Article

Six new World Heritage Volunteers projects launched in Eastern Africa region

Cover of the World Heritage Volunteers publication ©UNESCO

21 January 2021

Last update:20 April 2023

Six projects in Eastern Africa (four in Kenya and two in Uganda) have been selected as part of the 2020-2021 UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers () Campaign - Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage.

The 2020-2021 WHV Campaign, which combined the 2020 with the 2021 Campaign due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, includes 49 organizations in 32 countries around the world that will implement 55 action camp projects at 55 UNESCO as well as sites on countries’ “” of potential World Heritage sites.

The selected projects in East Africa will take place in: , , and in Kenya; and and in Uganda.

Launched in 2008, the World Heritage Volunteer (WHV) Initiative, in the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Education () Programme, aims to increase awareness and reinforce youth involvement at a local and global levels in the implementation of the . National and international volunteers work together with the local communities to preserve cultural and natural heritage through concrete hands-on conservation and awareness-raising activities.

We congratulate the six World Heritage Volunteer projects in the Eastern Africa region. This kind of collaboration between volunteers and local communities facilitates the empowerment of young people, enabling them to learn basic conservation techniques and enhancing their capacities as future decision makers and active global citizens.

Ms. Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa

The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative is led by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service- (WHV global coordinator, regional coordinator for Africa, Arab States and Latin America) and - as a branch of Open Houses (regional coordinator for Europe) and (regional coordinator for Asia).

For more information about the World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 Campaign, please visit: