As the COP27 climate conference begins in Egypt, participants in the “Running Out of Time” relay are closing in on their final destination of Sharm el-Sheikh with a message of urgency on climate action. The relay route has covered 18 countries, beginning in Glasgow, Scotland—site of COP26 last year—and winding…
Senegal opened its long-awaited Musée des Civilisations noires (MCN) on Thursday, with President Macky Sall on hand to deliver the keynote address at inaugural ceremonies in Dakar. The museum realizes a pan-African vision that dates to the era of the country’s first president and was completed with more than USD$34…
Cultural practices from three African nations have been named by UNESCO to this year’s list of “Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.” The decisions were made by an intergovernmental committee meeting in Mauritius through Saturday. In Algeria, it’s the role of elders who manage water resources in the…
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has announced that Lake Turkana National Parks in Kenya has been added to the List of World Heritage in Danger, notably because of the impact of a dam on the site. “The Committee expressed concern about the changes affecting the hydrology of the Lake Turkana…
More than two dozen people held by an armed group in the Democratic Republic of Congo since March 3 were released on Friday, following successful negotiations supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The group of 27 people was on assignment at Kahuzi-Biega National Park with the…
On World AIDS Day the United Nations says there’s been much progress to celebrate, but success in meeting global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that target the end of AIDS by 2030 will need more effort – and there remains much at stake for Africa’s young populations. The UN Children’s Fund…
Ethiopia is known for hundreds of churches cut out of rock, some of them dating to the 12th century as with the Biete Ghiorgis in Lalibela. What many people don’t know is that the tradition continues, and there are at least 200 modern churches cut from stone too. It’s a…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
UNESCO on Friday announced the appointment of Audrey Azoulay as new Director-General of the United Nations educational and cultural organization. Azoulay, who was nominated in October, will take the place of outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria beginning November 15. General Conference President Zohour Alaoui congratulated Azoulay at the end…
Bulgarian Irina Bokova, the outgoing Director General of the United Nations cultural agency, has expressed regret over a decision by the United States to withdraw as a full member of the body and called it both a loss to UNESCO and to humanity. Bokova, head of the United Nations Educational,…
Burundi has lost a cultural icon, and announces the death of Antime Baranshakaje, the 81-year-old guardian of the nation’s sacred Gishora drum tradition. Baranshakaje died on Sunday following a December accident and subsequent illness. President Pierre Nkurunziza hailed the drummer as a national treasure who left his mark on the history…
A journalist who was arrested in Eritrea in 2001, and whose case has been championed for years by human rights organizations and international governments, will receive the 2017 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. Dawit Isaak, a dual citizen of Eritrea and Sweden, was a co-founder of the first independent…
The United Nations Security Council has moved to strengthen protections against the destruction and trafficking of priceless antiquities and humanity’s shared cultural heritage. Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO – the United Nations entity that helps to protect cultural sites across the globe – hailed the adoption of a new…
For the second time in a week, an earthquake has affected an African nation that’s not usually associated with strong or frequent seismic activity. This time, a 4.7 magnitude quake struck Wednesday night in the remote reaches of Niger, about 230 kilometers from the ancient city of Djado. There were no…
The restored Sidi Yahia mosque in Timbuktu was unveiled this week in a ceremony attended by about 100 Mali political and religious leaders, the AFP reports. The 15th-century mosque, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998, was damaged by jihadists in 2012. UNESCO specialists spent five months this…
The University of Cape Town has been ranked as the 4th top university in the Times Higher Education “BRICS and Emerging Economies” ranking for 2015. It comes after, Peking University, Tsinghua Univeristy, both in China, and the Middle East Technical University in Turkey. These universities are quickly becoming top competition…