Azernews.Az

The ICH NGO Forum on the sidelines of the 8th Session of Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage was held in Baku on December 1.

The Forum brought together more than 150 international non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives of public unities "Azerbaijani carpet-weavers" and "Music World".

The discussions focused on the contribution of the accredited NGOs to the implementation of UNESCO 2003 Convention.

Addressing the event, Secretariat of UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of ICH Helena Drobna noted the significance of the 8th Session of Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage to be held in Baku on December 2-7.

Drobna said presently, 156 NGOs have been accredited by the General Assembly of States Parties to the UNESCO 2003 Convention.

Diego Gradis, representative of NGO Traditions pour Demain, spokesperson ICH NGO Forum, highlighted issues to be discussed at the 8th Session of Intergovernmental Committee. Gradis stressed the important role of NGOs for cultural mediation, awareness raising, representation and advocacy.

The NGO Forum also featured four symposium presentations, including Investing in People to Safeguard ICH - Linking Culture & Development by Ananya Bhattacharya from India, Quebec Council for Intangible Heritage (worktitle) by Antoine Gauthier from Canada, UNESCO, internal oversight and evaluation of the 2003 convention for the safeguarding of Intangible cultural Heritage - perspectives of indigenous peoples of Africa and civil society organizations by Dr. Ani Casimir from Nigeria, and NGOs, the mediator of communication and information flaw between communities and the states; the case of ICCN by Sumi Nam from the Republic of Korea. The presentations were followed by discussions.

The ICH NGO Forum is the platform for communication, networking, exchange and cooperation for NGOs accredited by UNESCO to provide advisory services to the Intergovernmental Committee in the framework of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.