard Bangladeshi living heritage with the full participation of the communities concerned. The UNESCO Dhaka Office, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (National Academy of Fine and Performing Arts) jointly organized the workshop, and there were around twenty-five participants, comprising ICH practitioners, NGO representatives, ICH researchers, academics, and government officials.

The Fiji workshop was held for four days from 20 February 2017; the main topic was on using the mechanisms of the 2003 Convention. It brought together about thirty experts to discuss the preservation of traditional knowledge and development towards a sustainable society.

Over the past decade, the workshop has been held over two hundred times around the world under the recommendation of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. A series of workshops in multiple countries are slated for 2017. Workshop subjects, which are selected in accordance with regional and national needs, include the ratification and national implementation of the Convention, community-based ICH inventorying, nomination for inscription, and ICH safeguarding planning. The workshop schedules and subjects can be found on the UNESCO ICH website.

Original News Link: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/news/safeguarding-intangible-cultural-heritage-for-sustainable-development-in-bangladesh-00221