Youth among delegates for World Heritage meet

Youth representation will form part of the official delegation at the next meeting of the World Heritage Committee, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight has announced.

Speaking at the launch of Heritage Month – Celebrating and Preserving Our Heritage at the historic Morgan Lewis Windmill in St Andrew on Sunday, Minister Munro-Knight underscored the importance of youth participation, calling it pivotal to the future of heritage preservation.

“Within the Division of Culture, we have sought in several ways to make sure that we involve young people in several areas of our work,” she said. Among those initiatives are the summer camp book project undertaken by the National Library Service and several programmes with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF).

However, she noted, “The government cannot do it by itself. It needs partnership, it needs a recognition that this challenge is one that we must do together. It is one that we must stand shoulder to shoulder with non-governmental organisations, private sector partners and other critical stakeholders in this effort.”

Highlighting several activities, including the upcoming CARIFESTA, she added, “We have therefore within 2025 an unprecedented opportunity like no other to be able to lift up our culture, our heritage, to engage Barbadians on a level that perhaps we have not been able to before.”

Minister Munro-Knight referenced a recent national survey that revealed a strong public appetite for deeper knowledge about heritage. 

“That means that we have a responsibility together to answer that call that Barbadians are making, that call for more exposure, more understanding, more education about our culture, our heritage and these important sites,” she emphasised.

Dr Sheron Johnson, programme officer in the Division of Culture, outlined several signature events slated for the month. They include a Youth Round Table at the Nidhe Israel Synagogue in Bridgetown under the theme Safeguarding Our Past, Building Our Future – The Story of Tyrol Cot, and Jazz in the Yard at the St Mary’s Church yard. The month will also feature the launch of the book Historic Mosques of Bridgetown Barbados by Sabir Nakhuda and Sulieman Bulbulia at the Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre. Patrons can also participate in the Historic Bridgetown Market, where they can purchase unique local artefacts. The events will culminate with a free lecture, A Genealogy Chat: Let’s Talk Family, on June 29.

Celebrating those who have made outstanding contributions to the preservation of Barbados’ cultural history, Minister Munro-Knight said, “One of the things I love about Heritage Month is the Heritage awards, where we are able to honour those stalwarts, those that have gone before, those that have had the foresight and the vision to be able to establish new things, tell us about our history, document it, and are oftentimes unheard, even though they continuously knock.”

Awardees were Peggy McGeary, Virgil Broodhagen, Neville Legall, Bruce Jardine, Robert O’Neal, and the late Professor Pedro Welch, whose award was received by his daughter. Special recognition was also given to Outstanding Stewards Randy Batson and Sherri Headley. 

(STT)