By Olimatou Coker
The Gambia National Commission for UNESCO in collaboration with the National Federation of The Gambia Clubs for UNESCO and ASPnet, recently conducted a 2-day training for education curriculum officers and teachers on the integration of living heritage in school curriculums.
The activity is part of a series of activities under the Unesco Participation Programme project (Introducing Living Heritage and Cultural Expressions in Gambian Schools to Safeguard the National Inventoried List of Intangible Cultural Heritage). The project is funded by the Unesco participation programme 2024- 2025.
Lamin Jarjou, Senior programme Officer at Unesco and ASPnet National Coordinator, said The Gambia ratified the 2003 Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage in May 2011.
“Unesco carried out a needs assessment in The Gambia in 2015, where national stakeholders addressed the importance of promoting local cultures and the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH).”
He explained that the assessment pointed out the need to raise awareness and support national institutions to reinforce their knowledge of the 2003 Convention and its implementation mechanisms. The importance of building a national strategy to safeguard intangible heritage and to review strategy documents on culture, in general, was also underlined. Diverse stakeholders also highlighted, during the assessment, the need for setting up a community-based inventory and reinforcing their capacities to develop safeguarding plans and project proposals in the field of living heritage.
“The Training activities aimed at strengthening the capacities of these stakeholders in the following areas: better knowledge of the 2003 Convention, methodology for participatory community-based inventories for ICH safeguarding in The Gambia, and the elaboration of safeguarding plans and measures.”
Noting that after a thorough and rigorous process of elaboration, the NCAC, with its national stakeholders, was able to put on the table an enviable list of 30 ICH elements that has become a pacesetter for State Parties in the elaboration of living heritage at the level of UNESCO.
Sanna B Jarju of NCAC said since the ratification of the Convention in 2011, a series of activities were implemented and geared towards the safeguarding of living heritage, otherwise called intangible cultural heritage.
“The latest achievement is in October 2024 when The Gambia, by virtue of its effort in implementing the convention was awarded international assistance at the tune of $100,000 to carry out a two-year project, and this we intend to commence shortly after this month.”
Momodou Jeng, Director of Curriculum, said the government is committed to culture and cultural heritage.
“If you look at the Education Policy, 2016-2030, we are committed as a ministry to protect and safeguard cultures and cultural heritage, and that is why the new reform that we are doing with the curriculum, we have even created a new subject for social studies, which was part of the social and environmental studies, and now we have a separate subject called Social Studies because the emphasis we want to make in this reform of the curriculum is to promote our cultural values as a country.”
