The network of category 2 centres under the auspices of UNESCO is set to expand with the decision to establish a regional centre in Algeria for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in Africa. The centre, approved during the 37th session of UNESCO’s General Conference, will be devoted to promote the safeguarding of living heritage in Africa through the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The main functions of the Algerian centre are to encourage African States to adopt policy, legislative and administrative measures to safeguard the living heritage present on their territories and to organize activities to strengthen national capacities in the areas of identification, documentation and community-based inventorying, as well as to promote cooperation and networking throughout Africa among practitioners, communities, experts, officials, centres of expertise, research institutes, museums, archives, and other organizations and institutions.
The centre will enlarge the list of the six already existing in Bulgaria, China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Peru, and the Republic of Korea devoted exclusively to the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage, with a seventh centre in Brazil devoted both to tangible and intangible heritage.
For more information, please consult UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Section website on Category 2 Centres.
