The Regional Center for the Living Arts in Africa (CERAV/Africa) organized from 04 to 06 March 2020 in Abidjan in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, a regional capacity building workshop for the Contact Points of the 2005 Convention and leaders cultural civil society of the States of the French-speaking African space on the new framework for monitoring the said Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. The major act of this meeting was the signing of the act of accession of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire to CERAV/Africa.
"The new monitoring framework of the 2005 UNESCO Convention to rethink public cultural policies: experiences and perspectives in French-speaking African countries", it is under this theme that was held from March 04 to 06, 2020 in Abidjan, the CERAV/Africa regional workshop which brought together experts, partners as well as Contact Points of the 2005 Convention and leaders of cultural civil society from eleven French-speaking African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Togo). The objective of this meeting was to offer participants the opportunity to reinforce the very appropriation of the 2005 Convention, to understand the operation of the new monitoring framework, to learn about the new outline of the quadrennial periodic reports and to initiate the networking of contact points in the French-speaking African space with a view to synergizing actions and sharing information.
Thus, for three days, the participants appropriated the 2005 UNESCO Convention in all its facets. The introductory communication focused on the appropriation of the 2005 UNESCO Convention in regional repositories/instruments and public policies in Africa. Several panels followed, among other things, the role and place of national stakeholders in the implementation of the 2005 Convention and the preparation of quadrennial periodic reports; focus on the decisions of the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions; Shared views on the contribution of regional and international organizations to the implementation of the 2005 Convention: Contribution of the OIF, Africalia, WBI and the African Coalitions for Cultural Diversity.
Tutorials also allowed participants to dwell on the new monitoring framework of the Convention, by identifying policies, measures and initiatives for implementation. Everything that led to the identification and proposal of policies and measures on the one hand and relevant measures and initiatives of civil society on the other. Thus, the participants at the end of this workshop made a declaration in which they noted, among other things, the need to set up a framework for regular meetings of the various stakeholders of the 2005 Convention, underlined the need for the contact points of the French-speaking African countries of the 2005 Convention to benefit from effective support making it possible to monitor the work of the governing bodies of the 2005 Convention and in the preparation of the quadrennial reports of the French-speaking States.
Present at the closing ceremony, the Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism of Burkina Faso, Mr. Abdoul Karim Sango and his counterpart from Côte d'Ivoire, Mr. Maurice Kouakou BANDAMAN both welcomed the holding of this activity in Abidjan especially since the major act of this meeting was the signing of the act of adhesion of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire to CERAV/Africa. A very remarkable gesture which, according to the General Delegate of CERAV / Africa, reinforces the dynamics of cultural cooperation and South-South cooperation between Côte-d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso. As a reminder, the Regional Center for the Living Arts in Africa (CERAV/Africa) is a Category 2 regional center of UNESCO. It is the result of a desire to provide Africa with a support structure for the implementation of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Its headquarters are Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso.
Communications Department
