Launched in Ouidah (Benin) in 1994, the intercultural "Slave Route" project has seen steady development. It is currently structured round four key programmes: a scientific research programme; an education and teaching programme; a programme on the promotion of living cultures and artistic and spiritual forms of expression; and a cultural tourism programme on the memory of slavery and the diaspora.

In the scientific research network on the "impact of the slave trade on Senegambia" (part of the programme forming the core of the project, which is implemented through thematic research networks coordinated by various well-known scientific establishments in Africa, Europe, America and the Caribbean), a pilot project on the oral tradition relating to the slave trade has just been completed. Launched in December 1999, the project covered the collection, storage and processing of information on the oral tradition relating to the slave trade in Senegambia (Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal). The project was coordinated by Professor Djibril Tamsir Niane (Guinea) and the Guinean Committee for the Slave Route in cooperation with regional "Slave Route" officers, in particular Professor Mbaye Guèye from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar. These two researchers are members of the Scientific Committee for the Slave Route. Two similar projects were to start in March 2001 in West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana and Benin) and Central Africa (Congo, Gabon, and Sao Tomé and Principe). In addition, a seminar on "Intercultural Dialogue in Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region" is planned for Libreville (Gabon).

As part of the scientific research programme, an international seminar on "Bantu Cultures in the Americas and the Caribbean" was held from 6 to 10 November 2000 in Libreville (Gabon). The seminar was organized in cooperation with the International Centre for the Bantu Civilizations, the University of Alcala (Spain) and the Gabonese government. A scientific research network on the same subject has been set up at Omar Bongo University. A cultural festival was staged by the Gabonese authorities in connection with the seminar. UNESCO provided funding towards this and the exhibition in Libreville of part of the Afro-America Mexico travelling exhibition, which dealt with the memory of runaway slaves in the Americas. Funding (US $6,000) was also granted to Gorée City Council for organizing the Black Roots Festival in Gorée from 30 November to 3 December 2000.

In cooperation with the World Tourism Organization (WTO) UNESCO launched a cultural tourism programme on the slave route in Africa. This programme aims to identify, restore and promote sites and places linked to the memory of the slave trade and to set up museums of slavery to strengthen the memory of slavery, develop a tourist trade focused on remembrance and promote social and economic development through tourism. Technical sectoral-support missions were sent to the pilot countries designated by the WTO Commission for Africa (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique and Ghana). In 2000, studies were conducted in Mozambique and on the site of Sali in Senegal. Until the end of this biennium, technical missions will be continued to other African countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Chad, Cape Verde, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. An African map of sites and places linked to the memory of the slave trade will be prepared, and the countries concerned will be helped to develop national and subregional cultural tourism programmes. Moreover, UNESCO took part in the meeting of the WTO Commission for Africa held from 11 to 13 July 2000 in Cotonou (Benin). This year the meeting was held in Windhoek (Namibia) from 28 to 31 May. UNESCO there reported on the work of the UNESCO-WTO joint programme on cultural tourism relating to the slave route in Africa.

Otherwise, UNESCO is continuing to implement the Gorée Memorial project under the aegis of the International Commission, which will hold its third session this year. The model of the Memorial is ready, and the preparatory work for collecting funds to build it is under way. The Office for Cooperation for Peace Research is in charge of cooperation with the Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Foundation for Peace (in Yamoussoukro). Owing to the political situation in Côte d'Ivoire, it has not been possible to carry out some of the work. Since the presidential elections, contact has been made with Foundation officials in order to regalvanize cooperation.

Programme Web Site

The Iron Roads

The following activities took place in connection with the Iron Roads project:

(i) Seminar on project strategy organized jointly in April 2000 by the Division of Intercultural Dialogue and the UNESCO Office in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).

(ii) Second international seminar on "Bantu cultures: contribution to the Iron Roads in Africa", organized in November 2000 in Gabon.

(iii) Award of the special "Iron Roads in Africa" prize to a young Burkina Faso craftsman during the 2000 UNESCO Crafts Prizes for Africa.

The programme Web Site

General History of Africa

This project included the following activities:

(i) Completion of the Kiswahili version (eight volumes) in January 2000, written and published under the supervision of the Kiswahili Institute in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania);

(ii) Preparation of a guide to the General History of Africa for sixth-form history teachers, university students, etc., with support from the University of Lecce (Italy) and funded in part by UNESCO ($10,000) and the European Union;

(iii) A meeting in Conakry (Guinea) from 8 to 15 May 2000 in connection with the "Memory of Africa" project - developed by the Groupe Africain d'Édition et de Diffusion (African Publishing and Distribution Group) - for setting up project-related activities: production of albums and comic strips based on the General History of Africa for children and adolescents.

Culture in the neighbourhood: Afro-European interaction 1998-2001

"Culture in the neighbourhood: Afro-European interaction" is one of five projects embodying the World Decade for Cultural Development upon its completion. It is meant primarily for residents of the poorest neighbourhoods and is intended to promote cultural activities both by and for them on subjects of direct concern to them, with a view to encouraging relations between them and thus strengthening their sense of belonging to a place and social entity. Eight actual subprojects have been launched in the neighbourhoods of four Africa countries partnered by four European countries: Burkina Faso/Switzerland, Cameroon/France, Mozambique/Austria and Namibia/Finland.

A project monitoring and evaluation meeting, organized jointly by the French and Swiss National Commissions, was held in Strasbourg on 28 and 29 November 1998. It paved the way for networking the neighbourhoods concerned. A second meeting was held in December 1999 in Yaoundé to extend the project to further African countries (Togo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo). A policy of partnership with other African cities enabled a number of new neighbourhoods to join the project, including ones in Benin, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Mauritius.

The fourth meeting of national project coordinators was held in Geneva on 9 and 10 December 2000. It reviewed the project's operational phase and arranged the final conference planned for late 2001. This conference, which is being prepared by the Secretariat in collaboration with the Swiss National Commission for UNESCO, will set out a plan of action for extending the project to other regions of the world.

Intercultural dialogue in everyday life

The object of this project is to encourage an exchange of experience in the field of intercultural dialogue and the development of projects by and for young people to promote peaceful coexistence between young people of different origins.

In cooperation with the UNESCO Offices in Luanda and Pretoria, a subregional coordinators meeting was held in Pretoria from 23 to 25 February 2000 in order to review participants' experience and activities in the project since the regional workshop in Grand Bassam in May 1998 and to draw up an action plan to consolidate the pan-African network for intercultural dialogue and peace. This meeting enabled its participants, in addition to generally exchanging information on current projects in each of their countries, to draw up a programme of activities for 2000-2001 and to select and assign country responsibility for implementation of four major activities:

(i) A youth forum on cultural rights in Central Africa.

(ii) A cultural festival in West Africa.

(iii) A training session for African youth leaders in Mauritania.

(iv) Poetry, essay and painting competitions in all subregions of Africa. The meeting also enabled them to make decisions on network development (website, database, newsletter).

In addition, funding was given to the Togolese Federation of UNESCO Associations and Clubs to organize a national workshop on intercultural dialogue in everyday life, which was held on 31 March and 1 April 2000 in Lomé. The workshop allowed leaders of Togo youth associations and UNESCO Clubs to consider their role in strengthening education for tolerance and peace and to suggest joint projects in this field.