UNESCO conference kicks off in Nairobi
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The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNCESO) conference kicked off in Nairobi on Monday with delegates calling for more efforts to safeguard the intangible heritage.
In her opening remarks, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova has thanked States that have supported and continue to support the organization in its efforts to safeguard the elusive heritage.
In an address during the opening ceremony of the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nairobi Bokova singled out Azerbaijan, Belgium, the People's Republic of China, Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Spain and the United Arab Emirates for their continued support that has seen the achievement of such progress.
"For the 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to be implemented at the national and global levels and for all stakeholders to be mobilized, I am convinced of the current priority being given to capacity-building worldwide is absolutely correct," said the Director General.
She said the convention is one of the most innovative instruments that UNESCO has developed to address contemporary challenges.
"The convention provides a forum for discovering and exploring expressions that are particular to cultures across the world. It is a tool for social cohesion and dialogue and also a way to highlight and safeguard practices and expressions that are vital for achieving the Millennium Development Goals."
The Director General said that in working to preserve the environment, empower women, improve health, developing income- generating activities and foster peace-building and conflict resolution, she was convinced that the intangible heritage has enormous potential that the world must learn to harness and sustain.
Kenya's Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said the global village of the 21st Century, with its versatile cross continental communication capacity has redefined the value, dissemination and role of culture in human interaction. "The emerging cross-continental communication opportunities provide an unprecedented platform from which to share value systems
Kenya's Minister of State for National Heritage and Culture William Ole Ntimama said ICH has seen measurable success adding that the Kenyan government acceptance to host the Fifth Session of the Committee was due to the recognition that tangible Heritage is fundamental to sustainable development. "In the implementation of the 2003 Convention efforts, Kenya started with the convening of a stakeholder's forum where the convention was discussed and put in the Kenyan context," Ntimama said. "This was then followed by the translation of the convention into the Kiswahili language to give Kenyans and the whole world at large an opportunity to read the convention in a third language other than English and French."
The minister, who belongs to the Maasai community that is renowned for the preservation of its culture and who donned traditional regalia for the occasion, said preserving of Cultural Heritage is the surest way by which societies can maintain and link with the past and raise healthy generations for the future. "With the convention for the safeguarding of an intangible Cultural Heritage, countries of the world have now, more than ever before, moved closer to harmony and mutual encounter in many significant ways," he said.
Ntimama said UNESCO must be commended for the efforts it has exerted and continues to exert to have a common platform for human culture which acts as a bridge to mutual encounter and harmony between members of the international family.
The Chairperson of the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Jacob ole Miaron said Kenya supports the involvement of NGOs in the implementation of the Convention, and the means of increasing the active participation of NGOs from developing countries. "The forum on the contribution of civil society towards the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, organized in the framework of 2010 International Year for the Rapprochement of cultures which was held the day before the official opening was geared towards promoting capacity especially to developing countries," said Miaron who is also Kenya's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture.
In 2003, the 32nd Session of the UNESCO General Conference adapted the 2003 convention for the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a standardizing instrument for the protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Human society against deterioration, disappearance and forces of destruction, a situation made worse by the general lack of resources for safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Intangible Cultural Heritage manifests itself in oral traditions, performing arts, traditional knowledge and craftsmanship.
ICH is continuously evolving and it provides groups and communities a sense of identity and continuity.
Over 450 delegates from 129 member states, Observers, NGOs and members of the UNESCO Secretariat are attending the conference.
Kenya was granted the opportunity and privilege to host the Fifth Session of the Meeting during the 2009 conference in Abu Dhabi to become the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to host the event and is the current Chairman/President of the Fifth Ordinary Session of the Committee.
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