Participants in the online “Capacity-building Workshop on Safeguarding ICH and Sustainable Development for Youths in Laos” pose for a group photo.

An online “Capacity-building Workshop on Safeguarding ICH and Sustainable Development for Youths in Laos”, co-organized by CRIHAP and the UNESCO Offices in Bangkok, kicked off on Oct 15, 2021.

Attending the workshop were 40 local community youth leaders from the country’s Luang Prabang, Champasak and Xiengkhuong provinces. UNESCO-accredited ICH facilitator Paritta Chalermpow Koanantakool, along with six local experts from Thailand and Laos, delivered lectures on ICH safeguarding to workshop participants.

Sengthong Lueyang, Vice-Director of Luang Prabang Cultural Heritage Office, Duong Bich Hanh, Culture Director of the UNESCO Offices in Bangkok, and CRIHAP’s Director-General Liang Bin are present at the opening ceremony of the workshop.

Duong Bich Hanh, Culture Director of the UNESCO Offices in Bangkok, Sengthong Lueyang, Vice-Director of Luang Prabang Cultural Heritage Office and CRIHAP’s Director-General Liang Bin were present at the opening ceremony.

In her remarks, Duong Bich Hanh said UNESCO has always attached great importance to youth education. In 2020, the UNESCO Offices in Bangkok and the CRIHAP co-organized online capacity-building workshops on safeguarding ICH and sustainable development for youths in Thailand and Myanmar, both of which have yielded positive results.

The year 2021 has seen renewed cooperation between the UNESCO Offices in Bangkok and the CRIHAP in a three-year training plan for Laos. Focusing on youths in Laos, the training is designed to empower them to grasp ICH-related concepts and safeguarding principles and to help construct sustainable local communities, she said.

The workshop will serve as a learning platform for ICH safeguarding and will raise youths’ awareness of the subject and strengthen their capacities, she concluded.

Duong Bich Hanh, Culture Director of the UNESCO Offices in Bangkok, gives closing remarks to trainees of the workshop.