Dr Webber Ndoro has been confirmed by ICCROM’s 30th General Assembly as the new Director-General, to lead ICCROM from January 1st 2018. Ndoro completed a BA in History at the University of Zimbabwe, a Master of Philosophy in Archaeology from Cambridge University, a Master in Architectural Conservation from York University, and a PhD in Heritage Management at Uppsala University.
Ndoro joined the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe in 1985. He served as Co-coordinator of its Monuments Programme from 1992 to 1994, and then moved to the University of Zimbabwe as lecturer on heritage management. He has also lectured on heritage management at the University of Bergen in Norway, as well as at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where he is Honorary Professor.
Ndoro’s first involvement with ICCROM came in 1998, when he was tasked with implementing one of the first three site projects for the AFRICA 2009 programme. From 2002, Ndoro worked as a full-time ICCROM staff member on AFRICA 2009, providing a very useful African perspective at ICCROM to the planning and implementation of the programme. He left ICCROM in 2007 to accept the position of Executive Director of the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), a post which he has held until the present.
During his mandate at AWHF, Ndoro guided the fund to become one of the leading conservation organizations in the region, and has also raised a significant endowment. Under Ndoro’s leadership, AWHF has planned and implemented programmes and activities for heritage conservation aimed at improving World Heritage nominations, strengthening disaster risk management and traditional management systems, and promoting entrepreneurship related to heritage in the region.
Webber Ndoro - Let's continue building Team ICCROM, composed of Secretariat, Council and Member States, ensuring it is expert,, standard-setting in its mandate and truly international. We must communicate better about what we do in ways everybody understands #iccromga
— ICCROM (@ICCROM) 29 November 2017
Ndoro’s accomplishments in the field of heritage conservation have had a lasting impact on ICCROM as an organization, and on a generation of young heritage professionals in sub-Saharan Africa and worldwide. His new assignment will enrich ICCROM’s ties with Africa and with all world regions.
ICCROM offers warm congratulations to Dr Ndoro on his appointment and looks forward to working closely with him over the next six years.