Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 19.COM 6.a.2

The Committee,

  1. Having examined document LHE/24/19.COM/6.a,
  2. Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decision 14.COM 10.a.1,
  3. Expresses its appreciation to Botswana for submitting, on time, its first report on the status of the element ‘Seperu folkdance and associated practices’, inscribed in 2019 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
  4. Takes note of the efforts undertaken by the State Party to safeguard the element, in particular by engaging master practitioners to provide training to apprentices, enhancing the transmission of the element through Seperu clubs in schools, increasing youth engagement, continuing research and documentation on the element, and strengthening its viability;
  5. Further takes note of the establishment of the Seperu Folk Dance Association, bringing together all Seperu groups and their members, including youth, and encourages the State Party to finalize the registration of this non-governmental organization and to support its future work, enhancing community participation in safeguarding;
  6. Further encourages the State Party to pursue its efforts to document and transmit the element to younger generations, to organize trainings of teachers and provide possibilities to learn the element in schools, to engage youth in the practice of the element, to encourage the participation of women and men, and to continue community-based safeguarding efforts;
  7. Invites the State Party to consider the possible risks of commercialization of the associated practices of the element, such as making and wearing mushishi (traditional dress), and the impact such commercialization may have on the social and cultural functions and meanings of the element;
  8. Further invites the State Party to provide a fully updated safeguarding plan in its next report, with a detailed time frame for the implementation of future activities;
  9. Notes also that International Assistance was provided in 2023 to sustain the element, and encourages the State Party to continue its fundraising efforts and to develop synergies among various funding sources.

Top