Within the scope of a two-year project to strengthen the necessary safeguarding frameworks on the Dutch Caribbean islands and Suriname, the first joint training will take place in Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten from 8 to 12 September 2014, bringing together representatives from across six islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) for training on the implementation of the Convention.

This training will be followed by a second joint training to be held in Curacao in March 2015, covering the processes and framework for community-based inventorying of intangible heritage and subsequent inventory field exercises to be conducted on the six islands. A national training on ratification and implementation of the Convention is also being organized to address the specific needs of Suriname.

As a part of UNESCO’s global capacity-building strategy and thanks to the contribution from the Government of the Netherlands to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, this project is being implemented by the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean with the support of National Commissions for UNESCO in the various countries, as well as national and local stakeholders.