H. Exc. Minister of Education, Arts and Culture of Namibia, Honourable Ms Katrina
Hanse-Himarwa,
H. Exc., President of UNESCO’s General Conference, Honourable Mr Stanley
Simataa,
Governor of the Khomas Region, Ms Laura Mcleod Katjipura,
Chairperson of the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the
Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Ms Trudie Amulungu,
Secretary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage, Ms Cécile Duvelle,
Excellences,
Distinguished members of Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of
the Intangible Cultural Heritage,
Esteemed experts in the field of intangible cultural heritage,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Peace and the blessings of God be upon you.
As a chairperson for the General Assembly of the Safeguarding of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage in its fifth session and on behalf of the State Parties, I would like
to thank the State of Namibia for its gracious hospitality for the 10th session of the
Intergovernmental Committee in Windhoek.
We gather here today to comprehend and recognize the efforts undertaken by
the Namibian governments to achieve UNESCO principles in general and to draw
the attention to Africa’s requirement to facilitate their goals to safeguard their
Intangible Cultural Heritage in particular.
Excellences, distinguished delegates,
I commend the roles of Member States of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
Committee. I can only pay tribute, as well, to the leadership of the DirectorGeneral of UNESCO, Ms Irina Bokova whom was always our compass toward
exploring the depths of our heritage particularities and striking cultural roots in
history. Last but not least I especially acknowledge the efforts undertaken by the
Responsible for the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section, Ms Cécile Duvelle with
her team.
Since 2006, we have made great progress in implementing the UNESCO
convention 2003 at national and international levels, through focusing on the key
concepts:
- The Capacity building and Training-of-trainers workshops at all regions.
- The initiatives of Member States in cooperating to establish their
preliminary lists.
- Using Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, which essentially provided
assistance to States Parties in their efforts for safeguarding.
- The output on promoting the Convention through the process of inscribing
ICH nominations on the lists.
- Having a reasonable source of knowledge references by issuing the
outcome of the secretariat works together with the ones of the researchers
and experts and the revision of the recommendations, as well as the
updates of the Convention implementation through written publications
and social media.
- Raising awareness at the local, national and international levels of the
importance of the intangible cultural heritage.
Challenges loom as many states still need our help to move the procedures of the
implementation forward, whether through financial assistance or experts support
and aid.
However, after having the recognition of UNESCO leading role in Culture, we will
be focusing on one main goal which is accomplishing the 2030 programs for
sustainable development by means of creating a cultural environment to enhance
the international cooperation, activating the role of cultural industries and
promoting the cultural diversity.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are passing by difficult times, with the phenomenon of terrorism spreading
around, which brings us back to the main cause of establishing our Organization
after the World War II, when they declared their essential mission which is
“Building peace in the mind of men and women".
Yet, after 70 years we urgently need to stand all together against this destructive
phenomenon to all human values.
Building the culture is our security to ensure that there is no nation or religion
would promote the terrorism.
I am aware how full your agenda is, nonetheless with the guidance of the
chairperson Her Excellency Trudie Amulungu, I am sure you will come up with the
right decisions, in addition to that you will enjoy the Namibian wisdom as much as
the participants of the 38th UNESCO General Conference two weeks ago did, with
His Excellency Mr. Stanley Simataa the president of the General Conference
whom we are honoured to have with us today.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Peace and the blessings of God be upon you.