By Ahmad Al-Mazyad
PARIS, April 23 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Ambassador Ali Al-Tarah announced Thursday Kuwait's joining of the UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Kuwaiti mission has received the convention joining document signed by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Al-Tarah told KUNA at the conclusion of the workshop held at the UNESCO's World Heritage Center to train a Kuwaiti team from the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL).
Al-Tarah stated that signing of the convention will pave the way for Kuwait to include its intangible heritage site in the World Heritage List.
He unveiled that Kuwait's mission to the UNESCO and the NCCAL are working to prepare a national list of tangible and intangible heritage sites.
Kuwait has asked the UNESCO to add Kuwait Towers, archeological sites of Failaka Island to the World Heritage List, he revealed.
He added that the NCCAL is also preparing a third dossier about Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Palace to nominate it for the World Heritage List.
He expressed gratitude for the allocation of USD 500,000 of Kuwait's USD 3.5 million-donation to the UNESCO to the World Heritage Center to train Kuwait cadres and help compile the technical documents needed for the proposed Kuwaiti cultural and heritage sites.
Al-Tarah lauded the great support offered to the teams working on these files by His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah.
For his part, Director of the UNECO World Heritage Center Kishore Rao spoke highly about the non-stop communication and cooperation between UNECO and Kuwait, particularly the NCCAL.
He described the workshop held for Kuwaiti cadres as a great success.
This workshop is not the first of its kind, Rao told KUNA, adding that the center's experts and Kuwaiti officials and experts have been meeting for over a year ago to prepare and review the technical documents required for Kuwait Towers' nomination to the World Heritage List. (end) amm.ibi