The seventeenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was established this Monday in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, to analyze more than 50 candidates for the safeguard list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture (Unesco).
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The meeting will be in session until December 3, with the presence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from five continents, institutions and the States parties.
At a press conference, the Director General of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, highlighted the importance of intangible heritage linked to the relationship between man and nature, and the challenge of preserving the environment.
Sauvegarde et la transmission des connaissances et savoir-faire traditionnels sont une priorité de l’@UNESCO_fr. Je suis heureuse d’avoir ouvert à #Rabat the 17th session of the Committee of #heritage immaterial culture, who will examine 54 nouvelles propositions de nominations. pic.twitter.com/9P6fsPywgA
— Audrey Azoulay (@AAzoulay)
November 28, 2022
“They are resources to help us in the great challenge of our century: the preservation of nature and biodiversity, which unfortunately are today in great danger,” he said.
In this sense, he specified that five elements of those who aspire to be included in the representative list of intangible cultural heritage request urgent measures of good practices, four of protection, and one requests international assistance.
For Latin America, Guatemala requests the inclusion of Holy Week in the list of intangible cultural heritage; while Colombia proposes the Ancestral Knowledge System of the Arhuaco, Kankuamo, Kogui and Wiwa indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Cuba intends to include the knowledge of the masters of light rum, while Chile urgently requests that the pottery of Quinchamalí and Santa Cruz de Cuca be protected.
Other nations such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Cambodia, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Japan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia, and Zambia have also fielded candidates.
So far, the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity is made up of 530 elements.