Six projects in Eastern Africa (four in Kenya and two in Uganda) have been selected as part of the 2020-2021 UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Campaign – Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage.
The 2020-2021 WHV Campaign, which combined the 2020 with the 2021 Campaign due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, includes 49 organizations in 32 countries around the world that will implement 55 action camp projects at 55 UNESCO World Heritage sites as well as sites on countries’ “Tentative Lists” of potential World Heritage sites.
The selected projects in East Africa will take place in: Kakamega Rainforest & Isukuti Dance, Tsavo National Park and Chyulu Hills Programme Kenya, Mombasa Old Town and Maasai Mara in Kenya; and Obuwangwa Bwafe Munfuna Project and Nyero Rock Art Stars in Uganda.
Launched in 2008, the World Heritage Volunteer (WHV) Initiative, in the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Education (WHE) Programme, aims to increase awareness and reinforce youth involvement at a local and global levels in the implementation of the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. National and international volunteers work together with the local communities to preserve cultural and natural heritage through concrete hands-on conservation and awareness-raising activities.
Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, Ms. Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta said, “We congratulate the six World Heritage Volunteer projects in the Eastern Africa region. This kind of collaboration between volunteers and local communities facilitates the empowerment of young people, enabling them to learn basic conservation techniques and enhancing their capacities as future decision makers and active global citizens.”
The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative is led by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service- CCIVS (WHV global coordinator, regional coordinator for Africa, Arab States and Latin America) and European Heritage Volunteers – as a branch of Open Houses (regional coordinator for Europe) and Better World (regional coordinator for Asia).
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