African World Heritage Day (05/05/2024) was proclaimed at the 38th General Conference of UNESCO in 2015. It provides an opportunity to celebrate and reflect upon Africa’s vibrant cultural and natural heritage, encouraging us to give thought to the continent’s unique contribution to the world, and to contemplate how this heritage can be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. As the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Audrey Azoulay, has highlighted recently, the “richness and diversity of this heritage are embodied in natural sites of breathtaking beauty, which are often home to a unique biodiversity, such as the Ivindo National Park in Gabon, listed as a world heritage site since 2021, and the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.”[1]
Ms Azoulay has likewise drawn attention to UNESCO’s commitment “to enable African populations, and especially the continent’s young people, to reclaim their heritage and history, and to see them better recognized by international bodies”.[2] This is a pressing task, given that Africa is underrepresented on the World Heritage List. Add to this that an alarmingly high percentage of these sites are on the List of World Heritage in Danger. UNESCO is therefore collaborating with its Member States and its partners, including the African World Heritage Fund, in order to support 12 African countries without a site inscribed on the World Heritage List. The objective is that by 2025 all of them will have submitted a nomination file. UNESCO has also committed to training hundreds of experts in site conservation and the use of digital technologies.
British Online Archives would like to wish everyone a happy African World Heritage Day.
[1] “Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of African World Heritage Day 5 May 2023”, available at https://www.unesco.org/en/days/african-world-heritage.
[2] Ibid.