Cyprus is among the eight countries from four continents that have submitted a joint application for the registration of midwifery in UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision of UNESCO’s competent Committee is expected in December 2023.
According to a statement, circulated by Cyprus’ Press and Information Office, the application on ‘Midwifery: Knowledge, Skills and Practices’ was prepared by midwife associations from Colombia, Cyprus, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Slovakia and Togo, in cooperation with ministries and experts on intangible cultural heritage and public health.
The preparation of the application by Cyprus was coordinated by the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO in cooperation with the Committee of Midwives of the Pancyprian Association of Nurses and Midwives and other bodies related to obstetrics.
Other countries will too be able to join also after the registration, it is noted.
Intangible Cultural Heritage includes traditions from the fields of dance, theater, music, oral tradition, knowledge of nature and crafts, the statement says. It adds, that, since 2013, 180 countries have acceded to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and have established national lists.
To date, it is noted, Cyprus has registered five elements in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage: the Lefkara embroidery (2009), the tsiattista poetic dueling (2011), the Mediterranean Diet (2013), the art of drystone making (2018) and the Byzantine chant (2019).
(CNA)
