Benefitting country(ies): Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda

Overview:

This activity aims to strengthen national capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in Eastern Africa by supporting States Parties with capacity building for carrying-out community based inventories of ICH. It will also aim to secure ratification by Somalia, the last Member State in the region left to ratify the 2003 Convention. For countries developing culture policies, efforts will be made to offer capacity building in integrating ICH into culture policies.

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want provide a roadmap for safeguarding and sustainably developing cultural heritage through the majority of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 4 and SDG 11, and through ‘Aspiration 5: An Africa with a Strong Cultural Identity, Common Heritage, Values and Ethics’.

The 2003 Convention global capacity-building strategy is a comprehensive, long-term engagement with Member States to create institutional and professional environments for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. It addresses the following needs and priorities:

• Redesign of institutional infrastructures
  
• Revision of cultural and other policies and legislation
  
• Development of inventory methods
  
• Development of effective safeguarding measures
  
• Participation in international cooperation mechanisms
  

Key activities to support implementation of the Convention by States Parties include:

• Inventory making
  
• Adopt a general safeguarding policy
  
• Establish competent safeguarding bodies
  
• Foster studies and research methodologies
  
• Adopt legal, technical, administrative and financial measures
  
• Education, awareness-raising and promotion

For the 39C/5, the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa will support States Parties with capacity building for carrying-out community based inventories of ICH . It will also promote ratification by Somalia, the last Member State in the region left to ratify the 2003 Convention. For countries developing culture policies, efforts will be made to offer capacity building in integrating ICH into culture policies.

Inter-Sectoral collaboration will continue with the Communications and Information Sector to build on fieldwork for community based inventory of ICH to include the documentation and digital archiving of intangible cultural heritage for national archives, notably by continuing the efforts started in Eritrea and expanding the inventory work to be carried-out in Comoros (both CLT EXB funded projects with complementary RP funds from CI Sector). Efforts to include ICH in Education through SDG 4 and to safeguard ICH among refugees and migrants will also be pursued in collaboration with the Education Sector.

Women will be given priority in all capacity building activities, and notably as leaders for the community-based inventory exercises. The role of women as bearers and transmitters of ICH will be highlighted in training acivities and any educational outreach will also highlight the role of women in safeguarding ICH and promote the need for gender equality and inclusion.

News and activities:

• 2022-01-18 – UNESCO publishes case studies on living heritage and climate change in East Africa
• 2021-04-30 – Regional Online Conference on Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage for Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction in Eastern Africa

26/12/2024 - 26/12/2024 – Strengthening sub-regional cooperation and national capacities in the countries of Southern African sub-region30/05/2017 - 31/12/2020 – Strengthening national capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in Sudan