Launched in 1996, this regional project is based in Dakar at the UN Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP). It is intended to strengthen African national capacities in terms of planning, monitoring and evaluating development strategies, programmes and projects with a cultural angle. Since being inaugurated it has provided eight subregional training and awareness-building courses and conducted three regional research projects on various aspects of the interaction between culture and development. A donors' meeting was organized on 17 and 18 February 1999 in Dakar (Senegal) under the aegis of IDEP and UNESCO. Among the 65 participants were representatives from international, regional and subregional organizations, specialized agencies, governments, regional offices and partner countries of United Nations agencies.

In 2000-2001 the project has been expanded in keeping with the conclusions of the 1998-1999 assessment of the experimental phase and consultations with potential donors. Partnership with national commissions, NGOs, academic institutions, development organizations and international funding agencies will be developed. The aim is to make some 200 decision-makers, planners and development agents aware of the interaction between culture and various development issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention.

Thanks to funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada (Can $220,000) the college will also intensify networking and cooperation between specialists, universities and scientific establishments in order to promote research, training and dissemination of information on culture and development in Africa, together with consultation meetings on the role of culture in establishing development projects.

Expected funding from the 2000-2001 regular budget amounts to US $850,000, while the contribution anticipated from extrabudgetary funds to finance three subregional training courses is in the region of US $95,000. Activities to develop the Itinerant College focus on publication and dissemination of information, together with organization of various workshops (in collaboration with UNFPA, UNAIDS, etc.).

In 2000-2001, technical and financial support, albeit limited, has been given to African Member States having indicated the wish to develop national cultural policies or review existing ones. The extra funds needed will be raised from extrabudgetary sources. UNESCO also provided substantial technical assistance for organizing the regional symposium on funding of culture in Africa that was held in Abidjan in June 2000 and financed by the Ford Foundation.

A cultural approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and care

Under this extrabudgetary (UNAIDS/UNESCO) project, five country assessments were produced in 1998-1999 (for Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zimbabwe) on sociocultural aspects of HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa for the purpose of identifying the cultural factors that must be taken into account in developing prevention programmes and strategies in order to ensure their relevance to specific situations and improve their effectiveness. The reports were published and put on the UNESCO website in 2000.

In 2000-2001, two subregional workshops were organized in Uganda (May 2000) and Egypt (June 2000) in collaboration with the African Itinerant College for Culture and Development. Their object was to train specialists from various countries in East and North Africa in order that these specialists might in turn train planners and other professionals to adopt cultural approaches in their work. Two other workshops with the same aim were held in Dakar (early May 2001) for West and Central African countries, and Fez (late April 2001) for Maghreb countries. In addition, a pilot project was launched in Uganda to test and introduce the methods suggested in the project design handbook.

An interregional conference on "A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention" was held in Nairobi from 2 to 4 October 2000. The 47 participants came from African countries (Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe), Arab States, the Caribbean and Asia and were joined by representatives from UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDCP, UNDP, WHO, the International Organization for Migration, the Pan-American Health Organization, the World Bank, and various NGOs and religious communities.

Networking

The year 2000 saw the start of two networks: (i) The International Network of Observatories on Cultural Policies, set up with the participation, amongst others, of two African participants: the Southern African Cultural Information System (SACIS, Maputo) and the African Group of Thirty (Dakar). UNESCO is cooperating with the OAU to establish a regional African observatory on cultural policies with support from the Ford Foundation. In this connection, an experts' meeting was held in Kinshasa in September 2000, while another was planned for Pretoria towards the end of January 2001. (ii) The Interregional Network of UNESCO Chairs and Training Centres in Cultural Policy and Management (NETCULT), in which Africa is represented by the Centre régional d'action culturelle (CRAC, Lomé) and the Centre for the Study and Promotion of Culture and Communication in Africa (CEPROCOM, Kinshasa).

In 2000-2001, pursuant to Resolution 30C/DR.8 Rev. adopted by the General Conference, the Centre régional d'action culturelle (CRAC) in Lomé (Togo) has received technical assistance and funding (US $35,000) for intellectual preparation of the Pan-African Conference on Culture and Development in Africa planned this year during the Togolese presidency of the OAU.

The indigenous question in Africa

During the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004), proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in its Resolution 48/163 of 21 December 1993, UNESCO has sought actively to promote projects for indigenous peoples that restore their identity and strengthen their dignity. The question of indigenous peoples in Africa has grown in importance over recent years, and the indigenous movement is becoming organized, with due regard for Africa's democratic States. In this context, UNESCO has initiated contacts with the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC, a non-governmental organization set up in 1996 during the 14th session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, which is a subsidiary body of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights). IPAAC is a network of organizations based in indigenous communities and is participating, under the aegis of the United Nations, in implementation of the Decade action plan in Africa. It identifies indigenous African peoples on the basis of the United Nations legal definition.

In order to extend its work for indigenous African peoples UNESCO intends to develop a partnership with the South African San Institute (SASI) through a pilot project for the San and Khoe communities in South Africa. The "Cultural Resource Auditing and Management Project with the Khomani San (Bushmen) of the Southern Kalahari" takes place in two stages: the object of the first is to establish an inventory of cultural resources in partnership with the elders in the community, while the second stage, aimed more specifically at young people, will consist in ensuring the management of these cultural resources and the training of members of the community to assist the development of the Khomani San.