ICCROM has a wealth of experience working extensively with heritage professionals and institutions in Africa on capacity-building programmes. The first was PREMA for preventive conservation in African museums, from 1986 to 2000, followed by AFRICA 2009, which focused on improving the management of immovable heritage and ran from 1998 to 2009.
Both programmes helped transform the African heritage landscape and created a new generation of museum and heritage professionals. The African World Heritage Fund recognized AFRICA 2009 as one of the continent's most successful capacity-building programmes.
Youth.Heritage.Africa taps into this experience and utilizes our existing body of knowledge to bring fresh innovation and new ways of engaging and caring for heritage while fostering intergenerational exchange.
“Heritage can be for youth a source of livelihood, identity, and a stimulus for development. The input of youth needs to be clear for what our heritage is and how to take it forward. It’s time to unlock the potential of heritage to provide a better life and livelihood to communities in Africa.”
– Dr Webber Ndoro, ICCROM Director-General