65 Panamanian women artisans receive business training

The workshop provided training on the normative, political, and ethical aspects of cultural heritage and the creative economy in Panama.

65 women artisans participated in the workshop CREA Artesanías en Panama: strengthening the cultural and business capacities of women artisans in Panama, organized by the Ministry of Culture of Panama in conjunction with UNESCO and the Inter-American Development Bank, which was held virtually throughout September and October 2020.

UNESCO facilitated the module on Crafts, Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Creative Economy: Concepts, Frameworks and Tools, which provided participants with knowledge on the protection of intangible cultural heritage and on the promotion of cultural diversity and the creative economy, as well as another module on the subject of gender in cultural heritage and the creative economy.

It was an opportunity to broaden knowledge about the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, promote the cultural participation of women artisans, address the main gender aspects that influence the exercise of cultural rights and reinforce knowledge about cultural enterprise policies in Panama. Some artisans shared experiences and testimonies about gender inequalities in the field of culture. UNESCO reminded the audience that the protection of culture must always be in line with the protection of Human Rights.

For UNESCO, the creative economy is a key field in the reactivation of the cultural sectors and in social and economic recovery in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as being a transversal factor in achieving the objectives of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This activity is part of the national programme for the creative economy, CREA in Panama 2030, which is being implemented thanks to the cooperation of the European Union and UNESCO on the governance of culture in developing countries, which since 2019 has been providing technical assistance to Panama to strengthen its institutional capacities in the field of culture and the creative economy.