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Celebrating the World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture 2024
The World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture took place at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris, marked by an event celebrating the rich cultural heritage of African and Afro-descendant people.
In November 2019, during the course of the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference, UNESCO adopted 24 January as the “World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture”, following a resolution presented by Togo, and supported by several Member States. The aim of this Day was to celebrate the cultures of the African continent and the African diasporas across the world, and to promote them as a lever for sustainable development.
The 2024 edition of the World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture was organized by Togo, in partnership with UNESCO, under the theme of “global Africanity to reconcile humanity”. It took place on the 23rd of January 2024 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, in the presence of H.E. Prof. Robert Dussey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration of Togo, and Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO. Other participants included: Mr Charles Koffi Azilan, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Delegation of Togo to UNESCO, and of the “Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie” (OIF); Ms Simona Miculescu, President of the 42nd General Conference of UNESCO; Ms Ana Maria de Oliveira, President of the Africa Group at UNESCO; Mr. Rodulfo Pérez Hernández, President of the Latin America and the Caribbean Group at UNESCO, Mr. Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah, Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations (PAX) at UNESCO; Ms Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences (SHS) at UNESCO; Ambassadors and Permanent Delegates of UNESCO Member States; Mr. John Ayité Dossavi, President of the Réseau africain des promoteurs et entrepreneurs culturels (RAPEC); artists and various other representatives and personalities significant to African and Afrodescendant culture, nearing a total of 900 participants.
In her speech, the Director General of UNESCO, Ms Audrey Azoulay, thanked Togo for its initiative in proposing this Day and organizing its 2024 celebration. She underlined the commitments of UNESCO in the field to promote African culture.
« Substantively, 2023 has been, I believe, a good year. Exceptional progress has been made in these past few months to better understand and promote the creativity of African cultures. This progress converges with the Agenda 2063 of the African Union, and the Charter of African Cultural Renaissance. As such, an important milestone has been achieved, with the inscription, last September, of the 100th African site to the World Heritage Sites of UNESCO».
The Director General also underlined how, in the course of the most recent session of the Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage at UNESCO, twelve elements offered by Africa to the world were recognized; “a record number for a single session”, she added. Ms Audrey Azoulay highlighted that each of these milestones is the fruit of a sincere collective engagement by UNESCO, its member states, as well as the budget, in order to “correct an imbalance that is both ancient and profoundly felt”. She equally welcomed the initiative of the Culture Working Group of the G20, currently under the presidency of Brazil, which prioritized the promotion of Afrodescendant cultures in its workplan.
In his opening speech, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Togo, H.E. Prof. Robert Dussey, applauded the strong mobilization of persons of varied backgrounds, in coming together to realize this celebration of the World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture 2024. He underlined that this collective effort echoes the mission of UNESCO and its various participants, to support the rich cultural traditions of African and Afro-descendant people, and the importance of culture as a vector for human solidarity between peoples of the world. He congratulated the Director General of UNESCO for her personal involvement, and for the determination of UNESCO to support and promote the preservation of African and Afrodescendant cultures. He affirmed that: “African cultures are the fruits of all humanity, and the “Universal Civilization”, so dear to President Leopold Sédar Senghor, can only engender an opportunity for deep fulfilment of each and every person if all cultural traditions are given their space”.
« A wise man and a renowned African face, well known to the arcane of UNESCO in the 1960s, I mean to say the Malian Amadou Hampâté BÂ, declared in 1985: “The diversity of humanity, of its cultures and civilizations, makes the beauty and richness of our world”, just as “the beauty of a tapestry is made by the variety of its colors”. Thank you to UNESCO for continuing to remind the world that the rich diversity of humanity is not incompatible with human solidarity, that humanity is one, but its strength lies in its cultural diversity. »
The Minister Robert Dussey recalled how the establishment of the 24th of January as the World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture in 2019 coincides with several UNESCO initiatives, including projects such as the Routes of Enslaved Peoples, whose 30th anniversary will be commemorated in 2024, and which contributed to “b쾱Բ”&Բ;the silence around the history of slavery ; also highlighted is the project on the General History of Africa (GHA), whose tenth volume has recently been published, retracing the history of the African continent and its diasporas.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs for Togo announced that Togo and the African Union will co-organize the 9th Pan-African Congress in Lomé, from the 29th of October to the 2nd of November, under the theme “Reviving Pan-Africanism and the place of Africa in world governance: mobilizing resources and reimagining pathways to action”. This Congress will be an opportunity for Africans living on the continent, the diaspora and Afrodescendant, to reflect upon the question of their human, political, cultural and societal existence, in a world becoming increasingly unpredictable, lacking in collective responsibility and concerted governance where Africa is concerned.
In addition to the official speeches, the World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture 2024 also hosted a panel discussion on the theme: “How can embracing one’s cultural identity bring about a reconciled humanity?”. The discussion brought together Mr. Doudou Diene, member of the Conseil d’administration de la Fondation pour la mémoire de l’esclavage; Dr Seynabou Dia-Sall, Founder and President of Global Mind Consulting and Action Africa Culture 55 (AAC55) ; Dr Khalid Hamdani, Director of the Institute for « Ethic and Diversity » ; Dr Quince Dunca, of the University of St. Olaf. Costa Rica. The panel was moderated by Ms Myriam Cottias, President of the International Scientific Committee of UNESCO’s “Routes of Enslaved Persons” programme, and Director of the Centre international de Recherches sur les esclavages et post-esclavages (CIRESC). It was preceded by an introductory message from Ms Désirée Cormier Smith, Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice of the United States of America. Concluding remarks were provided by Ms Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO.
The participants had the pleasure of hearing the hymn of the World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture, performed by the UNESCO Choir, and enjoyed the various musical and artistic performances of : Célia Johnston (Togo), in a beautiful interpretation of « Blewu » by Bella Bellow ; Elhadjil (Soudan) ; Slam (Comores), Phil Darwin (comedian).
The celebration of the World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture 2024 concluded with a cocktail event, animated by cultural performances by : Nono Miwa, Zalyka Gomez, Phil Darwin, Alain Alfred Moutapam and various folk groups from Nigeria, Burundi, Ghana and Sudan.
