(Copy 1)

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions, many African UNESCO World Heritage Sites were closed or restricted to visitors for long periods of time. This led to a significant loss of local income with serious consequences: For example, poaching and overexploitation of natural resources increased sharply with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, as many people lost their livelihoods and some of the staff needed to protect the sites could no longer be paid due to financial losses.

The objective of the #SOSAfricanHeritage special programme was therefore to provide rapid and targeted support to UNESCO World Heritage sites and Biosphere Reserves on the African continent.

Women practising batik in Gambia. They dip cloths in a red liquid.
Batik art in the Gambian World Heritage Site ‘Senegambian Stone Circles’ | © NCAC

Funded projects

On 1 September 2020, an international jury of experts selected 22 projects from 19 African countries to be funded by the German Commission for UNESCO with up to EUR 25,000 each until the end of 2020. In 2021, a further 12 projects from 12 African countries were selected for funding in the second round of the programme. From August to November, these projects received funding of up to EUR 20,000 each. One project was made possible by funding from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Funded activities included digitisation and education, infrastructure maintenance and restoration, and protection against poaching and overexploitation. In addition, projects were supported to develop new and sustainable sources of income to help mitigate the long-term economic impact of the pandemic. The projects helped to maintain independent and sustainable organisational structures at the sites, increased the involvement and participation of the local communities, and secured spaces to promote global citizenship education, sustainability, and cultural diversity.

Funded projects

34

Funded projects in total

Project locations

22

African countries were project locations

Infobox

The consortium

With this special programme, the German Commission for UNESCO participated in the consortium of the International Relief Fund 2020External link:. This fund was set up on the initiative of the Federal Foreign OfficeExternal link: and the Goethe InstituteExternal link: in the summer of 2020 to provide rapid support to cultural and educational organisations abroad in the event of the COVID pandemic.

Publication about the project

Our International Cooperation

Teaser carousel
Three people sit on a stage and speak in a panel. Behind them is a large screen with the title ‘Second Regional Meeting of African National Commissions’
© German Commission for UNESCO / Jeannine Hausmann
The photo shows part of the Magaleisberg Biosphere Reserve in South Africa. In the background are cloud-covered mountains. In front of them is a wooded hilly landscape. In the foreground you can see a giraffe sitting on the ground surrounded by bushes.
© BR Magaliesberg
Two students at a time sit around tables and work in pairs. They are bent over work materials and discussing.
© German Commission for UNESCO

STEP

Combating youth unemployment in Southern Africa

Person speaks at UNESCO General Conference.
© UNESCO/Christelle Aux
Flags with globe outside UNESCO Headquarters in Paris
© Unesco
Vertreterinnen und Vertreter der europäischen Nationalkommissionen stehen vor einer verglasten Fensterfront
© Iceland National Commission for UNESCO
A woman wearing VR glasses sits in a meadow in front of a forest.
© Pexels/Tom Fiske