Under the framework of the project “Strengthening national capacities for safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Egypt for Sustainable Development”, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States in Cairo is surging ahead with the foreseen capacity building interventions, generously supported by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Cultural Authority (ADTCA) of the United Arab Emirates.
Since July 2018, UNESCO has been undertaking a consultancy service that enabled to kick off the development of a policy strategy in the field of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). This policy document will reinforce legislative and institutional frameworks for effective safeguarding of ICH at the national level on one hand, and allow for better collaboration between different actors on the other. To that end, UNESCO undertook a number of consultation meetings with different actors in Egypt that helped in forming a picture of the current status of achievements and possibilities in the field of policy development for ICH. The finding of this work were presented and discussed at the workshop on policy development that was held from 26 – 30 August 2018 at the Supreme Council for Culture in Cairo. The final policy document will be validated by the consultative platform of the project and in cooperation with the national implementing partner - the Ministry of Culture - in October 2018.
This important work has been recently followed by a 5-day training of trainers workshop held from 2 – 6 September 2018 by the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States, which aimed to provide technical and educational tools to teaching staff and national trainers working in ICH to conduct training on inventorying at the national level. This activity brought together 25 participants from various departments of the Ministry of Culture, as well as museums, universities and community associations.