136:." As of June 2023, Africa hosts 54 cultural sites, 39 natural sites, and 5 mixed (cultural & natural) sites for 98 total sites, or 8.47% of the 1157 total sites worldwide. Numerous problems "threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List," including armed conflict and war, earthquakes and other natural disasters, pollution, poaching, uncontrolled urbanization, and unchecked tourist development. Worldwide, 55 sites are identified as "in danger," and 15 sites reside in
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179:) Yet the 23 African sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger account for 42% of all sites on the List. Heritage protection on the African continent faces numerous challenges such as armed conflict, terrorism, poaching and illicit trafficking, global warming and natural disasters, uncontrolled urban expansion, unregulated tourism, and mining and oil exploration.
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UNESCO is committed to spearheading international efforts to draw on the vast potential of Africa's cultural and natural heritage as a force for poverty reduction and social cohesion as well as a driver of sustainable development and innovation. Through this international day, UNESCO aims to increase
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In response to this situation, the
Ngorongoro Declaration, which resulted from the first major international conference on African World Heritage (June 2016, Tanzania), affirms that sustainable development can ensure that appropriate efforts are deployed to protect endangered resources in Africa,
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Mobilizing local communities, especially young people, around the safeguarding of the heritage, involving them in projects that place value on their cultural identity and natural environment, is one of the best ways of opening up prospects for the future and for development. It is in particular
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The preservation and enhancement of this heritage are essential factors in sustainable development, the only kind of development capable of meeting the complex challenges that face Africa today and include climate change, the challenge of education and the economy, and rapid urbanization.
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The Day was established to raise awareness of the immense potential of the
African cultural and natural heritage. It also aims to alert the world to the vulnerability of this heritage: there are 21 African sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
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making the safeguarding of heritage a driver for sustainable development. The
Declaration also calls on "African States Parties to promote the role that women and youth play in the conservation and management of cultural and natural heritage".
168:, Director-General of UNESCO, declared that "today more than 23 African sites are on the List of World Heritage in Danger (...); all are threatened and are at risk of disappearing if we do not act quickly. We each have a role to play."
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who delivered a keynote address at the
Opening Ceremony while the Closing Ceremony featured the Deputy Director General of Institutional Governance, who was representing the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Ms.
125:(November 2015), African World Heritage Day is an opportunity for people around the world, and particularly Africans, to celebrate the Continent’s irreplaceable cultural and natural heritage."
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global awareness of
African heritage, with a special focus on youth, and to mobilise enhanced cooperation for its safeguarding on the local, regional and global level.
267:. Representatives from the Kenyan High Commission, Robben Island Museum, the African World Heritage Fund and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre were also in attendance.
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The
African World Heritage Regional Youth Forum on "Increasing youth involvement in the promotion and protection of African World Heritage" took place at the
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African World
Heritage Day is the ideal time to raise awareness among the general public about the urgent need to protect African heritage.
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Africa, the cradle of humanity, remains underrepresented on the World
Heritage List with only 131 sites (12%, including 90 sites in
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and hosted by the Robben Island Museum. The participants included a total of 27 young individuals from 23 African countries –
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from 28 April to 4 May 2016. The forum was organised by the
African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) in partnership with the
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through training and education that this mobilization may eventually prove to be most effective.
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Zimbabwe. In total, there were fourteen (14) females and thirteen (13) males.
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The Forum was also attended by various dignitaries including the
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