10/05/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/05/2022 03:48
Young Congo group dancing and playing the drum during the Congo's Pollera Festival in Portobelo
© MICI, 2016
On October 4 2022, the Bureau of the Seventeenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage examined three requests for International Assistance (IA) up to US$100,00. The first multinational IA request, submitted by Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, was approved. It is the result of a six-months collaboration between the nine States Parties, UNESCO Office in San Jose, and the Living Heritage Entity.
Titled 'Capacity building for community leaders and public managers to safeguard the living heritage of Afro-descendant communities in the SICA region and Cuba', this project is set to last 13 months. The expected outputs include the strengthening of ICH management capacities of officials and community representatives, a mapping of relevant safeguarding initiatives in the region, the establishment of common guidelines for the development of an inventory of Afro-descendants' in the region, and a virtual platform for the dissemination of the project results in the region, and beyond.
There are several inscribed elements from the countries involved in this project whose practitioners and bearers are Afro descendants, such as the Language, dance and music of the Garifuna (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua), the Cocolo dance drama tradition (Dominican Republic), La Tumba Francesa (Cuba) and theRitual and festive expressions of the Congo culture (Panama).
Two other IA requests were approved for safeguarding projects in Kyrgyzstan and Thailand: