Activities >> Seminars

Programme Launch Meeting
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire 1998

From 23 to 25 March 1997, a meeting was held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire to launch AFRICA 2009. The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Culture of Côte d'Ivoire with assistance from the French Mission for Cooperation and Cultural Action in Abidjan. Local logistical support was provided by the UNESCO office in Abidjan. The meeting was attended by 23 African professionals from 9 countries in the region, as well as representatives from a number of national and international institutions and development agencies (in total, attendance at the meeting was 36).

The meeting consisted of a number of interrelated components:

• presentations by the 9 principal participants of past interventions and training needs in their countries
  (see Participant Papers. Prepared for the Abidjan Meeting, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire 23 - 25 March 1998);
• presentation of the results of the needs assessment carried out as a preliminary step to the programme
  (see Training Strategy for Immovable Cultural Heritage in Africa South of the Sahara. Prepared for an
• expert meeting on training strategies for conservation of cultural property, Rome 19 - 21 September 1996);
• presentation of the programme document for AFRICA 2009
  (see AFRICA 2009 Programme Document);
• discussion and group work related to the aims and objectives of the programme and specific components;
• selection of 4 professionals to make up the coordination committee of the programme;
  excursion to Grand Bassam.
  

At the conclusion of the meeting, a series of recommendations were adopted by the participants at the meeting.

Within the framework of the Abidjan meeting, the following results were obtained:

• 23 professionals representing 9 countries in Africa took part in the meeting;
• 13 representatives from partner organizations or other institutions took part in the meeting;
• 9 participants presented papers related to past interventions and training needs
  (a bound volume of the papers was also distributed);
• the AFRICA 2009 programme was presented, discussed and approved with inputs from the participants;
• 4 professionals from Africa were selected by the participants to serve on the Coordination Committee for the programme;
• a series of recommendations were adopted by the participants at the close of the meeting.