|
 | Acting Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, Ms Suzanne Wilson speaks at the launch. photo: Jason Chute. |
|
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) newest World Heritage arm in the Pacific was launched in Suva on 27 February 2013, by the Acting Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, Ms Suzanne Wilson.
The Pacific Heritage Hub, hosted by the University of the South Pacific, covers 22 Pacific Island Countries and territories. It will be the link between the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Paris, Pacific Island governments, institutions, organisations and indigenous communities.
Speaking at the launch, Ms Wilson said the Pacific Heritage Hub “will further the reach and depth of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in the Pacific and take Pacific heritage onto the global stage. More significantly, it will coordinate capacity-building opportunities that will enable Pacific people to manage their own cultural and natural heritage.”
She said it was a great moment in the history of Pacific people as the Pacific Heritage Hub was “a focal point, a confluence for all heritage-related activities in the region - a place where Pacific communities can learn and build from, and safeguard what they deem worth protecting for posterity.”
The Pacific region is the most under-represented on the UNESCO World Heritage List although it has many cultural sites and natural ecosystems that could be of outstanding universal value to humanity. The Hub has been established as a communication and exchange point to assist Pacific governments put sites onto the UNESCO World Heritage List and to assist existing Pacific sites improve management practices through capacity-building.
USP’s contribution is through capacity-building via the design and offer of heritage management courses through the Faculty of Arts, Law and Education.
The Vice-Chancellor and President of USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra, said the opening of the new Hub was a testimony of USP's commitment to the development of Pacific arts and culture.
He added that the Hub would also give pride to the people of the Pacific of their identity and the courage to have deeper understanding of their culture and identity.
The current Pacific sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List are: Kuk Early Agricultural Site (Papua New Guinea), Bikini Atoll Nuclear Site (Marshall Islands), Chief Roi Mata’s Domain (Vanuatu), Rapa Nui National Park (Chile), Phoenix Islands Protected Area (Kiribati), Reefs and Lagoons of New Caledonia (France), Rock Islands - Southern Lagoon (Belau), and Lake Tegano - East Rennell (Solomon Islands).
Out of the 962 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, only 8 are from the Pacific. The Pacific Heritage Hub is tasked to work with partners in remedying this deficiency.
|
