20 September 2023
UNESCO Cairo Office and Khartoum Office, in partnership with the British Council, joined forces to hold the Expert Meeting on Living Heritage and Emergencies: Planning the Response for Safeguarding Living Heritage in Sudan at the Child Museum in Heliopolis in Egypt from 10 to 13 September 2023.
The Meeting held in the framework of the Safeguarding Sudan’s Living Heritage (SSLH) project, was hosted in hybrid connecting twenty Sudanese cultural professionals attending in-person in Cairo with the cultural officials who remain in Sudan.
There was an informative presentation of the National Council for Cultural Heritage and the Promotion of National Languages (NCH) which is the custodian of Sudan’s Intangible Cultural Heritage safeguarding Strategy (2022-2029) – produced under the previous national capacity building project with UNESCO support. Seven countries (Egypt, Iraq, Japan, Lebanon, South Sudan, Vanuatu and Yemen) shared their good practices and the outcomes of the project on the community museum development in Darfur were also presented.
The participants engaged in group work to develop the safeguarding action plan for priority living heritage which will feed into the ongoing process of updating the national inventory of Sudan.
The recommendations included: safeguarding the living heritage of all cultural communities in Sudan, supporting community-based intangible cultural heritage inventorying, supporting local initiatives in arts and crafts for displaced communities, integrating heritage perspective into humanitarian assistance to effectively contribute to improving the living conditions of the peoples of Sudan.
Living Heritage in Emergencies
Living heritage throughout the world is increasingly affected by emergencies, including conflicts and disasters caused by natural and human-induced hazards. On the one hand, emergencies directly threaten the transmission and viability of intangible cultural heritage, which provides a crucial foundation for the identity and wellbeing of communities, groups and individuals.
On the other hand, intangible cultural heritage is a valuable resource for communities to strengthen resilience, reduce vulnerabilities and help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. This is why the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in emergencies is of utmost importance and indivisible from the protection of the lives and wellbeing of its bearers.
UNESCO’s Approach
Under the 2003 Convention, UNESCO supports States Parties to safeguard intangible cultural heritage in a wide range of emergency contexts. Its approach is supported by the operational principles and modalities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in emergencies, which were endorsed by the Intergovernmental Committee at its fourteenth session in 2019