Player of the Tina or sikó © Lucas Roque, 2015

On 7 March 2016, Guinea Bissau submitted the instrument of acceptance of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. During the three months that it takes for the membership to become effective, the latest member state to join the Convention is launching a capacity building training workshop on the implementation of the Convention at the national level, within the framework of the capacity building project dedicated to Portuguese Speaking African countries (PALOP).

The six day workshop will gather some 25 participants including professionals from the culture sector as well as different stakeholders and decision makers from other areas linked to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage., These include members of the Institute for Biodiversity of the Protected Areas, the Ministry of Tourism, universities and NGOs such as the Association of Guinean Musicians. Two facilitators, the Brazilian senior facilitator and an expert from Cabo Verde and former trainee of the same project, will conduct the workshop and introduce participants to key concepts and objectives of the Convention. They will also share their know how on preparing international assistance requests to allow Guinea Bissau to seek financial support from the ICH Fund in the future and ensure continuity of capacity building and ICH safeguarding efforts.

This workshop is organized in cooperation with the National Directorate for Culture of Guinea Bissau, UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Section and the Field Office in Dakar. It is the last country-based workshop in the framework of the PALOP capacity building project. funded by a generous contribution from the Government of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.