The International Assistance mechanism provides support to States Parties in their national efforts to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage. The Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage examined and approved, on 2 October 2023, three International Assistance projects in Africa.

· Cameroon is granted US$99,978 from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund to implement a project entitled Pilot inventory of intangible cultural heritage in the ten departments of the Centre Region in Cameroon. The project aims to develop a community-based inventory in the Centre region of the country. Activities include training of trainers, inventorying workshops and field exercises as well as awareness raising campaigns. It will be implemented by the Ministry of Arts and Culture of Cameroon and UNESCO Office for Central Africa in Yaoundé. This is the first time Cameroon benefits from the International Assistance mechanism of the Convention.

· Mali is supported with a US$99,950 grant for the project Safeguarding plans for the transfer of three intangible cultural heritage elements of Mali from the Urgent Safeguarding List to the Representative List, implemented by National Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage. The project entails to develop safeguarding plans for three elements currently inscribed on the List of Intangible Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, with an aim to sufficiently improve the viability of these elements to request their transfer to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (The Sanké mon: a collective fishing rite of the Sanké ; The secret society of the Kôrêdugaw, the rite of wisdom in Mali and Cultural practices and expressions linked to the M’bolon, a traditional musical percussion instrument).

· In Uganda the Fund will provide US$98,203 to promote intangible cultural heritage education in institutions of higher learning in collaboration with bearers communities. This project is a continuation of the previous International Assistance ‘Promoting intangible cultural heritage education in institutions of higher learning in Uganda‘ implemented between 2017 and 2020. The project is coordinated by the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda and is geared at training teachers to provide university courses on intangible cultural heritage in four universities (Gulu, Kampala, Nkozi and Fort Portal). The project will also enable Uganda to advocate for the inclusion of intangible cultural heritage in higher education curriculum.

The Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund provides dedicated resources for States parties to implement a wide range of programmes, projects and activities dedicated to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, such as community-based inventorying, awareness-raising or specific activities such as safeguarding living heritage in emergencies. Requests up to US$100,000 can be examined by the Bureau and submitted at any time.

Learn more about International Assistance.