© DPC-Ministère mauritanien de la culture

The involvement of bearer communities and civil society is crucial to the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Accordingly, the Ministry of Culture, Crafts and Relations with the Parliament of Mauritania has launched a project entitled ‘Strengthening the capacities of NGOs active in the field of intangible cultural heritage’. The project aims to highlight the importance of bearer communities and civil society and provide concrete support in the form of a guide about the 2003 Convention and training sessions for NGOs and communities to strengthen their capacities on safeguarding living heritage.

The main objective is the creation of a network of Intangible Cultural Heritage safeguarding professionals and NGOs which will draw up community-based inventories of living heritage. To implement the project the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee granted Mauritania International Assistance to the amount of US$ 94,300.

The project builds upon an ongoing capacity-building initiative entitled ‘Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage through strengthening national capacities in Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia’, which is supported by the governments of Spain and Norway. The project will enable Mauritania to create a core group of managers and specialists in the field of cultural heritage with a thorough knowledge of the 2003 Convention and its mechanisms.