This communique was endorsed at the Biennial General Assembly during the 16th West African Archaeological Association (WAAA/AOAA) Colloquium held at the University of Ghana, Legon from July 9-12, 2019. On behalf of the Executive Board of the Association and entire members, I will be very grateful if this communique is adopted and implemented so as to inure to our collective benefit in West Africa.
COMMUNIQUE
SECOND CALL FROM ACCRA ON THE INTEGRATION OF WORLD HERITAGE CURRICULUM IN THE ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES OF ECOWAS MEMBER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
WAAA/AOAA GENERAL ASSEMBLY, FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2019
Preamble
We, members of the West African Archaeological Association (WAAA/AOAA), gathered at the General
Assembly Meeting of the 16th Colloquium of WAAA, which took place from 9 to 13 July 2019 do
acknowledge with gratitude the generosity of the University of Ghana and the Department of Archaeology and
Heritage Studies in hosting this biennial colloquium for a second time in a row.
Recalling
• The 2018 Recommendations of the UNESCO and African World Heritage Fund (AWHF)
Workshop on World Heritage and Educational Institutions in Africa at Great Zimbabwe,
Zimbabwe and at Saint-Louis, Senegal;
• The 2017 Resolution of the 15th Colloquium of the West African Archaeological Association
(WAAA/AOAA): ‘Call from Accra for Protection of Sites of Cultural Heritage by Ecowas
States’;
• The 2015 African Union’s Agenda 2063: ‘The Africa We Want’ which addresses issues
related to education and heritage as catalysts for sustainable development;
• The 2015 ‘Policy Document for the integration of a sustainable development perspective into
the processes of the World Heritage Convention’ adopted by the General Assembly of States
Parties to the World Heritage Convention.
Recognizing that:
• there is the need to integrate World Heritage curriculum in the academic programmes of West
African educational institutions as a result of lack of skilled heritage managers and
conservators;
• there is inattention to the sustainable management of World Heritage Sites in West Africa.
This is in addition to antiquated antiquities laws and lack of effective enforcement of various
legislations to make heritage impact assessment practices mandatory in West Africa;
• sub-Saharan Africa is the most under-represented region on the World Heritage List with 93
properties (51 cultural sites, 37 natural sites, 8 mixed sites), even though it boasts of a heritage
of unrivalled natural and cultural diversity that constitutes the very essence of its identity;
• despite the adoption of the Global Strategy for a representative balanced and credible World
Heritage List in 1994, the Africa region hosts only 9 per cent of all World Heritage sites,
while Europe and North America Regions accounts for 47 per cent of properties inscribed on
the List;
• the theme of the colloquium ‘Archaeology and World Heritage Sites in West Africa’
reinforces the clarion call and recommendations of UNESCO and the African World Heritage
Fund ‘that heritage institutions and institutions of higher learning must jointly engage in
research to develop and submit credible and justifiable nomination files as part of the
upstream process and to address management issues at World Heritage properties;’
• the aim of this Colloquium was centred on brainstorming and dialoguing on the role of
archaeology in facilitating our contributions to the documentation and inventory of sites, site
management and good conservation practices, the preparation of tentative lists and
nomination files, innovation and job creation with archaeological and heritage resources as
well as the creation of home-grown academic theories and practices to enhance this discourse,
We, the members of WAAA/AOAA note that:
1. being conscious of the Observer Status of the West African Archaeological Association at the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the membership of WAAA/AOAA recommends that all ECOWAS member states and their higher educational institutions implement the UNESCO 1972 World Heritage Convention so as to sufficiently address the issues intrinsic to the Convention in West Africa;
2. the low inscription rate of heritage sites in West Africa must be increased through high quality
nomination dossiers based on close collaboration between academic institutions, specialized
institutions in World Heritage and the governments of member states;
3. the budgets of member states of ECOWAS allocated to the heritage sector must be increased
substantially to enhance value-added archaeological research and inscription of new sites on
the Tentative and World Heritage Lists;
4. the support given to Academic heritage institutions in the member states must be increased to
strengthen the creation of curricula oriented towards increasing the number of trained African
heritage professionals and experts in the fields of heritage management and conservation;
5. there is the need to enhance academic guidance and sufficient integration of World Heritage
studies, heritage management and conservation studies into the existing programmes of
academic institutions in West Africa.
We, the Members further:
6 Urge the ECOWAS Commission and Member States to come out with policy statements on
the need for the return and restitution of looted and dubiously acquired African objects that
are held in private collections and museums outside Africa (European /North American
museums) and museums of member states, if any;
7 Urge Member states to rehabilitate/reconstruct their old museums and build new community
museums with well-equipped laboratories, expertise and adequate security systems in order
to host and conserve restituted and endangered art objects and antiquities of Africa;
8 Recommend the practice of community archaeology to involve local people in studies of
their heritage in order to enhance local understanding, appreciation and conservation of
heritage assets and to promote public education about World Heritage properties and
UNESCO heritage conventions;
9 Request ECOWAS Member States and their heritage institutions and institutions of higher
learning to accelerate the implementation of the above recommendations.
This document is adopted by agreement of Members at the General Assembly of the 16th Colloquium of
WAAA/AOAA at the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.