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Date
: 05/05/2006
Source: Department of Arts and Culture
Title: Jordan: Launch of African World Heritage Fund
Keynote address by Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Z Pallo
Jordan, launching the African World Heritage Fund, at Maropeng
Exhibition Centre
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 continent’s 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
Minister’s 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 AU’s 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 Africa’s 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 continent’s 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. It’s
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
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