International meeting debates UNESCO History of Africa

UNESCO is strongly committed to using its General History of Africa project in teaching in African Union countries to highlight the continent’s common heritage, said Angola’s Science and Technology Minister Maria Cândida Teixeira Pereira at the close of UNESCO’s fourth international scientific council meeting on the ninth volume of the publication.

The conference was held in Luanda this month – the first time the council had met in Africa. It was attended by representatives from Algeria, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, China, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Mali and the United States.

The event was held for the collection, evaluation and validation of scientific data in preparation for the ninth volume of the General History of Africa, a process that was launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in May 2013.

That meeting called on African Union states to help draft the volume “covering the recent history since decolonisation, the end of apartheid and the place of Africa in the world”.

In her closing speech Teixeira Pereira said UNESCO intended to renew the teaching of African history through children’s literature and television and radio broadcasts, thus highlighting common heritage and supporting regional integration, reported Agência Angola Press or ANGOP.

At the opening of the meeting, Angolan Vice-president Manuel Vicente said the ninth volume of the General History of Africa was evidence of the dynamism of scientific knowledge, and that UNESCO’s scientific council was committed to supporting initiatives contributing to the emancipation of the continent, according to ANGOP.

He announced that Angola’s research and development institutions would train 140 doctors in technical sciences in the coming years, and said the government continued to count on UNESCO's support for the development of quality education and scientific research in the country, as well as the inclusion of Angola’s rich cultural heritage on the World Heritage List, reported ANGOP.

At the conference opening Teixeira Pereira said the ninth volume of the history, which is due for publication in 2018, would be an international reference, said ANGOP in another article.

“The production of over 10,000 pages in eight volumes of the General History of Africa will help to retrieve African history and explain to younger generations about who we are, where we come from, why we are here and where we are going,” she said.

* This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.