An international coalition involving artists in the promotion of the General History of Africa will be launched at UNESCO on 7 October (6 p.m., Room IX). The coalition will help young people use the unique instrument that the History represents in recounting the continent’s past from an African perspective.

Participants at the launch will include the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, Cameroon’s Ambassadeur and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Lejeune Mbella Mbella, and Ray Lema, musician and spokesperson for the Coalition of Artists for the General History of Africa.

The international coalition aims to mobilize artists from all fields of creativity and have them contribute to the promotion in the media, online and through their social networks, of the work carried out within the framework of the General History of Africa. The members of the coalition will sign a Declaration in which they will undertake to disseminate the teachings of this History among the general public, take part in UNESCO activities concerning the programme and favour cooperation among the fellow artists within the coalition.

Launched in 1964, the General History of Africa project was established to disencumber the continent’s narrative from stereotyping linked to slavery and colonialism. Over the years, the project has enjoyed the contribution of some 350 experts from different disciplines: history, linguistics, anthropology, musicology, archaeology and more. Their work has been published in eight volumes to date.