Coalition for Heritage Conservation and Development formed
As one of the projects of our Cultural Heritage programme, CCFU is coordinating a coalition of civil society organisations, heritage activists and professionals to lobby policy makers to update and strengthen the existing policy framework for heritage conservation in Uganda. The work of the Coalition which has been tagged Developing a Common Agenda: policy advocacy for heritage conservation and development, started in April with a meeting of 8 members, who expressed their concern on the sorry state of our natural, historic and cultural heritage.
A number of factors, including lack of political interest and obsolete legal instruments have led to neglect, mismanagement and subsequent destruction of aspects of our heritage. The Historical Monuments Act of 1967, for instance, still stipulates a penalty of UGX 2,000 (less than 1USD) for any person who destroys a monument or a site!
The second meeting (held on Aug 10th at CCFU offices) saw the Coalition grow to 16 members including private practitioners and representatives from NGOs, government agencies, civil society organisations and cultural institutions. The Uganda National Museum, the Historical Buildings Conservation Trust, Buganda Kingdom, the Uganda National Cultural Center and CCFU are just some of the organisations represented. One of the strengths of this Coalition is an all–round character drawn from the broad range of professional specialties of its members, including Museum management, History, Archeology, Heritage conservation, Architecture, Economics, Environment, Education, Culture and the Arts.
The Coalition for Heritage Conservation and Development is a free-membership forum dedicated to the preservation and conservation of natural, historical and cultural heritage of Uganda in all its diversity, through policy advocacy and communication for positive change. The coalition also focuses on relevant international instruments; a case in point is the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions which at the moment cannot benefit Uganda because our government has not yet ratified it.
This month the coalition begins its advocacy campaign with a consolidated position paper on the existing policy framework for heritage conservation in Uganda, which will be shared with key persons in Government.
We are calling upon members of the community to join this cause by identifying sites and aspects of our heritage that are significant to our identity and well–being but have for some reason been neglected or destroyed. Watch out for our public education activities in your community.
