SHARJAH, 3rd September, 2026 (WAM) -- The International Centre for Capacity Building in the Field of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Arab States, a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO, and the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen held a virtual roundtable on the role of civil society organisations in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.
The roundtable supported implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and highlighted civil society organisations as key links between local communities, heritage bearers and official authorities.
Opening remarks were delivered by Abdul Bakar Mohammed Saleh Ahmed Al Kindi, Director of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage; Salah Khaled, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen; Shatha Al Mulla, Assistant Under-Secretary for the National Identity and Arts Sector at the Ministry of Culture; and Aisha Al Shamsi, Director of the International Centre for Capacity Building in the Field of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Arab States.
Participants discussed challenges facing civil society organisations, ways to facilitate their accreditation under the 2003 Convention, sustainable funding and stronger partnerships to support the long-term safeguarding of living heritage across Arab states.
The roundtable also examined an initiative to document, safeguard and transmit traditional knowledge relating to herbs and medicinal plants to younger generations, in cooperation with heritage bearers, civil society organisations, faculties of pharmacy, research centres and international organisations.
Participants further discussed establishing an Arab network of civil society organisations working in intangible cultural heritage, supported by an online platform to facilitate communication and joint projects.
Proposed areas of cooperation include an Arab encyclopaedia of traditional knowledge, networks for traditional crafts, and projects covering traditional foods, environmental knowledge, folk arts and music.
Participants proposed that the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, in its capacity as the International Centre for Capacity Building in the Field of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Arab States, together with UNESCO National Commissions in Arab states, support the establishment and development of the network.