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UNESCO supports the development of a capacity building and implementation strategy for World Heritage in South Sudan
National authorities responsible for natural and cultural heritage, civil society organizations, NGOs and other experts in the field of culture joined UNESCO World Heritage Advisor Bodies representatives for a national stakeholder consultation workshop on 24 and 25 July 2019 in Juba, Republic of South Sudan.
received from the UNESCO World Heritage Fund to develop a capacity building and implementation strategy for implementation of the World Heritage Convention. With support from the UNESCO Juba Office, the national authorities responsible for Culture organized a two-day national consultation workshop on the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention, which raised awareness of the Operational Guidelines for implementation of the World Heritage Convention, the nomination process and the obligations and benefits of States Parties to the Convention.
The meeting, which was led by representatives from the three to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention: the International Union for Conservation of Nature (), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (), and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (), also resulted in a strategy and roadmap for World Heritage nominations.
The workshop strengthened the technical and institutional capacities and knowledge of national stakeholders to the World Heritage Convention, and facilitated discussions so as to enhance the protection and management of South Sudan’s three : , the , and .
The importance of local stakeholder engagement in the management and protection of World Heritage properties was highlighted by the Advisory Bodies. The experts also raised awareness among participants of the potential threats to natural and cultural heritage sites as well as how to manage risks to their conservation and management.
Following its ratification of the World Heritage Convention in 2016, South Sudan has been actively taking steps to strengthen the identification and protection of its national natural and cultural heritage. UNESCO supported the development of South Sudan’s first national culture policy and has facilitated community consultations and research on the country’s Tentative List sites in view of preparing management and conservation plans.
‘’The World Heritage agenda is a national commitment and responsibility’’ said Mr. Kuac Wek Wol, Undersecretary at the South Sudan Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, ‘’but it calls for more awareness among stakeholders to achieve the next step, and it requires a consultative and collaborative effort by all the stakeholders’’ he added.
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