Decisión de la Mesa: 11.COM 1.BUR 1.4

The Bureau,

  1. Recalling Chapter V of the Convention and Chapter I of the Operational Directives,
  2. Having examined Document ITH/16/11.COM 1.BUR/1, as well as the international assistance request no. 01216,
  3. Takes note that Zambia has requested international assistance for a project entitled ‘Inventorying of proverbs of Lala community in Luano District of Zambia’:

Lala people live along the eastern portions of the Luangwa River in Luano District in the central province of Zambia. Among their various cultural practices that include social gatherings, festivals, celebrations and life cycle rituals, proverbs in particular hold a central place in the transmission of community values to the younger generation. Reflecting people’s living heritage and wisdom, Lala proverbs are used in different contexts, from the subject of marriage to dispute settlement among community members. Despite the essential role they play, several factors threaten the viability of the proverbs that are disappearing and their associated cultural practices, affecting community identity and way of life. The proposed project aims to draw up an inventory of the proverbs of the Lala community with a view to safeguarding practices, transmission modes and knowledge associated with them. Implemented by the Department of Arts and Culture of the Ministry of Tourism and Arts, activities include identification of custodians and practitioners of proverbs, training on community-based inventorying for local communities, fieldwork and processing and analysis of collected data. The project also plans to disseminate its results and raise awareness of the importance of safeguarding this living heritage among young people through culture clubs in schools and non-formal education settings.

  1. Further takes note that this assistance concerns support for a project carried out at local level with the aim of drawing up an inventory in accordance with Article 20 (b) of the Convention, and that it takes the form of the granting of a donation in line with Article 21 (g) of the Convention;
  2. Also takes note that Zambia requested an allocation of US$24,999.90 from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for implementation of the project;
  3. Decides that, from the information provided in file no. 01216, the request responds as follows to the criteria for granting international assistance given in paragraphs 10 and 12 of the Operational Directives:
Criterion A.1: The project stemmed from a consultative meeting with the chiefdom development committee during which the need to safeguard the proverbs of the Lala community was highlighted. The request assigns a central role to community members, custodians and practitioners as members of the project committee in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the project; obtaining community consent is planned as a preliminary phase of the inventorying process.

Criterion A.2: The proposed budget is broken down in sufficient detail to demonstrate that the amount of assistance requested is appropriate for the proposed activities.

Criterion A.3: The overall structure of the project, which includes a series of 10 activities, is carefully conceived and likely to produce the expected results; steps necessary to drawing up a community-based inventory, however, appear to foresee fieldwork and data analysis simultaneously and this seems unrealistic, making the total project duration (nine months including the preparation of the final report) questionable.

Criterion A.4: By involving young people particularly through culture clubs in schools, the royal establishment and village leaders of the project committee, transmission of the inventoried oral heritage could continue beyond the end of the project; since the project is presented as a first step of broader cultural mapping, the trained participants will be able to contribute not only to updating the project’s inventory but also to similar initiatives planed in the district, the province or even in the country.

Criterion A.5: The requesting State will share five per cent of the total amount of the project for which international assistance is requested.

Criterion A.6: With the goal of raising awareness of Lala community members about the importance of their proverbs and equipping them with effective inventorying skills, the request clearly demonstrates that the proposed activities will build capacities of concerned groups and individuals in identifying and defining intangible cultural heritage elements and other safeguarding measures.

Criterion A.7: Zambia has never implemented activities financed by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

Paragraph 10(a): The project is local in scope and involves both national partners such as the University of Zambia and local associations.

Paragraph 10(b): The request may stimulate financial support for similar activities in other chiefdoms while trained custodians and practitioners will be motivated, as a result of the project, to seek financial resources to do follow up on the project; published materials resulting from the inventorying and documentation activities will be used to stimulate financial contributions for academic research related to intangible cultural heritage.

  1. Decides to approve the international assistance request from Zambia for a project entitled ‘Inventorying of proverbs of Lala community in Luano District of Zambia’ and to grant an amount of US$24,999.90 to this end;
  2. Requests the Secretariat to reach an agreement with the requesting State Party on technical details of the assistance, paying particular attention to the detailed budget and timetable of activities to be covered by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, paying particular attention to issues raised in the assessment of criterion A.3;
  3. Invites the State Party to use the ICH-04-Report Form when reporting on the use of assistance provided.

Top