The Ministry of Culture and Arts, in collaboration with UNESCO, will organize the first national training workshop on the Implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, in Colombo from June 25 to 29. The workshop will be attended by national as well as internationals professionals in the field.

The closing ceremony on June 29 will be attended by senior government officials. In an effort to ensure that the countries, which ratified the 2003 Convention, are aware of how to benefit from it, UNESCO has been organizing a series of such workshops in different regions aiming at an efficient implementation of the Convention both at the national and at the global level. The workshops are funded by the Japanese government within the UNESCO-Japan Funds-in-Trust Cooperation framework.

The training workshop in Sri Lanka includes professionals from various fields of expertise, including academics, government, officials, active NGOs, local communities as well as intangible cultural heritage bearers and practitioners from across the country. During the training, participants would be exposed to key concepts as well as practical applications of the 2003 Convention, guided by two experienced international trainers.

The General Conference of UNESCO adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris on 17 October 2003. Upto today there are 143 Member States of UNESCO who have ratified the Convention.