AFAI hosts UNESCO cultural experts this week

22 Oct 2012

The African Arts Institute (AFAI) will welcome 17 African experts on the cultural and creative industries in Cape Town, South Africa this week. The experts, representing 12 African countries, will attend a UNESCO training workshop facilitated by AFAI executive director and UNESCO appointed cultural expert Mike van Graan.

The closed workshop, on the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, runs from Monday 22 October to Friday 26 October 2012 at the South Africa Centre for the Netherlands and Flanders (SASNEV) in Pinelands, Cape Town.

Co-facilitating with Van Graan will be Avril Joffe, industry strategist, cultural policy advisor and another UNESCO appointed expert, based in Johannesburg.

Capacity-building

The event is reported to be one of the key components of UNESCO's Capacity-Building Programme of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The programme is being piloted in Africa in order to support the implementation of the 2005 Convention at national level and to boost the potential of the dynamic cultural sector for sustainable development in the region.

"The programme is being piloted in Africa in recognition of the great potential of African cultural and creative industries for sustainable development at the national as well as the regional levels," says UNESCO Capacity-Building Programme coordinator, Guiomar Alonso Cano.

Network of experts

"It aims to create a network of leading experts on the cultural and creative industries who can assist and guide governments to develop and implement public policies and strategies to turn that potential into a vibrant and flourishing cultural sector," Alonso Cano continues.

"We are looking forward to working closely with this great network of experts during the workshop, and beyond to promote African creativity. This is an ambitious long-term investment in scaling up the impact of this Convention in the dynamic and creative African region."

Meet the experts

The 17 English-speaking experts are: Nicolette Du Plessis, Ukhona Mlandu and Monica Newton (all from South Africa), Imran Ahmed (Ethiopia),Allan Birabi (Uganda), Yarri Kamara (Sierra Leone), Florence Majachani and Jesmael Mataga (Zimbabwe),Munukayumbwa Munyima (Zambia),Elizabeth Nasubo and Joyce Nyairo (Kenya), Amy Niang (Senegal), Ochai Ojoma and Deji Olatoye (Nigeria), Hans Ramduth (Mauritius), Vicensia Shule (Tanzania) and Ayeta Wangusa (Uganda).

The pilot Capacity-Building Programme of the 2005 Convention will train 32 African experts during 2012, on specific technical policy-making skills and approaches necessary for strengthening the cultural sector and effectively implementing the 2005 Convention at national level.

The experts were selected from close to 200 applicants after a competitive selection process. The programme aims to provide parties with a network of experts on the cultural and creative industries in Africa, who can support their ongoing efforts to effectively implement the 2005 Convention through targeted policy measures that foster the development of the cultural and creative industries at the national as well as the regional levels.

For more, go to Capacity Building Programme in Africa.