ICHCAP

The three-day NGO Capacity-Building Workshop will be held from 1 to 3 December 2017 in the International Convention Center (ICC) on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, just prior to the opening of the twelfth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (12.COM). In the spirit of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, NGOs have been main actors in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

The workshop aims to allow NGOs in the ICH field to share information and build a network for capacity building. It is organized by the ICH NGO Forum and supported by the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation (CHF), Indonesia, and the UNESCO Secretariat. The language of the meeting will be English and French, with Korean translations provided for some sessions.
On 1 December, the workshop will begin with the opening remarks by Hyang-su Lee, Representative of CHF, and Jorijin Neyrinck, Representative of the ICH NGO Forum, which will be followed by the keynote speech on “The Role of NGOs in Implementing the Convention” by Richenel Ansano from the National Archaeological and Anthropological Memory Management. In the afternoon, the participants will have group discussions about case studies of various countries, including Samoa and Colombia, and share activities of accredited NGOs under the Convention. Then, a film on Italian ICH will be screened. UNESCO ICH facilitators will be assigned to each group.
The second day will start with a working group on “Assisting Communities with Safeguarding”. In the afternoon, presentations will be made on “NGOs Helping to Implement the Convention” and “Inventorying with the Assistance of NGOs.”
On the last day, discussions about “Strengthening relationships for increasing capacity and impact” will be held to examine relationships among regional NGOs, state agencies, and communities; relationships among NGOs in the region; and ways to develop regional relationships and capacities. After lunch, the participants will review the Convention website and the UNESCO capacity-building materials online, which will be followed by presentations on “Capacity-Building Needs, Opportunities and Challenges.” The three-day workshop will end with closing remarks by Tim Curtis, Chief of the Intangible Heritage Section at UNESCO. The participants will attend 12.COM from the following day.
The workshop is expected to offer a venue to discuss opinions and cases, regarding not just regional needs, opportunities, and challenges for ICH safeguarding capacity building but also network building between NGOs and local communities, knowledge sharing, and assistance activities for implementing the Convention. As NGOs are important actors in the field of ICH safeguarding, the organizers of the upcoming NGO meeting look forward to NGO participation and sharing of thoughts. The capacity-building workshop will hopefully help NGOs engage in 12.COM as well.