SWAKOPMUND – Namibia through the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture has signed an agreement with the South African government to fund the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) with N$3 million stretched over a period of three years.
Deputy Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, Juliet Kavetuna, revealed this when she addressed various delegates from across Africa at the 14th, two-day AWHF Board of Trustees meeting that started in the coastal town of Swakopmund.
The meeting which started yesterday ends today and provides delegates the opportunity deliberate, review and report on the organisation’s activities, to table financial reports, as well as to discuss a staff gratuity scheme. The delegates will also propose a budget for 2014 and 2015.
According to Kavetuna the first N$1 million will be paid over to the fund in due course and the money will be used to fund various programmes under the AWHF, as well as to allow the fund to search for more heritage sites that need to be preserved in Africa.
“Namibia has been involved with the AWHF for years now and has been instrumental in the training and capacity-building aspects of the fund. Our contribution will only enhance the activities of the fund that is of Africa as a continent,” Kavetuna explained. She implored other African countries to also contribute to the fund.
The AWHF was launched in May 2006 under South African Trust Law in order to provide financing and technical support for the effective conservation and protection of Africa’s natural and cultural heritage of outstanding universal value. The fund was established as a result of work undertaken by African member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) with the aim to develop an ongoing strategy to deal with the challenges that most African countries face in implementing the World Heritage Convention.
By Eveline de Klerk