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#SOSAfricanHeritage Fund supports COVID-19 resilience for East African World Heritage

Local communities in Konso Cultural Landscape World Heritage site in Ethiopia ©UNESCO/Karalyn Monteil

27 August 2021

Last update:20 April 2023

Following seven grants received from the Fund for the Eastern Africa region in 2020, three new projects from Eastern Africa region have been selected to receive 2021 grants from the #SOSAfricanHeritage Fund, which aim to help World Heritage sites in the Africa region overcome impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on management and conservation.

This new funding brings the beneficiaries to ten World Heritage sites from five Eastern African countries. The 2020 recipients included: in Ethiopia; and in Kenya; and in Madagascar; in Seychelles; and in Tanzania. The newly announced 2021 grants will benefit: in Ethiopia; in Madagascar; and the in Kenya.

The short-term financial and technical support from #SOSAfricanHeritage aims to help maintain independent and sustainable organizational structures at these UNESCO-designated sites with the participation of civil society. The projects are also encouraged to ensure spaces dedicated to global citizenship education, sustainability and cultural diversity.

I would like to express my gratitude to the German Commission for UNESCO for this continued generous support towards World Heritage in the African region. Through this timely financial and technical support, East African States will be better equipped to overcome challenges faced from the COVID 19 pandemic on the conservation and management of World Heritage sites.

Prof. Hubert Gijzen, Director and Representative, UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa