11 Feb 2013

The Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture has commended Bakgatla for having their earthenware making skill inscribed on the list of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

A press release from the ministry states that the listing was approved by the seventh session of UNESCO inter-governmental committee for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage at a meeting held from December 3 to 7 last year.

Botswana became a state party of the 2003 convention on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage on July 2010.

The convention’s purposes were to safeguard intangible cultural heritage of humanity, ensure respect for the ICH of communities, groups and individuals concerned as well as raise awareness at local, national and international levels on the importance of ICH, among others.

As a result, the ministry encouraged other communities to ensure that their ICH was documented and submitted for possible inscription in the two lists of the convention, the Urgent Safeguarding List (USL) and the Representative List or into the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices. ENDS