Project Afro-descendants in the SICA region and Cuba 5y1834

The project “Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Afro-descendants in the SICA region and Cuba” aims to generate safeguarding mechanisms for the ICH of Afro-descendant communities in the SICA region and Cuba as a means of strengthening regional integration within the framework of the 2030 Agenda and the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024), which will be held between 2022 and 2025. 4x1km

1. Application and Articulation:

• SICA Heads of State and Government request actions for the development of the Afro-descendant population.
• SE-CECC/SICA works with CRESPIAL to implement the Central American Cultural Integration Policy

2. Definition and Approval of the Roap:

• The project roap is presented to the participating States Parties.
• The roap is approved at the XXXIII Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Culture of the CECC/SICA.
• A regional technical committee is established to coordinate and monitor the roap.

3. Preparation of the Action Plan:

• The structure of the base document and the working methodology are presented.
• A base document is prepared and submitted for by the Liaison Committee.
• Version 2.0 of the base document is validated in a virtual working table.
• The project’s final document is presented to the Council of Ministers of Culture of the CECC/SICA.

• Various actors participate in the project: CECC/SICA, CRESPIAL, UNESCO, ONECA, and CAMCAYCA.
• A participatory and transparent methodology has been followed.
• The project is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

• Generate and make available to communities and governments in the region knowledge about cultural diversity, global citizenship, and the contribution of culture to sustainable development (SDG 4.7);
• Make Afro-descendant populations visible, contributing to the denunciation and reduction of inequalities and discriminatory practices. Thus, promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of these communities (SDG 10.2);
• Generate information and knowledge relevant to sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature (SDG 12.8), thus contributing to achieving sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products (SDG 12. b; SDG 8.9);
• Among the possible practices to be identified for safeguarding purposes, resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, contribute to the maintenance of ecosystems, and strengthen the capacity to adapt to climate change could eventually be addressed (SDG 2.4)—building effective and targeted capacity in developing countries to national implementation plans for all Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 17.9).

The project developed a “phase 1” of preparation, which would strengthen the participating countries’ capacities and build standard conceptual and methodological bases. To this end, the countries (1 delegate) and the representatives of the Afro-descendant communities (2 delegates) grouped in Oneca participated in the training process “Strengthening the capacities of community leaders and public managers for the safeguarding of Afro-descendant PCI in the SICA region and Cuba.

The achievement of its objectives was materialized in several elements, including a group of 28 people with strengthened capacities for managing living heritage, capable of handling the essential conceptual aspects of safeguarding, and with consolidated skills for managing Afro-descendant living heritage. Additionally, the expressions of Afro-descendant living heritage in each country were mapped with a view to the realization of national inventories.

The inventory process of the expressions of Afro-descendant living heritage in the SICA region and Cuba:

This phase aims to build collective and participatory knowledge about the inventory processes of the ICH of Afro-descendant peoples in the countries involved with a regional and intersectoral approach. Its goal is to position the importance of Afro-descendant ICH as an integral part of the identity and cultural legacy of Afro-descendant peoples.

Over 18 months, virtual work groups will be held to exchange experiences and knowledge, in-person national meetings will strengthen and reflect on each country’s implementation of the inventory process, virtual technical sessions will be held with each country, and an in-person regional meeting will present the results of phase 2.

At the end of phase 2, the experiences, lessons learned, and results of the national inventory process will be systematized. This will result from a collective knowledge construction process involving 90 people from 9 countries. In addition, the Central American Black Organization (ONECA) will participate in the entire process through a regional representative.