Jordan, launching the African World Heritage Fund, at Maropeng Exhibition
Centre
5 May 2006
Advocate Bience Gawanas, African Union Commissioner for Social
Affairs,
Minister Van Schalkwyk, South African Minister of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism,
Your Excellencies,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Mr Tidjani Serpos, UNESCO Assistant Director General for Africa,
Mrs Ina Mariulionyt, Chairperson of the 30th session of the World Heritage
Committee,
Mr Munier Bouchnaki, Director General of ICCROM,
Representatives of IUCN and ICOMOS,
Representatives of Development Finance Institutions,
Representatives from the private sector,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen;
The 29th session of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee held here in South Africa in
Durban last year was indeed a landmark occasion. Not only was this the first
time that the World Heritage Committee was having its meeting in Sub-Saharan
Africa, it also represented the return home to the cradle of humankind by the
international body which celebrates our common humanity and champions the
protection of humankinds heritage wherever it exists in the world.
Although nearly all the members of the African Union (AU) are signatories to
the World Heritage Convention of 1972, it took 30 years before the World
Heritage committee held its meeting on the sub-continent that is the birthplace
of humankind. The continent used the occasion to take stock of the state of our
heritage. The decision that South Africa host the 29th session of the World
Heritage Committee in 2005, offered Africa the opportunity to re-affirm the
continentâs commitment to African World Heritage sites especially those
highlighted in the 2002 Africa Periodic Report.
The African Position Paper was later endorsed by the AU Ministerâs
conference in Khartoum as providing a strategic vision to address the
challenges facing Africa in the protection and conservation of our heritage.
This, we say, is a programme to deal directly with these challenges. Africa is
extremely underrepresented on the prestigious world heritage list, accounting
for only seven percent of the properties on the World Heritage list. But by
2002 almost 40 percent of the World Heritage sites in Africa were on the list
of World Heritage sites in Danger.
The Position Paper is inspired by more than the desire to see more African
sites on the prestigious World Heritage list. Its primary thrust is that we can
make our heritage relevant to our lives in the present. The bald facts of the
state of African World Heritage sites are that a number of palpable constraints
make it difficult for many states in Africa to divert resources for the
maintenance of these sites. The Position Paper addresses the problem by turning
the question around. That is: How do we make African World Heritage sites
self-sustaining? How do we turn them into assets rather than liabilities? What
can these World Heritage sites contribute towards the eradication of poverty in
our countries?
The Africa Position Paper directs us to seek and create opportunities as set
out in the AUâs 2004-2007 sectoral plan for culture. It envisions a continent
wide cultural renaissance as a springboard to assist African economies to take
off.
The forward looking vision of the African Position Paper has won it
overwhelming support not only in UNESCO and its World Heritage committee but
also from the AU. The paper is essentially a programme of action outlining a
series of actions that need to be taken to enable Africa to assume her rightful
place among the continents. It is coupled with specific time frames. The
mechanism it recommends this task should be entrusted to be an African World
Heritage Fund.
The African World Heritage fund is essential for the implementation of the
10 year action plan contained in the Africa Position Paper. Among its eight
objectives the action plan seeks to increase the number of African sites on the
World Heritage list; reduce the number and eventually remove all African sites
from the list of World Heritage in danger. The action plan identifies the
strengthening of heritage protection and management as a priority. The
regrettable conflicts that affect far too many African states and natural
disaster situations impair and undermine the management of sites. The
improvement and enhancement of the institutional, policy and legal frameworks
will also require attention so as to ensure that natural and cultural heritage
contribute to sustainable development.
The New Partnership for Africaâs Development (NEPAD), the shared platform
the AU adopted treats culture and heritage as integral to the development
programmes of the continent with a special emphasis on the protection of
indigenous knowledge systems. The Position Paper and the action plan for the
cultural and natural heritage of Africa, like NEPAD, is an integrated programme
for sustainable development. The escalating poverty levels, underdevelopment
and the continued marginalisation of Africa require us to harness every
economic asset we possess.
Good governance is a basic requirement for peace, security and sustainable
political and socio-economic development. African leadership and ownership of
development programmes as well as broad participation by all sectors of society
are essential ingredients for success. That implies anchoring the development
of Africa on the continentâs resources and the resourcefulness of her people.
Partnerships in the first instance between and amongst African peoples
themselves will be necessary to pursue these ambitious goals. The acceleration
of regional and continental integration through our regional inter-state
bodies, such as South African Development Committee (SADC) and Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), will also help to build the
competitiveness of African economies and the continent. Itâs only by improving
the terms on which we meet others that Africa can forge new international
partnerships to change the unequal relationship between Africa and the
developed world. Realisation of the millennium development goals and other
agreed developmental targets are dependent on such interventions.
The importance of culture for development was recognised by the AU which
devoted a special session to culture including heritage and education in
January 2006.
The launch of the African World Heritage fund today is but one step to
improve the management and conservation of our common heritage for the benefit
of all humankind. This launch is also an African inspired initiative to
contribute to the protection and conservation of that portion of our common
human heritage over which we have been given stewardship.
As citizens of this continent we are intensely proud of the fact that Africa
is the cradle of mankind. It was also among the ancient kingdoms of Africa that
we find the earliest examples of abstract human thought. Many African writings
which have recently come to light have been recognised internationally as
outstanding examples of scholarship in the sciences, astrology, medicine,
speculative thought and theology. The fragility of these, their immeasurable
value as records of African achievement and the imperatives of preserving them
for posterity have persuaded a number of African states to cooperate for this
purpose. They convey a host of intangible values interwoven into a rich
tapestry of custom and tradition. Humanity would be the poorer if they were
lost.
We can no longer rely on traditional methods of conservation and protection.
The pressures rooted in underdevelopment and poverty has created serious new
threats to heritage sites. One of the challenges of the African Renaissance is
empowering Africans to know and to take pride in their world heritage sites
which are equal to those of other peoples of the world.
The final version of Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) feasibility
study report, a legal opinion from corporate law experts and a 10 year
financial plan based on an initial capital endowment were submitted to the
World Heritage centre for translation and publication in the official working
languages of UNESCO. The report which complements the Position Paper recommends
that the African World Heritage fund be established as a trust, registered and
located in South Africa. This recommendation was endorsed by the AU Ministers
of Culture, as captured in the report of the intergovernmental experts
meeting
It proposes a permanent board of trustees that will consist of one heritage
expert from each of the five AU regions; a representative from the World
Heritage centre and a representative from the AU Commission for Social Affairs.
The permanent board members could be appointed immediately, once the fund is
launched. At a corporate level we will establish formal links with the Nordic
World Heritage Foundation in order to learn from their experiences in setting
up such foundations.
Our aim is to launch the fund with a targeted initial capital endowment of
at least 10 million US dollars. Judging from the pledges made here today, we
have made significant progress towards reaching this target. We will require
approximately 19 million US dollars over the next 10 years to be able to
implement the action plan.
At the 29th session in July 2005 and at the 15th General Assembly of States
Parties in October 2005, more than 18 countries pledged support for the African
World Heritage fund. They are Norway, the Netherlands, India, China, Egypt,
Nigeria, Libya, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, Italy, Mexico, South Korea,
Namibia, Yemen, Tunisia, Croatia and Algeria, Israel, and Portugal. We expect
further pledges as the significance of what we are undertaking becomes more
widely known.
At a briefing in Paris on 22 February 2006, the Africa group indicated that
it received formal correspondence from the AU Commission urging it to
participate meaningfully in the establishment of the fund.
Our aim is to evolve structured partnerships with key corporations with
specific interests in the arts, culture and heritage as well as with those with
Pan-African investments who can become the primary source of income by way of
major donations. We have invited many of these corporations to the launch and
we shall be following up expressions of interest and pledges immediately after
the launch.
In the long term, income will have to derive from annual country
contributions, interest on investments, rolling three to five year grants from
Development Finance Institutions and supplementary income from annual
fundraising drives among the private sector.
I want to use this opportunity to express our profound gratitude to the
government of Norway for their contribution towards the meeting of African
Heritage experts who finalised the African Position Paper on the Implementation
of the World Heritage Convention in Africa in March 2005. Let me also express
my gratitude to the governments of China, India, the Netherlands and Israel for
their generous financial contributions to the feasibility study undertaken by
the DBSA.
And finally, let me thank you all, ladies and gentlemen, for your continued
support for the African World Heritage fund.
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
5 May 2006
