Article

UNESCO and partners celebrate 50th anniversary of 1970 Convention with regional dialogue in Africa

Some of the panelists during the first day of the online conference, 26 April 2021 ©UNESCO

4 May 2021

Last update:20 April 2023

UNESCO organized an online African regional conference on 26 and 27 April 2021 to strengthen the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 UNESCO . Over 500 participants from 54 countries of the African region came together to discuss needs and priorities, stronger regional synergies, and country-specific contexts.

The conference was opened by the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr. Ernesto Ottone R., alongside Ms. Angela Martins, who represented the Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union Commission, H.E. Ms. Amira Elfadil. The keynote address was jointly presented by Mr. Baba Keita (Mali) and Prof. George Abungu (Kenya). Ministries for Culture of Angola, Benin and Burkina Faso provided insights into national perspectives on the devastation caused by illicit trafficking as did community members including an elder from the Kaya Community in Kenya, the President of ICOM National Committee in Madagascar, His Imperial Majesty the Paramount Ruler/Palace of Ife Kingdom Museum in Nigeria, and the Curator of the Theodore Monod Museum of African Art/IFAN in Senegal.

This much-needed collective reflection shows how we can strengthen regional and international cooperation and protect Africa’s rich cultural heritage. The many recommendations from this conference will help guide the development of UNESCO flagship Priority Africa programme to support African Member States in the fight against illicit trafficking and the return and restitution of cultural property.

Mr. Ernesto Ottone, Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO

Participants considered progress made over the past 50 years through the 1970 Convention as well as during the past 25 years through the and underlined the importance of the ratification and implementation of these normative instruments. The African Union Commission highlighted regional efforts and resources through the African Union Vision 2063 and the AU . Recent achievements by Regional Economic Communities (RECs) were also highlighted, including: the Economic Community of West African States () 2019-2023 Action Plan for the return of African cultural property to their countries of origin, and the Southern African Development Community () adoption of Standard Operating Procedures to guide the fight against illicit trafficking of stolen works of art and other cultural property.

Cultural property and heritage represent aspects of our natural environment, political, social, economic and religious dimensions of African ways of life and provides diversity of indispensable sources of information for the education, study and research for the evolution of humankind. In the context of the year of ‘Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We want’, I thus wish to call upon all stakeholders to join forces in the protection of Africa’s rich heritage.

H.E. Ms. Amira Elfadil, Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union Commission

Discussions also centered around preventive measures in the framework of the 1970 Convention, interregional and international cooperation, return and restitution of cultural objects, and the role of museums.

The conference resulted in conclusions and recommendations to raise awareness and support the 17 African Member States that have not yet ratified the 1970 Convention, prepare standard forms for requests for return or restitution of cultural property to the , improve conservation of cultural objects in museums, strengthen institutional, legal and operational capacities building and the conduct of exhaustive national inventories of public and private cultural property

UNESCO key partners in such efforts include the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (), the International Council of Museums (), the International Criminal Police Organization (), and the African Heritage School ().

These reflections on the regional context in Africa, alongside the results of a regional study on illicit trafficking of cultural property, will be shared during the international conference to be organized by UNESCO in September 2021 to strengthen global cooperation in combating illicit trafficking of cultural property.

For more information:

- Programme of the Regional Conference | |

- Video of the conference |

- Links: