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ADS2021: Day Two
Advocacy paper on Sustainable Peace for Development: Factoring in History
The “Africa we want” can only become a reality if African history and oral traditions are preserved and passed along to newer generations. This rich heritage and wisdom can foster peace when young people are taught the importance of African unity and identity through cultural heritage education. Reimagined and well supported cultural institutions need preserve more than precious artifacts but also bring out intrinsic cultural values into daily life, thus actively shaping a rich African identity. Over time, a greater sense of Africa’s common cross-border culture and heritage will permeate across the continent with a renewed African unity for sustained peace, development and prosperity. To achieve these aspirations, the advocacy paper calls for action under two broad themes: First, the need to change the African narratives by reimagining Africa’s influence on the world and the world’s influence on Africa and second, the need to build shared identities and pride by preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Sustainable Peace for Development: Factoring in History
The High-level conversation on “Sustainable Peace for Development: Factoring in History”, organized as part of the 2021 Africa Dialogue Series, discusses the long, deep, complicated history of Africa’s entanglement with the rest of the world, and seeks to make the distinctions between endogenous African history and cultural heritage, from those imposed from outside influences. The conversation highlights how these distinctions could be better used to showcase African identity, an intangible asset, which when well harnessed, could foster economic growth, and help maintain peace and security on the African continent.
The conversation further addresses the interlinkages between trade routes and exchanges within and outside Africa, and how these interlinkages helped shape Africa’s cultural identities. As a means to help increase educational policies and programmes to educate African youth on history, culture, and African identity, the experts explore steps being taken by African Governments to help ensure adequate budgetary allocation to school curriculum for education in African heritage and culture, and more investments in cultural Museums and artifacts.
The High-level conversation also delves into the impact of conflict and instability on the destruction World Heritage sites in Africa, and the urgent need for traditional and indigenous knowledge, and active local participation to help resolve conflict and build and sustain a culture of peace on the continent.
Video [Arabic]:
Video [French]:
Cattle, Crops and Iron - History Of Africa with Zeinab Badawi [Episode 2]
Zeinab Badawi continues her journey through the history of human development travelling to meet the Maasai of east Africa - one of the best known of the continent’s ethnic groups. They help explain how human beings began to domesticate animals and become pastoralists. Then in Zimbabwe with one lively farming family, Zeinab examines how humans also began to settle and make a living from farming. And she also looks at how the Iron Age transformed life in Africa and paved the way for the development of rich urban civilisations.