CONFLICT AND DISPLACEMENT
The Conflict and Displacement Working Group seeks to contribute to the safeguarding of the ICH of communities, groups, and, where applicable, individuals considered refugees, internally displaced persons, and migrants who are forced to leave their homes due to armed conflicts, natural disasters, climate change and even voluntarily, who face the possibility of loss of their intangible cultural heritage. Its objectives include
raising awareness of the plight of refugees, displaced persons, and migrants who are forced to leave their homes due to armed conflict, natural disasters, climate change, and even voluntary change and the possibility of loss of their ICH; involve other NGOs in the awareness campaign on this issue through communication mechanisms (face-to-face and online) through adapted conversation models while creating links between NGOs that will help to preserve the intangible cultural heritage of these communities; and creating a space to share experiences and knowledge through case studies and perhaps develop a toolkit to preserve ICH for people affected by armed conflict and climate change.
- info@artforrefugees.org
GENDER AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The Gender and Intellectual Property Rights Working Group seeks to work within the context of the NGO Forum, collaborate with the UNESCO ICH Secretariat and all stakeholders to give a sustainable gender and intellectual property rights meaning, interpretation, integration and mainstreaming balance.
- Ani Casimir (cepperngo@gmail.com)
GLOBAL RESULTS FRAMEWORK
The purpose of this working group is to consider how best to implement and use the Global Results Framework of the Convention, particularly in the preparation of periodic reports, but also throughout national or local safeguarding plans that incorporate evaluation objectives to varying degrees. The working group may eventually evolve to an ICH measurement advisory group to develop and share specific expertise in support of States Parties, NGOs, communities and other relevant stakeholders, including through reflection or training sessions.
- Ananya Bhattacharya (ananya@banglanatak.com)
ICH NGOs AND RESEARCH
The Working Group Research (WG-Research) aims to promote and facilitate dialogue between research carried out by NGOs, Universities, and communities on themes such as safeguarding, sustainability, diversity, ethics, etc. while strengthening the place and involvement of communities in this research to co-construct new knowledge through participatory, interactive, and innovative approaches, involving both local and academic knowledge. It aims to serve as a knowledge-sharing and capacity-building
platform for the accredited NGOs, fostering research collaborations and providing reflections on the various research topics and debates that animate the ICH sphere. Throughout the years, the WG-Research thus has been inspiring the work and reflections of the Intergovernmental Committee and the global ICH safeguarding networks through its activities, symposiums, web dossiers and tools. The WG-Research is developing a range of
thematic issues such as ICH in urban contexts, ICH and sustainable tourism, and different methodologies to enable community participation in research.
- ichngoforum.research@gmail.com
LEGAL AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT
The Working Group on Legal and Policy Developments (WG LPD) aims to address legal and policy issues surrounding the functioning of the 2003 UNESCO Convention, with a particular focus on priority areas for the ICH NGO Forum, the Intergovernmental Committee, the General Assembly, etc. These activities may include producing – in close consultation with the EB, other WG and the wider membership of the Forum – documents that present legal and policy positions and recommendations that express an NGO-specific point of view and which can help to raise the Forum’s prominence within the intergovernmental processes of the 2003 Convention. Currently, we are collaborating with the Working Group on the ORF to develop some guidance materials regarding how NGOs can use the ORF and on the key place of NGOs in periodic reporting to the 2003 Convention. We also seek to gather and develop legal expertise, especially for formulating and drafting policy and legal instruments within the NGO Forum, and plan to hold a series of seminars and workshops for member NGOs on new legal and policy developments in the field of ICH and ICH-related domains and to share and grow this expertise.
- Janet Blake (blake@chrpd@gmail.com)
- Hanna Schreiber (hanna.s@uw.edu.pl)
ICH, CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Created in August of 2023, the working Group on ICH, Climate Change and the Environment is dedicated to the study of the uses of intangible cultural heritage to better understand, mitigate and adapt to climate change as well as to safeguard the environment. The effects of climate change pose a direct threat to the continuity and vitality of living traditions. The impact of disasters on elements of intangible cultural heritage itself is poorly understood and less thoroughly documented than for tangible heritage (such as buildings) which is much more readily identified, enumerated and evaluated. More importantly, ICH can be used effectively to help populations overcome the disruptive effects of natural disasters caused by climate change.
- Laurier Turgeon (Laurier.Turgeon@hst.ulaval.ca)
MORE BALANCED GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF NGOS
The Working Group for more balanced geographical representation of accredited NGOs was established on 19th of December 2020 during the fifteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- Alain Muneean (alaintdp@myt.mu)
- Diana Teresa Gutiérrez (diana.embodying@gmail.com)
