Building capacity to collect the heritage of South Sudan

During these troubled times for South Sudan, the need to strengthen a sense of common national identity is as important as ever. UNESCO's Office in Juba continues to assist in the establishment of a public culture sector that will offer the young nation the opportunity for sustainable peace and development.
In the frame of these efforts a five-day training on Collections Management was organized in partnership with the Centre for Heritage Development in Africa (CHDA) from the 14 to the 18 of April at UNESCO’s Office in Juba. Fourteen participants from four states of South Sudan attended the workshop that is part of the UNESCO project “South Sudan Traveling Exhibition - Pilot Phase”. This project is contributing towards the establishment of South Sudan's National Museum.
The “Traveling exhibition” will be touring throughout three states of the country with the aim to consult with the communities on how they wish to be represented in the museum and bring together the collection (objects, stories, videos, images, etc) through a participatory process. The mobile exhibition will also provide an opportunity for communities to learn about each other.
The team of local resource people that was trained will be assisting throughout the process creating the link to the local communities. The tailor-made training developed by CHDA equipped the team with the needed skills and knowledge for this task. The workshop introduced the participants to skills required when building and managing a collection and included modules on tangible and intangible collections management, object preservation and handling as well as documentation of tangible and intangible heritage.
Mr Salah Khaled, Head of Office and UNESCO representative to South Sudan says “UNESCO is committed to support the people of South Sudan in strengthening the ties between the different groups, bringing them together through culture and education, giving opportunities to the youth to know each other, to build this country together. We need to invest on the diversity and richness of South Sudan’.

The project is funded by Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) with additional support from the French Government.