6 May 2014
Where do Arab countries stand with the development of policies and institutional frameworks for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage? How successfully do they involve sectors other than culture, whose policies fundamentally affect the future of intangible cultural heritage, but which are often not recognized as such? What about issues, such as community involvement, cultural rights and gender equality?
Starting from these substantive questions, about 30 representatives of Ministries of Culture and UNESCO-trained experts from different countries in the Arab region will discuss with UNESCO and ALECSO the needs and challenges of developing conceptual and institutional frameworks for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. The two international Organizations are co-organizing this meeting in collaboration with the Kuwait National Council for Culture, Art and Letters from 7 to 9 May 2014 in Kuwait City thanks to the generous hospitality of the Government of Kuwait.
The expert facilitators and UNESCO staff will stay on in Kuwait for a second meeting to review the progress and challenges of implementing UNESCO’s capacity-building programme for intangible cultural heritage and make recommendation on ways forward in the Arab region (10 to 11 May).
