Review cultural agreements, cultural ethusiasts ask govt

Culture enthusiasts have asked government to review its cultural agreements with some countries in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) region so that exchanges of cultural groups can be incorporated.

In a statement, a cultural non-governmental organisation (NGO) Sungani Zakwathu Cultural Heritage Association thanked the Malawi Government for the various cultural cooperations and agreements it has with countries in Sadc and beyond.

“These agreements have helped our respective governments to exchange various expertise, information and knowledge at government to government level,” said Sungani Zakwathu Heritage Association executive director Matthews Mfune.

He said President Lazarus Chakwera in his State of the Nation Address on September 4 committed to reform the Foreign Affairs Ministry and its missions.

“We want to ask government to evaluate each of the cultural cooperations Malawi has had over time and negotiate for reviews where it is possible so that these cooperations include cultural exchanges between our community organisations, NGOs, academic institutions and other relevant stakeholders in the sector to complement the existing government to government programmes,” said Mfune.

He said his organisation believes such agreements will directly benefit Malawians and people from other countries because the heart of any heritage are communities with authentic connections to historic sites and cultural practices.

Mfune pointed out that in the 2003 Unesco Convention; such international agreements are also encouraged to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage to exchange information, knowledge.