Paris, 12th October 2021
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The Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who doubles as the Minister responsible for UNESCO relations on Tuesday,12th October took his turn to deliver Ghana’s policy statement at the 212th session of the UNESCO Executive Board meeting currently underway at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France.
Dr. Adutwum, who is Representative of Ghana to the Executive Board used the opportunity to commend UNESCO’s leadership for the sustained efforts that have ensured that the Organization remain relevant to the international community in its areas of competence in the wake of the COVID-19 global health emergency.
Addressing the session, the Minister conveyed the gratitude of H. E. The President to UNESCO and the international community for the great honour done the people of Ghana by designating the City of Accra as the World Book Capital for 2023, adding that, the Accra World Book Capital will promote education and tourism as well as draw international attention to Ghana’s rich heritage in its diverse forms, indigenous knowledge, and culture. He urged Member States to come onboard then activities of the Accra World Book Capital.
He commended UNESCO for including Ghana in the Spotlight Report Series initiative which is geared towards accelerating progress in African countries on SDG4 targets. He said Ghana is happy to be included in the 12 countries earmarked in Africa to share experiences and good practices in foundational learning and gender parity in this new program under UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring.
In the area of culture and heritage, the Minister informed the Board that the Government of Ghana has taken pragmatic steps to preserve, protect and manage Ghana’s heritage by establishing a broad-based National Heritage Committee as part of comprehensive strategy to address emerging challenges in Ghana’s heritage resources management, particularly in the context of the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
In partnership with UNESCO, Ghana is proposing at this session to establish a new