A five-day training workshop on the Implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at the national level was organized from 6 to 10 April 2012 in Astana, Kazakhstan. It was only a few weeks after Kazakhstan officially became the 142nd State Party to the 2003 Convention.
About 25 representatives from the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Agency for Tourism and Sport, representatives of leading universities in Kazakhstan, members of the National Committee for the Safeguarding of ICH, experts from the UNESCO Observatory on Central Asia, as well as ICH bearers - artisans, musicians, storytellers and representatives from youth NGOs - took part in the training.The workshop is the first of a series of activities aiming at building the know-how and institutional capacity for the implementation of the 2003 Convention in four Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It was developed through the generous support of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund and organized by the UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty in cooperation with the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO and the Kazakhstan National Federation of UNESCO Clubs.