Zimbabwe News Update
zbc
3 min read
unesco elects zimbabwe to executive board, boosting nation’s role in global heritage protection zimbabwe has been elected to the executive board of the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco), marking a major diplomatic milestone that enhances the country’s influence in shaping global policy on education, science, culture and heritage preservation. the announcement was made during the 43rd session of the unesco general conference, being held at the silk road congress centre in samarkand, uzbekistan, where member states voted to elect new board members.
confirming the development, zimbabwe’s ambassador to unesco, dr sekai nzenza who also serves as the country’s ambassador to france, spain, portugal, the vatican and un tourism said zimbabwe garnered one of the highest vote tallies among african nations, ranking second globally only to malaysia, and tying with luxembourg. speaking at the same occasion, permanent secretary in the ministry of sport, recreation, arts and culture, mr nicholas moyo, said zimbabwe used the unesco platform to reaffirm its call for the unconditional repatriation of human remains and cultural artefacts taken during the colonial era. “our participation in the 43rd session of the general conference of unesco has been amazing in zimbabwe.
but as a country, we have been pushing one major issue, especially in the illicit trade of cultural objects. and for zimbabwe, currently the major thrust is to ensure that the remains of our forefathers, the remains of the skulls and human remains that are in the united kingdom, and those that are in south africa and everywhere in the world, again the artefacts like the zimbabwean bird, and other artefacts that were taken, artefacts of war that are dotted all over and museums are repatriated to zimbabwe without conditions.” “people should realise, and our call has been that, it is important that the spirit of our forefathers may rest in peace.
and we are saying we use this platform to emphasise that the call for zimbabwe is to ensure that these objects that were taken out of zimbabwe during the colonial period, and during the wars of liberation, where, before independence in 1979, some of those things were now being taken out because they knew that independence was looming. our call is that those things need to be returned without condition to zimbabwe. and this platform has been such a great platform where zimbabwe was able to put its position. secondly, it is the issue of the intangible. intangible heritage. as a country, it is time that we also push and ensure that our heritage, our intangible cultural heritage elements, and our tangible cultural heritage sites are also listed in the world register of unesco,” he said.
zimbabwe joins 57 member states that will guide unesco’s strategic direction for the next four years. zimbabwe’s election to the unesco executive board reinforces its role in advancing sustainable education, cultural preservation, and scientific innovation on the global stage, while strengthening its voice in international policy formulation. previous articleethiopia launches production of unique medicines for africanext articleimf commends zimbabwe’s economic growth, predicts expansion beyond 6% previous articleethiopia launches production of unique medicines for africa ethiopia launches production of unique medicines for africa source: zbc news
