The Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Secretariat along with the Department of Creative Economy in St. Kitts has officially launched its National Intangible Cultural Heritage Policy on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023.

The goal of the policy is to safeguard and promote cultural traditions in the federation, protect traditional cultural practitioners and their rights by way of establishing procedures. The target cultural practices of the policy include language, music and dance. According to the ICH representative on Nevis, Mr. Patrick Howell, the framework for the new initiative was created by UNESCO.

The policy is also expected to conserve the historical aspects of the federation which will increase national pride and identity of its citizens. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Creative Economy, Valencia Syder spoke on the importance of citizens and residents appreciating their local culture and heritage if we are to boost the rate of the country’s largest economy, Tourism.

It was also mentioned that work is being done through the policy to get local artifacts such as the calabash and clay pottery into UNESCO’s ICH list which will further help document the historical significance of SK