Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley
A Caribbean World Heritage Fund is being recommended for the sustainable management of heritage resources throughout the region.
This disclosure was made by Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley, during a recent press briefing to culminate a three-day CARICOM, SIDS, UNESCO World Heritage Workshop, which was held at the Amaryllis Beach Resort.
Mr Lashley outlined a list of recommendations which were compiled following a series of discussions regarding heritage and culture, and noted that they would be submitted at the UNESCO World Committee meeting in June this year.
Highlighting the proposed Fund, he stressed that "this particular recommendation remains a very pivotal and key component of the kind of perspectives that we have in the Caribbean.
"You will be aware that as we seek to have our heritage sites listed on the World Heritage List that we have to involve management plans to ensure they are protected, but of course we have to ensure that we have the necessary funding to continue to protect our very sacred heritage sites…We believe [that having this fund] will be very crucial to the protection and preservation of these heritage sites," the Culture Minister stated.
The recommendations will also be presented at a meeting in Samoa in September, and at the UNESCO General Conference in October.
"The recommendations will also go before the CARICOM Ministers of Culture and of course, I expect that my colleagues will see this as an opportunity to get a feel and a pulse of what is coming out of the CARICOM experts," Mr. Lashley said.
Approximately 25 participants, including representatives from CARICOM, UNESCO, the World Heritage Centre and other Caribbean states took part in the workshop.