Africa-Press – Cape verde. UNESCO will conduct a comprehensive survey of the infrastructure under the supervision of the MCIC in São Vicente to understand the damage and losses caused by the August 11 disaster, Inforpress has learned.
The president of the Cultural Heritage Institute (IPC), Ana Samira Baessa, said that the regional office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Dakar is monitoring the assessment work using the organization’s methodology, which aims to assess all damage and losses caused by the disaster from a medium- and long-term perspective.
She emphasized that several infrastructures of the Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries (MCIC) are targeted by this survey, namely the CNAD, Historical Archives, Library, and Museums.
Ana Samira Baessa also stated that last week a team from the Cultural Heritage Institute (IPC) visited São Vicente to further assess the damage to the Historic Center, which is a national heritage site.
According to the IPC president, the survey aims to provide the institution with information on the historical and built heritage, as well as on buildings listed as national heritage, and the existing damage.
As a UNESCO member state, Cape Verde is party to several international instruments, namely the Convention on Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Convention on Intangible Heritage, and the Convention on Cultural Diversity. These instruments have specific funds to support losses and damages caused by disasters, as is the case in São Vicente.
In this context, and after coordination between the Ministry of Culture and UNESCO, according to Ana Samira Baessa, technical support was provided for a survey using a United Nations methodology called PDNA, an instrument that assesses damage after disasters.
She explained that the assessment will be carried out taking into account the damage, the impacts on visitors who stopped visiting the museum and library, cultural spaces, cultural production that was not held, as well as canceled events, festivals, and cultural activities.
“A very comprehensive assessment of all tangible and intangible impacts caused by the storm will be carried out, and from there, repair mechanisms will be defined in the short, medium, and long term,” he added.
All of this, he continued, is part of a comprehensive vision aimed at repairing museums and strengthening and supporting revenue losses.
After assessing the damage, he explained that UNESCO, under existing conventions, is providing Cape Verde, through a fund allocated to the culture sector, with funding to be used for damaged services so they can return to normal.
The current focus of the work, he said, is São Vicente, which is currently recording damage to its cultural sector due to the August 11 storm. He added that a similar assessment will be conducted on the islands of Santo Antão and São Nicolau.
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