STRENGTHENING SUB-REGIONAL COOPERATION AND NATIONAL CAPACITIES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE 2003 CONVENTION FOR THE SAFEGUARDING OF ICH INTERMEDIATE REPORT

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1 ZIMBABWE NATIONAL COMMISSIONFOR UNESCO STRENGTHENING SUB-REGIONAL COOPERATION AND NATIONAL CAPACITIES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE 2003 CONVENTION FOR THE SAFEGUARDING OF ICH INTERMEDIATE REPORT ZIMBABWE 7/31/2014 Report on the Training of Trainers Workshop on ICH Inventorying held in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe: 6-11 July 2014

2 Report on the Training of Trainers Workshop on ICH Inventorying held in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe: 6-11 July 2014 I. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND The need for the project and why it exists The UNESCO/ Flanders funded project on Strengthening sub-regional co-operation and national capacities for implementing the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is a sub-regional strategy that was developed by UNESCO together with seven southern African countries, namely Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe to strengthen national capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in their territories. The project was designed to address particular needs of beneficiary countries such as adequacy of institutional frameworks, the availability of expertise in the field of intangible cultural heritage and the ability to set up or revise legislative and policy frameworks Description of the sector/sub sector within which the project will be carried out (institutional framework, beneficiary country strategy, prior or on-going international assistance, etc.) In Zimbabwe the project is jointly co-ordinated by the National Commission for UNESCO and the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture with greater involvement of the National ICH Committee. The country s strategy is to develop a pool of resource persons to train trainers as well as implementers of the 2003 Convention. Zimbabwe s priorities for the current Flanders funding period (June December 2014) are as follows: Training of Trainers workshop, strengthening the national ICH Committee, applying for support from the ICH Fund, submitting periodic report on implementation of the Convention and submitting elements for the ICH lists. Description of the project s primary and secondary target beneficiaries. Please list the precise number of primary target beneficiaries and gender segregation. The primary target beneficiaries of the project are government officers of the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture and representatives of community organisations who have the capacity to cascade the project to grassroots communities. Seven women and eleven men were trained during the workshop. II. DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT ACTIVITES UNDERTAKEN list the activities undertaken, as per the work plan and elaborate on the status and the output In line with the work plan Zimbabwe conducted the training of trainers workshop from 6-11 July 2014 in Chiredzi District, Masvingo Province. Activities undertaken were as follows: 1. Preparatory Meetings

3 a) Planning Meetings with Ministry of Sport Arts and Culture officials Identification of trainers - 3 trainers were identified from beneficiaries of previous regional and national ToT programmes, namely, UNESCO Regional ToT Workshop held in Harare in 2010 and the National Capacity Building workshop held at the Management Training Bureau, Harare in The trainers were Ms. Daphne Mukaronda (Zimbabwe National Commission for UNESCO), Mr. Christopher Timbe (Melo Rhythm Instruments and member of the National ICH Committee) and Mr. Farai Chabata (National Museums and Monuments). Identification of trainees - 15 participants were identified as follows:- 8 Ministry officers (2 from head office and 6 from the Districts); 1 official from the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe; 8 representing the communities (Tonga, Nambya, Budya, Ndau and Shangani) Identification of community and workshop venue The workshop was held at Mamak Lodge in Chiredzi. The Shangani community under Chief Tshovani was identified for the community research and inventorying exercise b) Trainers meetings Design of programme and training materials - Five meetings were held between 1 June and 5 July 2014 at the National Commission for UNESCO between the trainers and the training consultant, Mr. Stephen Chifunyise to design the programme and prepare workshop materials and documents. Synchronisation of presentations- the trainers did some mock presentations and ensured that field equipment was in good condition for use by trainees. c) Pre-workshop visit to Chiredzi and the Shangani Community Establishing contact with the Shangani community through the District Administrator and Chief Tshovani and obtaining consent for the workshop s community based inventorying practical-- A 3 member team comprising 2 trainers (Ms. D. Mukaronda and Mr. C. Timbe) and 1 Shangani community participant (Mr. Oliver Chauke) undertook a preworkshop visit to Chiredzi. The team visited the District Administrator s office to seek clearance to enter the community and introduce the programme to the Chief. The clearance was given in the form of a letter addressed to Chief Tshovani. The team then visited Chief Tshovani and introduced the ICH inventorying programme to him and sought his consent for the trainees to conduct their practical inventorying project on 9 July Verbal consent was granted and was to be recorded and also given in writing when the workshop started. The Chief also consented to have 3 community members participate in the programme. He also assisted in the selection of elements to be inventoried and indicated elements restricted from being inventoried. Assessment of workshop venue s suitability the team also assessed the workshop venue- Mamak Lodge to ensure the adequacy of accommodation facilities, availability of power and water as well as options in case of shortages.

4 III. DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED What difficulties have you encountered before and during the workshop? This segment may include: transport, participants, funds, time constraints, venue etc. a) Inadequate funds The work-plan had anticipated a 10- day workshop in line with UNESCO s standard duration for ICH inventorying workshops but the final costing dictated that the workshop be undertaken over a period of 5 days. It was clear that the proposal for a 10 day workshop was overambitious in view of the funds provided. It was therefore necessary to take measures to conduct the workshop in a shorter period of time and at the same time achieving the intended result. b) Time constraints - Although in the field research teams were each able to inventory two ICH elements each group was only able to complete an inventory file for one ICH element due to time constraints. The problem of completing inventory files on time was compounded by the fact that the task of transcribing and translating the interviews from local Shangani language to English was left to the Shangani speakers from the community because the rest of the participants were not fluent in Shangani. What measures have been taken to mitigate the challenges? a) Funds- The National Commission for UNESCO advanced some funds to ensure smooth implementation of the workshop. These funds will be reimbursed when the remaining balance is released. Through consultation with the Ministry of Sport Arts and Culture it was agreed to reduce funding allocated for ICH committee meetings to beef up the ToT workshop. b) Time constraints Participants agreed that the three Shangani speaking participants (one from each research team) would complete downloading, transcribing and translating the documents to complete the inventory files for the remaining three ICH elements that were not completed viz. Fire-making knowledge and skills, Chigande dance and Shangani basket-making. This work will be done with assistance and support from the team leaders, team members and trainers via a network that was created immediately after the workshop. IV. PROJECT RESULTS ACHIEVED What results have you as a country achieved? a) Through the Training of Trainers workshop Zimbabwe now has a pool of 18 people who are now knowledgeable about the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and have an understanding of the importance of safeguarding ICH existing in the communities. Through the practical research and inventorying exercise conducted in Chief Tshovani s area the trainees were capacitated to conduct training as well as to carry out community based inventorying in their communities.

5 b) The workshop produced inventories of six ICH elements from the Shangani community in Chief Tshovani s area as follows: Kuhlayisa mavele- Preservation of sorghum Nghula Gohona Knowledge and use of traditional herbs for the treatment of cervical cancer Chigande dance Traditional firemaking skill Shangani Basket making skills Inventories for three elements were completed during the workshop while the remaining three are expected to be completed by September These elements will now constitute a reference inventory of ICH in Zimbabwe which can be mentioned when submitting nominations to the Lists of the 2003 Convention. c) Zimbabwe was able to conduct this training, which is normally done in 10 days in a period of 5 days using 3 new trainers. Have you submitted or in the process of submitting International assistance requests? Zimbabwe has not submitted a request for international Assistance but is in the process of consolidating three requests which were drafted during the training, one by officers from the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture and two by community organisations. The anticipated requests will be submitted for consideration by the national ICH Committee as soon as they are complete. Has the country drafted or in the process of submitting nomination files for the next cycle. Currently there is no draft nomination file but the issue is being pursued considering that the six Shangani ICH elements will soon constitute an inventory of ICH in Zimbabwe. Are national ICH committees formed or in the process of formation A national ICH Committee has been in existence in Zimbabwe since 2002 during the nomination of Masterpieces of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. However, there are plans by the new Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture to revamp the Committee by creating committees at district and provincial levels in order to address the issue of provincial representation. The process has not yet commenced. V. LESSONS LEARNED AND SUSTAINABILITY What lessons have you learned from this workshop The success of ICH safeguarding programme requires serious involvement of communities in all the stages. Both government and communities need to understand the How will you maintain the outcome of the project beyond funding from FLANDERS?

6 The Ministry of sport, arts and Culture will utilise the trained officers to cascade the community based inventorying programme to the communities and work with the proposed district and provincial ICH committees. VI. EVALUATION RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations should give an input on what needs to be done to successfully to complete the project and achieve the planned results in time. The workshop was very successful in imparting knowledge and skills for community base inventorying. Recommendations o There is need to expedite the completion of the inventories for the remaining 3 elements o More funding is required for setting up functional ICH committees at different levels o Zimbabwe should seriously consider submitting an application for International Assistance to conduct a comprehensive community-based inventorying of ICH in its territory using the trained personnel. o Zimbabwe should also consider starting to nominate elements for listing. VII. VISIBILITY describe any visibility action implemented during the reporting period (printed or electronic media interviews, etc.) A press release was prepared and sent to the Media and Information Ministry by the National Commission for UNESCO. Media interviews were also done in Chiredzi by journalists from the Herald, the Mirror and the Masvingo Star Have you developed broad-based partnerships that will foster future collaborations Partnerships have been forged with Gaza Trust, a community organisation in Chiredzi which runs an annual Shangani festival which raises awareness of, and promotes the safeguarding of ICH. The 2014 edition of the festival will be held from 2-7 September in Chiredzi and will feature a workshop on culture and development. VIII. FINANCIAL REPORT Table the expenditures according to the activities in the work plan *See copy of Financial Report attached IX. LIST OF ANNEXES Pictures, publications, reports and other project outputs (when applicable) *See attached

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