New national cultural preservation strategy

A new national strategy for cultural development in Yemen was announced last week by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The strategy aims to preserve the current heritage and traditions of the country, as well as encourage new art and other forms of cultural expression. "Culture is an essential part of human development," UN Resident Coordinator for Yemen, Flavia Pansieri, said in her opening remarks at the launch ceremony in the capital Sana. "Very often, economically justifying investment in culture is not an easy task and yet one cannot think only of the economic rate of return, one must also think of the social rate of return." Pansieri mentioned the benefits of cultural preservation both for the Yemeni people and also the economic benefits in terms of tourism. An MCT statement said that tourism revenues now made up 32 percent of Yemen's income, with more than 273,000 tourists visiting the country in 2004. Yemen's cultural strategy has been in development since 1998. It was finalised at the beginning of 2004 and was approved by the government in December. UNDP’s National Project Coordinator Dr Hadi Saliba, said that one of the project's first goals will be a general inventory of heritage in Yemen. “With this inventory, we will be able to define what the heritage of Yemen is," Saliba told IRIN in Sana. "This country cannot afford to protect everything. It is a question of how to allow development in the country, and how to bring culture into the development process. It is difficult because people often feel that culture is something to be replaced by modern things," he explained. At the ceremony, culture and tourism minister, Khaled al-Rowaishan, spoke of preserving the way of life of the Yemeni people, including the baths, the souqs [market places], household customs and even the food. The cultural sector in Yemen was the subject of a 2000 United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) study, which the current strategy refers to. The study divided the country’s heritage into "tangible" and "intangible" components. Tangible, includes archeological sites, museums, historic cities, and manuscripts. Intangible refers to aspects such as music, oral literature, customs and rituals, languages and dialects, and handicrafts. It found that both sectors were neglected, but in particular, the intangible components of Yemen's heritage. The cultural strategy also aims to encourage new ventures, including the development of contemporary visual arts, such as cinema. Yemen is currently home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites: the old city of Sana; the city of Shibam in Hadramout in the east; and Zabid, an ancient university town in the Tihama southern coastal region. It is famous in particular for its distinctive traditional architecture and was declared the cultural capital of the Arab world for 2004.