African Cultural Policy Documents

Working papers, reports, conclusions, recommendations and other relevant documents and publications, in chronological order.

• Bibliography of publications and documents on cultural policies, cultural development and on issues of culture and development interaction, produced by UNESCO or with its support:
  Introduction, available in French only
  1990 - 2001 (PDF, 150 kB),
  1960 - 1989 (PDF, 122 kB).
  Note: Items of a general interest for cultural policies and those of a specific interest for Africa are listed in bold type.
• Basic documents on language policy in Africa, Bisharat, African language, technology, and development initiative

2007

• Final Report and Recommendations, Mutual Perceptions Between Africans and Arabs in School Curricula, Afro-Arab Cultural Institute, Kaduna, Nigeria, May 2007 (PDF, 18 kB)
• The Arterial Conference - Vitalising African Cultural Assets, Conference Report, Goiree Island, Senegal, March 2007 (PDF, 162 kB)

2006

• Santo Domingo Resolution, ACP/83/046/06 [Final], PAHD Dept., 2nd Meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, October 2006 (PDF, 42 kB)
• Declaration of Paris, adopted at conference marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the First International Congress of Black Writers and Artists, Paris, France, September 2006 (PDF, 31 kB)
• Salvador Declaration, adopted by the Second Conference of Intellectuals from Africa and the Diaspora - II CIAD, Salvador, Brazil, July 2006 (PDF, 19 kB)

2005

• First Ordinary Session of AU Conference of Ministers of Culture, Nairobi, Kenia, December 2005
  Charter for the Cultural Renaissance of Africa, Revised Draft, AUCMC/EXP.CHAR.1(I) (PDF, 64 kB)
  Nairobi Plan of Action for Cultural Industries in Africa, AUCMC/MIN/PROG (I) (PDF, 148 kB)
• Culture-in-Education and Education-in-Culture, Fifth Conference of African Ministers of Culture, Nairobi, Kenia, December 2005 (PDF, 59 kB)
• Education and Culture in Africa's Quest for Development, AU/Educ/5(I), Unesco Preliminary Contribution, Conference of Ministers of Education of the African Union (COMEDAF II), 1st Ordinary Session, Algiers, Algeria, April 2005 (PDF, 321 kB)
• Our Common Interest, Report of the Commission for Africa, March 2005 (PDF, 3.3 MB)

2004

• General Report on Intergenerational Dialogue, First International Conference of Intellectuals from Africa and the Diaspora, African Union, Dakar, Senegal, October 2004
  Available in French only.
• Report, First Conference of Intellectuals of Africa and the Diaspora, African Union, Dakar, Senegal, October 2004 (PDF, 302 kB)
• Preliminary Draft Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions, Preliminary Report of the Director-General, CLT/CPD/2004/CONF.201/1, UNESCO, Paris, July 2004 (PDF, 377 kB)
• Workshop on Fighting Piracy of Musical Works in Africa, Pan-African Music Festival, General Commission, Brazzaville, Congo, July 2004
  Available in French only.
• Action Area 6: Culture - Priority Programme 23: Cultural Renaissance, Volume 3: 2004-2007 Plan of Action - Programmes to Speed up Integration of the Continent, Strategic Plan of the Commission of the African Union, July 2004 (PDF, 35 kB)
• Summary Report, West and Central African Regional Workshop for the Promotion of the UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, Dakar, Senegal, June 2004
  Available in French only.
• General Report, West and Central African Regional Workshop for the Promotion of UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Dakar, Senegal, June 2004
  Available in French only.
• Decission 06/2004/CM/UEMOA and Action Programme, Annex to Decission 06/2004/CM/UEMOA; Common Action Programme for the Production, Circulation and Conservation of pictures within WAEMU Member States, Bamako, Mali, June 2004
  Available in French only.
• Programme, Final Report, Recommendations and Working Documents; Sub-regional Meeting on the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, Dakar, Senegal, March 2004
  Available in French only.
• African Union Consultations for the Development of a Cultural Programme, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 2004
  Available in French only.
• UNDP Human Development Report 2004 - Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World, UNDP, 2004 (PDF, 2.9 MB)

2003

• Final documents of the International Conference on Intercultural Dialogue and the Culture of Peace in Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region, Libreville, Gabon, November 2003
  General Report (PDF, 130 kB)
  Declaration of Libreville (PDF, 17 kB)
  Call of Libreville (PDF, 8 kB)
  Poets' and Writers' Manifesto (PDF, 15 kB)
  Preparatory Workshop of Bujumbura (PDF, 69 kB)
• Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, MISC/2003/CLT/CH/14, UNESCO, Paris, France, October 2003 (PDF, 52 kB)
• Draft Final Report, Workshop on Culture and Development in the Programme of Action of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, September 2003 (PDF, 159 kB)
• Final Report, International Preparatory Meeting, Preparatory Committee of the Festival of African Languages (Festila), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, July 2003 (PDF, 33 kB)
• First Meeting of ACP Ministers for Culture, Dakar, Senegal, June 2003
  Dakar Declaration on the Promotion of ACP Cultures and Cultural Industries, ACP/83/006/03 [Final], (PDF, 37 kB)
  Dakar Plan of Action on the Promotion of ACP Cultures and Cultural Industries, ACP/83/010/03 [Final], (PDF, 25 kB)
• Guide to Pan-African Cultural Markets, Professional Networks and Resource Institutions, pre-publication version, Cultural Engineering LLC, African Marketplace Inc. and International Music Council, May 2003 (PDF, 892 kB)
• Speech by His Excellency Mr. Abdou Diouf, Secretary General of the International Organisation of the Francophonie, World Day for Cultural Diversity, Discussion organised by the group of Francophone Ambassadors to UNESCO, Paris, France, May 2003
  Available in French only.
• Diversity and Coexistence - The Role of Cultural Policy for Global Development, Report from a seminar arranged by Sida/DESO/the Division for Culture and Media, May 2003 (PDF, 128 kB)
• Resolution 57/249. Culture and Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly, February 2003 (PDF, 36 kB, also available from the UN Documentation Research Guide)
• Contribution by the Agence internationale de la Francophonie to the reflection on a draft international legal instrument on cultural diversity:
  Draft International Legal Instrument on Cultural Diversity - Cultural Diversity is Threatened, position paper, 2003, (PDF, 23 kB - Spanish, Portuguese and Arab language versions are available here)
  A selection of documents on cultural diversity identified in ten sources of information, including Francophonie, UNESCO, WTO, Europe, AU, Group ACP and Espaces linguistiques partenaires

2002

• Rapport final, Formation des professionnels de développement culturel en Afrique, Consultation régionale, Nairobi, Kenya, décembre 2002 (PDF, 35 kB)
• Report, Consultative Meeting on the Intellectual Preparation of the Pan African Cultural Congress, Nairobi, Kenya, December 2002 (PDF, 183 kB)
  This is a provisional, bilingual (mainly French) version of the Report - the final version will be established after the participants have made their comments.
• Millennium Development Goals in Africa - Promisses and Progress, Report prepared by UNDP and UNICEF at the request of the G-8 Personal Representatives for Africa, New York, June 2002 (PDF, 562 kB)
• Working Papers and Case Studies, Emerging Africa, Development Centre Studies, OECD, April 2002
• Enhancing Global Sustainability - Position Paper and Proposals by UNESCO, Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), New York, March 2002 (PDF, 195 kB)
• Rapport de synthèse des traveaux de l'Atelier Communicateurs / Traditionnistes, Centre d'Etudes Linguistiques et Historiques par Tradition Orale (CELHTO), February 2002 (PDF, 536 kB)

2001

• Recommendations, Workshop Session on Applied Culture Research Methodologies, International Scientific Conference Culture: Research - Policies - Development, Moscow, July 2001 (PDF, 25 kB)
• Summary, Workshop on the Development of the Music Industry in Africa, Sponsored by the World Bank and the Policy Sciences Center, Inc., Washington, D.C., June 2001
• African Development Indicators 2001, World Bank, Washington, USA, February 2001
• UNDP Human Development Report 2001 - Making New Technologies Work for Human Development, UNDP, New York, USA, 2001 (PDF, 2.8 MB)

2000

• Adult Education in Central Africa: Assessment and Prospects, UNESCO Institute for Education / National Association of Cameroonian Language Committees (NACALCO), Yaoundé, Cameroon, December 2000
• Final Report, RAP/F.C./006.Rev.1, Symposium on the Policies, Strategies and Experiences in the Financing of Culture in Africa, Abidjan, June 2000 (PDF, 336 kB)
• Sources, possibilités et expérience de l'UNESCO en matiere de financement de la culture, Symposium sur les politiques, les stratégies et les expérience de financement de la culture en Afrique, Abidjan, juin 2000 (PDF, 134 kB)
• Cultural Industries Growth Strategy (CIGS), Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST) project, South Africa

1990 - 1999

• Achievements of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism from June 1999 - to Date, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Federal Government of Nigeria
• Report and Final Recommendation, UNESCO/WIPO African Regional Consultation on the Protection of Expressions of Folklore, Pretoria, March 1999
• Creative South Africa - A Strategy for Realising the Potential of the Cultural Industries, A Report to the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST) by the Cultural Strategy Group, November 1998
• The African Renaissance, South Africa and the World, speech by South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki at the United Nations University, April 1998
• Intergovernmental Conference on Language Policies in Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe, March 1997
  Final Report (PDF, 314 kB)
  Harare Declaration (PDF, 25 kB)
• Report, Pan-African Seminar on the Problems and Prospects of the Use of African Languages in Education, Accra, Ghana, 1996 (ADEA Newsletter Vol.8 No.4 / October-December 1996)
  or
  Rapport, Séminaire panafricain sur les problemes et perspectives de l'utilisation des langues africaines dans les systemes éducatifs, Accra, Ghana, 1996 (Lettre d'information de l'ADEA Volume 8, Numéro 4 / octobre-décembre 1996)
• White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage - All Our Legacies, Our Common Future, Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Pretoria, South Africa, June 1996 (PDF, 109 kB)
• L'harmonisation des politiques culturelles africaines, actes des conférences de Libreville et Freetown (Travaux et Résolutions), ICAM

- 1989

• Declaration of the Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity on the Cultural Aspects in the Lagos Plan of Action, Organization of African Unity, Twenty-first Ordinary Session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July, 1985 (PDF, 12 kB)
• Séminaire national pour le définition d'une politique culturelle, Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication, Conseil Militaire, Comité Militaire Supreme, République du Niger; Tillabery 22-30/7/85
• Projet de rapport de synthese; Evaluation Prospective des Résultats d'Africult; Fabrizio, Afrique/ICA –1981-RP
• Evaluation prospective des politiques culturelles en Afrique, Dakar, 1981
• Cultural Charter for Africa, Organization of African Unity meeting in its Thirteenth Ordinary Session, Port Louis, Mauritius, July 1976 (PDF, 29 kB)
• Evaluation prospective de la mise en application dans les Etats-membres des recommendations de la conférence intergouvernementale sur les politiques culturelles, Accra, 1975
• Final Report, Intergovernmental Conference on institutional, Administrative and Financial Aspects of Cultural Policies, UNESCO, Venice, Italy, August-September 1970 (PDF, 3.5 MB)
• Meeting of Experts on Problems of Cultural Policies in Africa, Dakar, October 1969, Final Report, Doc. SHC/CONF.40/3, Annexes I-III, Paris, UNESCO, 24 November 1969, 21 p. (PDF, 1.4 MB)
• Pan African Cultural Manifesto, First All African Cultural Festival, Organization of African Unity, Algiers, July/August 1969 (PDF, 36 kB)
• ICA (reference to UNESCO Archive files CLT/CPD/CRM/ICA)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and accession by UN General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI) on 16 December 1966, entered into force on 3 January 1976 in accordance with article 27 (PDF, 29 kB)