Unesco Africa Group urged to advance African Agenda |16 February 2022
President Ramkalawan addressing the Unesco Africa Group
Following his participation at the ‘One Ocean Summit’ in Brest, President Wavel Ramkalawan on Monday addressed the Unesco Africa Group at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in Paris.
In his statement, President Ramkalawan underlined how the heads of state and government at the 35th African Union Assembly and the upcoming 6th AU-EU Summit to be held in Brussels days apart attest to the milestones that the African continent has made in accomplishing the Pan-African vision of having an “integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena”.
The President urged the ambassadors as representatives of the African continent to ensure that Agenda 2063 of the African agenda permeates as the core values of their collective enterprise, priorities and national policies.
He stressed on how it is also crucial to ensure due consideration is given to the vulnerabilities of African small island developing states (Sids) in their decision-making.
“As representatives of Africa, your Group needs to remain active in the discourse taking place in the lab of ideas and the standards-setting body that is Unesco. We must progress the African agenda by championing our values and knowledge systems. In doing so, we will be contributing to the decolonisation of knowledge and encouraging the emergence of a more equitable world order,” said President Ramkalawan.
He continued, “Ocean science and the knowledge generated therefrom should be one of our priorities. In this regard, Unesco-IOC has been designated as the lead agency in the implementation of the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences in Sustainable Development. Global ocean governance initiatives and existing institutions must be strengthened and financial mechanisms need to be leveraged to enhance our capacity to address the sustainable management of our ocean and coasts. The success of the implementation of the Ocean Decade will, in a large measure, depend on you, on tangible commitments from Unesco’s member states. The Ocean Decade Alliance has been established for that purpose. I have been invited to become a patron of the Alliance. I count on your support to enable Seychelles to achieve the ambitions of the Ocean Decade as well as the objectives of Agenda 2030.”
On behalf of the people of Seychelles, the head of state took the opportunity to thank Unesco and the representatives of African member states for supporting the nomination of the ‘moutya’ dance as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
«Comme vous le savez déjà, la danse moutia représente aux Seychelles un symbole fort de liberté, de résistance et de dénonciation de l’injustice, notamment au temps de l’esclavage. Le peuple seychellois a accueilli cette inscription au patrimoine mondial culturel, comme une reconnaissance de son art. Face à la mondialisation effrénée à laquelle on assiste aujourd’hui, voilà pour moi un acte historique qui encourage le respect d’autres modes de vie et participe au dialogue interculturel. Il consacre le statut de la moutia comme un emblème culturel national et sa reconnaissance internationale,» he said.
To conclude, the President reiterated Seychelles’ adherence to Unesco’s noble ideals of peace and reaffirmed the conviction that through dialogue, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and development were the best choices for African countries to face any challenge.
During the Unesco African Group plenary session, the ambassadors also had the opportunity to interact with President Ramkalawan through brief discussions where they commended him on being one of the four African heads of state who represented the voice of Africa at the ‘One Ocean’ Summit in Brest, France and for being named by Unesco a patron for the Decade of the Ocean.
Press release from State House