Iran to launch int’l network for nomadic women preserving intangible heritage
Iran plans to set up an international network to connect nomadic women preserving intangible cultural heritage across West and Central Asia, a senior official said on Wednesday, describing the initiative as a step toward “sustainable livelihoods rooted in living traditions.”
Iran’s Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, Ali Darabi, announced the plan during a national forum on women’s entrepreneurial skills among nomadic communities held at the ministry’s headquarters in Tehran on November 12, IRNA reported.
He said the project, approved earlier this year by UNESCO’s Regional Research Center, aims to boost cross-border collaboration and knowledge-sharing among women preserving traditional crafts, oral literature, and ecological wisdom.
“Through this network, women who hold intangible heritage will be able to raise their voices louder at the regional and global levels,” he said, calling the effort “a pioneering cultural move” that bridges policy and tradition. He added that nomadic women are not only “guardians of language, art, and ritual,” but also “the invisible pillars of social and economic resilience.” The new network, he noted, will foster the exchange of local expertise on sustainable crafts, traditional resource management, and adaptation to climate change, areas where indigenous knowledge offers what he called “answers modern societies still seek.”
Iran’s nomadic population, which historically made up more than 25% of the country’s people, still plays a key role in national food security and rural production. Spread across 20 provinces, 101 tribes and nearly 600 clans manage around 60% of Iran’s territory, according to ministry figures.
“The living heritage of nomads is not merely a relic of the past,” Darabi said. “It is our compass for the future, a future where living in harmony with nature, alongside progress, becomes the most valuable legacy for our children.”