91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ

The African Union Commission and UNESCO convened in October 2024 in Addis Ababa the International Forum of UNESCO Chairs and Partners on Transforming Knowledge for Africa's Future. The Forum came just after the adoption of the Pact for the Future and the sessions made a meaningful contribution to UNESCO’s work in Africa. UNESCO Chairs and Partners were invited to discuss how to develop and strengthen collaborative research partnerships and actions to overcome knowledge gaps in Africa. As announced during the closing session of the Forum, UNESCO is hosting a series of online working sessions for UNESCO Chairs, UNITWIN Networks, partners and other experts who would like to engage with, contribute to, and collaborate on one or more of the five UNESCO Priority Africa Flagship Programmes. 

This working session will focus on the Priority Africa flagship for Culture, Fostering cultural heritage and capacity development. Flagship Programme 3 was adopted at the 41^st session of the General Conference in 2021 as part of the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa 2022-2029. 

The Flagship, which aims to be implemented by 2029, has two main objectives that seek to:

1. Support African Member States in World Heritage capacity building, particularly for nominations and the removal of sites from the List of World Heritage in Danger, enhance expertise in the World Heritage and harness conservation for economic development;
2. Strengthening African Member States’ capacities in the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property, return and restitution requests, and the preservation and promotion of collections and museums.