Benefitting country(ies): Pakistan

Overview:

Being implemented jointly by the UNESCO Office in Islamabad and the National Heritage and Culture Division (NHCD) of the Government of Pakistan, this twenty-four-month project has been designed in collaboration with the communities concerned. The main objective of the project is to enhance the capacities of communities and stakeholders to safeguard intangible culture heritage for sustainable development in the regions of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for the Thari and Kalasha communities, respectively. These communities are geographically remote and not connected to the social, cultural, economic and technological mechanisms of support in Pakistan. Consequently, they have been historically disadvantaged when seeking assistance for their own sustainable development needs. In this context, this project aims to empower communities to play an active role in studying their culture and placing their knowledge in broader spheres of action such as education. To achieve this goal, three main activities are developed: (a) community-based inventories based on similar work previously conducted by UNESCO and the NHCD; (b) development of pedagogical tools to connect educational institutions with indigenous traditions, in order to enhance their transmission through academic discourse; and (c) capacity building of bearers and relevant organizations to promote economic growth and improve income-generating opportunities. Moreover, this project is expected to increase the number of intangible cultural heritage experts in the country while enhancing the analytical skills of teachers and communities for documenting living heritage.

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