World Day of African and Afro-descendant Culture: UCLG Africa Holds Online Workshop on African Culture, Identity

21 January 2022 Printable Version

Rabat - The pan-African United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) organization is holding an online exchange workshop focused on culture as an element of African identity, with the participation of Moroccan figures.

The workshop, organized as part of the World Day of African and Afro-descendant Culture celebrated on January 24, proposes to bring the perspective of the local governments of Africa in the celebration of the 2022 World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture, says a press release of the organization.

The conclusions of this event will be presented during the Culture Day at the 9th Africities Summit to be held this year from May 17 to 21 in Kisumu, Kenya.

The meeting, which will be moderated by the journalist Khalil Gueye, will see the participation of the President of Rabat's City Council, Asmaa Rhlalou, UCLG Africa Secretary General Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, and the President of the African Network of Cultural Promoters and Entrepreneurs (RAPEC), John Avité Dossayi.

Other participants are Alain Bidjeck, Director of the Movement Of Creative Africa (MOCA), the forum of African cultures and Diasporas in France, Raoul Rugamba, CEO of Africa in Colors, Fields of Cultural, Creative and Digital Industries in Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region, Mustapha Moufid, Director of the Department of Culture, Migration, Peace and Security, UCLG Africa, in addition to the Moroccan essayist and author, Monceyf Fadili.

This celebration is the result of the efforts led by the African Network of Cultural Promoters and Entrepreneurs (RAPEC) with the support of UCLG Africa, the statement says.

Proclaimed by UNESCO in November 2019 during the 40th session of its General Conference, the World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture is celebrated each 24th of January, a date which coincides with the adoption of the Charter for the Cultural Renaissance of Africa on the 24th January 2006 by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union.

UCLG Africa believes in an Africa that is economically and culturally independent and a driving force at the global level, for cities and territories that are sustainable, inclusive and supportive, for a strong, autonomous, resilient and structured creative cultural sector that allows the expression of African identity.