Ministry of Culture and Youth will support several heritage projects alongside Aliph and the African World Heritage Fund

The UAE on Thursday announced a fund to support world heritage protection and document conservation across Africa.

The fund will be launched in collaboration with the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (Aliph), which the UAE co-founded with France in 2017, and the African World Heritage Fund, established by the African Union and the UN’s culture agency in 2006.

The initiative aims to support the conservation and protection of natural and cultural heritage of outstanding universal value across the African continent.

Through the Ministry of Culture and Youth, the UAE will become a platinum partner of the African World Heritage Fund, working to help communities and address the underrepresentation of African sites on Unesco’s World Heritage List.

Aliph will use funds to restore and revitalise Sudan’s Dongola Mosque, Yemrehana Krestos Church in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s National Cultural Heritage Inventory.

Coexistence and peace

The ministry announced the initiative at an event held by the Africa Group at Unesco’s headquarters in Paris to mark the 40th Africa Day.

“In the UAE, we are committed to conserving human heritage in all its forms, and strengthening partnerships with international organisations actively working in this field, out of our belief in the importance of preserving this heritage for future generations, and the role it plays,” said Salem Al Qassimi, Minister of Culture and Youth.

“Heritage plays a significant role in intercultural dialogue, it enhances diversity, tolerance, coexistence and peace in societies.”

Mr Al Qassimi said the preservation of African heritage was particularly important, due to the continent’s cultural significance, heritage and role in human history.

“Through these efforts, we are keen to go beyond conservation and restoration projects and operations in Africa,” he said.

“We seek to make these projects sustainable and contribute to capacity development and to create job opportunities for the local community, and to involve them in all of these projects.”

As the UAE prepares to host the Cop28 summit in November, with 2023 marking the Year of Sustainability, Mr Al Qassimi emphasised the importance of recognising the effect of climate change on tangible and intangible heritage in Africa.

The fund builds on the UAE’s commitments to the continent. Last November, the Ministry of Culture and Youth, through the National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, signed an agreement with the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation to inscribe African heritage games on the Representative Lists of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of both Unesco and Icesco.

Long-standing ties