The Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have convened a national dialogue aimed at deepening the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Uganda.
The convention dissemination event was organized under the theme; “Safe guarding our Intangible Cultural Heritage by consolidating Heritage studies in Higher Institutions of Learning”.
The event brought together representatives from civil society organisations, government agencies, academic institutions and selected community representatives to deepen the understanding of intangible cultural heritage, its inscribed elements and the collaborative opportunities the Convention offers.
In 2003, UNESCO moved the agenda for the Member States to sign the UNESCO 2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage after the realisation that the intangible cultural heritages were disappearing from the face.
Speaking during the event, Charles Draecabo the National Coordinator UNESCO Antennae Office in Uganda said that one of the main objectives of the convention was to promote, preserve and support the continuity of the intangible cultural heritages.
“The intangible cultural heritages relates to all those non-tangible aspects of our values, culture, expression and presentation as a people. It can relate to things to do with songs, arts, performance, our expressions, our religious beliefs and our values that we would like to pass from one generation to another generation,” Draecabo said.
Draecabo said that with the evolution of time these intangible cultural values were disappearing and UNESCO thought that it was important to put this Convention so that the Member States are obliged to ensure that this is preserved.
Uganda signed and ratified this Convention in 2009 and since then the country has taken steps to be able to implement some of the aspects, including introducing some courses and training even in the universities, creation of community museums as well as listing items that are of intangible cultural value.
He noted that one of the critical benefits of intangible cultural heritage is the possibility to invest in this culture as a brand and as a commodity that we can sell.
“If you go to Kenya and Tanzania, you find along the coast people are branding their cultural performances, their arts, and they are able to attract tourists. And that becomes a source of earning for the community and for the individuals. Culture is not now looked at as a limited aspect of our society. It should be looked at as an investment option, where the tourists can come and be able to trade and sell,” Draecabo emphasised.
The CCFU Executive Director, Barbra Babwetera revealed that as a way of consolidating Heritage studies in Higher Institutions of Learning, the organisation has put a number of initiatives which include among others advocating for creation of Bachelor of Cultural Heritage Studies within four universities in the country.
“In Uganda, we have been having a very big gap in terms of heritage education, as CCFU, Â we pioneered this as part of the responsibilities of civil society organizations. We have gone to secondary schools, introduced heritage education, we have heritage education clubs in different spaces. But when students were graduating from secondary schools, again there was a gap. With the support from UNESCO, we worked with four universities to pilot and start up the Bachelor of Cultural Heritage Studies, so that we can consolidate heritage education in Uganda,” Babwetera said.
She added that to further consolidate, the organization is reaching out to civil society organizations to provide spaces for learning informally since cultural heritage, traditionally in the African society, was anchored on an oral society.
The dialogue aimed to explore ways to make the convention more effective and to promote intangible cultural values in Uganda.
