Cultural Charter for Africa
PREAMBLE
We, Heads of State and Government of the Organization
of African Unity meeting in its Thirteenth Ordinary
Session, in Port Louis, Mauritius, from 2nd to 5th
July 1976,
GUIDED by the Organization of African Unity Charter,
by Resolution CM/Res.371 (XXIII) adopted by the
Twenty-third ordinary Session of the Council of
Ministers and by the Assembly of Heads of State
and Government of the OAU (June 1974, Mogadishu);
by the Declaration of principles of international
cultural co-operation adopted by the General Conference
of UNESCO at its fourteenth Session in 1966; by
the Pan-African Cultural Manifesto of Algiers (1969),
and by the Inter-governmental Conference on cultural
policies in Africa organised by UNESCO in Accra
in 1975 in co-operation with the Organization of
African Unity;
CONVINCED that any human society is necessarily
governed by rules and principles based on traditions,
languages ways of life and thought in other words
on a set of cultural values which reflect its distinctive
charter and personality;
CONVINCED that cultures emanate from the people,
and that any African cultural policy should of necessity
enable the people to expand for increased responsibility
in the development of its cultural heritage;
AWARE OF THE FACT that any people has the inalienable
right to organise its cultural life in full harmony
with its political economic, social, philosophical
and spiritual ideas;
CONVINCED that all the cultures of the world are
equally entitled to respect just as all individuals
are equal as regards free access to culture;
RECALLING that, under colonial domination, the
African countries found themselves in the same political,
economic, social and cultural situation; that cultural
domination led to the depersonalization of part
of the African peoples, falsified their history,
systematically disparaged and combated African values,
and tried to replace progressively and officially,
their languages by that of the colonizer, that colonization
has encouraged the formation of an elite which is
too often alienated from its culture and susceptible
to assimilation and that a serious gap has been
opened between the said elite and the African popular
masses;
CONVINCED that the unity of Africa is founded first
and foremost on its History; that the affirmation
of cultural identity denotes a concern common to
all Peoples of Africa; that African cultural diversity,
the expression of a single identity, is a factor
making for equilibrium and development in the service
of national integration; that it is imperative to
edify educational systems which embody the African
values of civilization, so as to ensure the rooting
of youth in African culture and mobilize the social
forces in the context of permanent education; that
it is imperative to resolutely ensure the promotion
of African languages, mainstay, and media of cultural
heritage in its most authentic and essentially popular
form; that it is imperative to carry out a systematic
inventory of the cultural heritage, in -particular
in the spheres of Traditions, History and Arts;
GUIDED by a common determination to strengthen
understanding among our peoples and co-operation
among our States in order to meet the aspirations
of our peoples to see brotherhood and solidarity
reinforced and integrated within a greater cultural
unity which transcends ethnic and national divergences;
AWARE that culture constitutes for our people the
surest means of overcoming our technological backwardness
and the most efficient force of our victorious resistance
to imperialist blackmail;
CONVINCED that African culture is meaningless unless
it plays a full part in the political and social
liberation struggle, and in the rehabilitation and
unification efforts and that there is no limit to
the cultural development of a people;
CONVINCED that a common resolve provides the basis
for promoting the harmonious cultural development
of our States;
AGREE to establish the Cultural Charter for Africa
as set out below.
PART I
AIMS, 0BJECTIVES AND PRINCPLES
Article 1
The aims and objectives of this Charter are as
follows:
a. To liberate the African peoples from socio-cultural
conditions which impede their development in order
to recreate and maintain the sense and will for
progress, the sense and will for development;
b. The rehabilitation, restoration preservation
and promotion of the African cultural heritage;
c. The assertion of the dignity of the African and
of the popular foundations of his culture;
d. The combating and elimination of all forms of
alienation and cultural suppression and oppression
everywhere in Africa, especially in countries still
under colonial and racist domination, including
apartheid;
e. The encouragement of cultural co-operation among
the States with a view to the strengthening of African
unity;
f. The encouragement of international cultural co-operation
for a better understanding among peoples within
which Africa will make its original and appropriate
contribution to human culture;
g. Promotion in each country of popular knowledge
of science and technology; a necessary condition
for the control of nature;
h. Development of all dynamic values in the African
cultural heritage and rejection of any element which
is an impediment to progress.
Article 2
In order to fulfil the objectives set out in Article
1, the African States solemnly subscribe to the
following principles:
a. Access of all citizens to education and culture;
b. Respect for the freedom to create and the liberation
of the creative genius of the people;
c. Respect for national authenticities and specificities
in the field of culture;
d. Selective integration of science and modem technology
into the cultural life of the African peoples;
e. Exchange and dissemination of cultural experience
between African countries, in the field of cultural
decolonization in all its forms.
PART II
CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
Article 3
The African States recognize the need to take account
of national identities, cultural diversity being
a factor making for balance within the nation and
a source of mutual enrichment for various communities.
Article 4
The African States recognize that African cultural
diversity is the expression of the same identity;
a factor of unity and an effective weapon for genuine
liberty, effective responsibility and full sovereignty
of the people.
Article 5
The assertion of national identity must not be
at the cost of impoverishing or subjecting various
cultures within the State.
PART III
NATIONAL CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I
BASIC PRINCIPLES GOVERNING A NATIONAL CULTURAL POLICY
Article 6
Each African State recognizes that it is the working
people who make history and establish the foundations
and conditions for the advancement of culture. As
culture has an innovating and beneficial influence
on the means of production and on man, each African
State agrees;
a. To work out a national cultural policy for each
State. This policy should be designed as a codification
of social practices and concerted activities whose
aim is to satisfy cultural needs through the optimal
utilization of all the available material and human
resources;
b. To integrate the cultural development plan in
the overall programme for economic and social development;
c. That individual States shall be free to establish
their priorities and select the methods they consider
best suited for attaining their cultural development
objectives and to that end individual States regard
the following priorities and methods as guidelines;
1. PRIORITIES
a. The transcription, teaching and development
of national languages with a view to using them
for the dissemination and the development of science
and technology;
b. The recording, conservation, use and dissemination
of information on oral tradition;
c. The adaptation of educational curricula to development
needs and to the National and African Cultural and
Social realities;
d. The promotion of cultural activities, encouragement
to artists and assistance to creativity in the people;
e. The protection of creative artists and cultural
assets;
f. The development of research and the establishment
of permanent research centres in the field of culture;
g. Research, on the basis of modern science, in
the field of local African medicine and pharmacopoeia.
2. METHODS AND MEANS
a. The introduction of African Culture into all
national educational systems;
b. The introduction and intensification of the teaching
in national languages in order to accelerate the
economic, social, political and cultural development
in our States;
c. The establishment of' appropriate institutions
for the development, preservation and dissemination
of culture;
d. The training of competent staff, at all levels;
e. The concrete and effective establishment of links
between the school and the national realities as
well as the life of the people, a link which should
be apparent in the school curricula and structure;
f. The sensitivization and exhortation of all citizens
to ensure their willing participation in the field
of culture;
g. The provision of a budget corresponding to the
needs of culture and of research in the humanities,
natural sciences and technology;
h. The financing of cultural programmes essentially
out of national resources in order to implement
certain cultural projects;
i. The organization of competitions offering prizes;
j. The organization of national and Pan-African
cultural festivals in the spirit of this Charter.
CHAPTER II
THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF CULTURE
Article 7
The African States recognize that the driving force
of Africa is based more on development of the collective
personality than on individual advancement and profit,
and that culture cannot be considered as the privilege
of an elite.
Article 8
The African States agree to undertake the following:
a. Create conditions which will enable their peoples
to participate to the full in the development and
implementation of cultural policies;
b. Defend and develop the people's culture;
c. Implement a cultural policy providing for the
advancement of creative artists;
d. To wherever necessary, abolish the caste system
and rehabilitate the functions of artist and craftsman
(griots and craftsmen).
CHAPTER III
THE NEED FOR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION BY YOUTH IN NATIONAL
CULTURAL LIFE
Article 9
Continuous cultural development in Africa rests
with its young people. Therefore the African States
should create conditions for the active and enlightened
participation of young people in African cultural
life.
Article 10
The African States shall endeavour to raise continually
the cultural awareness of' young people through
the introduction of African cultural values into
education and through the organization of national
and Pan-African festivals, conferences, seminars
and training and refresher courses.
Article 11
The cultural policies of the various States shall
ensure that young African people also have the means
of familiarizing themselves with the whole of African
and other civilizations in order to prepare them
for fruitful intercultural relations.
PART IV
TRAINING AND LIFE-LONG EDUCATION
CHAPTER V
TRAINING
Article 12
Professional training is as important both for
cultural development as for economic and social
development. Consequently, the African States should
devote themselves to creating conditions favouring
large-scale participation of culture by the African
working class and peasants at the actual work-sites.
Article 13
To achieve the aim laid down in the preceding Article,
States should adopt a training policy for specialists
at all levels and in all fields.
Article 14
Professional training for creative artists should
be improved, renewed and adapted to modern methods,
without breaking the umbilical cord linking it with
the traditional sources of African art. Hence, special
training should be provided in national, regional
and sub-regional training centres.
CHAPTER V
LIFE-LONG EDUCATION
Article 15
African governments will have to pay special attention
to the growing importance of life-long education
in modern societies.
Article 16
African governments should take steps to organize
continuous training in a rational way and to establish
an appropriate system of education which satisfies
the specific needs of their people.
PART V
THE USE OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES
Article 17
The African States recognize the imperative need
to develop African languages which will ensure their
cultural advancement and accelerate their economic
and. social development and to this end will endeavour
to formulate a national policy in regard to languages.
Article 18
The African States should prepare and implement
the reforms necessary for the introduction of African
languages into education. To this end each state
may choose one or more languages.
Article 19
The introduction of African languages at all levels
of education should have to go hand-in-hand with
literacy work among the people at large.
PART VI
USE OF MASS MEDIA
Article 20
The African States should recognize that there
can be no cultural policy without corresponding
policies on information and communication.
Article 21
The African States should encourage the use of
the information and communication media for their
cultural development.
Article 22
a. The African Government should ensure the total
decolonization of the mass media and increase the
production of radio and television broadcasts, cinematographic
films which reflect the political, economic and
social realities of the people in order to enable
the masses to have greater access in participation
in the cultural riches;
b. African Governments should create publishing
and distribution institutions for books, school
manuals, records and instruments of the press in
Africa to combat market speculators and make them
into instruments of popular education.
c. African Governments should establish joint cooperation
in order to break the monopoly of non-African countries
in this field.
PART VII
THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS IN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER VI
ASSISTANCE TO ARTISTIC CREATION
Article 23
African States should be active in promoting national
cultural development through a policy of effective
assistance both as regards collective methods of
creation and in favour of individual artists.
Such assistance may take various forms:
a. Organization of competitions offering prizes
and mobile exl ibitions of works of art and artistic
visits;
b. Fiscal assistance through a policy in which African
cultural assets are exempted wholly or partly from
tax;
c. Supporting artists, writers and research workers
by providing financial assistance and scholarships
for training or refresher courses;
d. The creation of National Fund for the promotion
of culture and the Arts.
CHAPTER VII
THE PROTECTION OF AFRICAN WORKS
Article 24
African States should prepare inter-African convention
on copyright so as to guarantee the protection of
African Works. They should also intensify their
efforts to modify existing international conventions
to meet African interests.
Article 25
African governments should enact national and inter-African
laws and regulations guaranteeing the protection
of copyright, set up national copyright offices
and encourage the establishment of authors' associations
responsible for protecting the moral and material
interests of those who produce work that gives spiritual
and mental pleasure.
CHAPTER VIII
PROTECTION OF THE AFRICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE
Article 26
The African cultural heritage must be protected
on the legal and practical planes in the manner
laid down in the international instruments in force
and in conformity with the best standards applicable
in this field.
Article 27
The African Governments should have to adopt national
laws and inter-African regulations governing the
protection of cultural property in times of peace
and in the event of war.
Article 28
The African States should take steps to put an
end to the despoliation of African cultural property
and ensure that cultural assets, in particular archives
works of art and archaeological objects, which have
been removed from Africa, are returned there. To
this end they should, in particular, support the
efforts exerted by UNESCO and take all other necessary
steps to ensure the implementation of the United
Nations General Assembly resolution on the restitution
of works of art removed from their country of origin.
Article 29
The African States should take steps to ensure
that the archives which have been removed from Africans
are returned to African Governments in order that
they may have complete archives concerning the history
of their country.
PART VIII
INTER-AFRICAN CULTURAL COOPERATION
Article 30
The African States acknowledge that it is vital
to establish inter-African cultural co-operation
as a contribution to the mutual understanding of
national cultures and enrichment of African cultures,
thus to take the form of a two-way exchange, firstly,
among all the countries on the continent and, secondly,
between Africa and the rest of the world through
specialized institutions like UNESCO.
Article 31
To achieve the aims set out in the previous Article,
the African States agree;
a. To consolidate their co-operation by way of
joint cultural activities and periodical discussions
of major issues on which cultural development of
Africa depends;
b. To develop the exchange of information, documentation
and cultural material by:
• strengthening the Association of African
Universities;
• university and specialist exchange, in order
that scientific cultural studies can develop in
research
institutes;
• exchange and meetings between young people;
• the organization of joint cultural events
such as festivals, symposia, sports and art exhibitions;
• establishment of cultural research centres
on national, regional and Pan-African level;
• creation of an Inter-African Fund for the
support and promotion of cultural studies and programmes.
c. To endeavour to ensure that African cultural
values are deployed to maximum effect in order to
illustrate that all African States are members of
one and the same community;
d. Creation of Regional Specialized Institutions
for the training of specialized cultural cadres.
Article 32
The African Cul tural Council should function in
close co-operation and consultation with the OAU
Commission on Education, Science, Health and Culture
in the field of cultural policies.
PART IX
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 33
Signature and Ratification
This Charter shall be open for signature to all
Member States of the Organization of African Unity
and shall be ratified by the signatory States in
accordance with their respective constitutional
processes.
The original instrument, done if possible in African
languages and in English and French, all texts being
equally authentic, shall be deposited with the General
Secretariat of the Organization of African Unity
which shall transmit copies thereof to all OAU Member
States.
Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with
the OAU General Secretariat which shall notify all
signatories of such deposit.
Article 34
Entry into force
This Charter shall come into force immediately
upon receipt by the OAU General Secretariat of the
instruments of ratification and adhesion from two-thirds
of the total membership of the OAU.
Article 35
Registration of the Charter
The Charter shall, after due ratification, be registered
with the Secretariat of the United Nations through
the OAU General Secretariat in conformity with Article
102 of the Charter of the United Nations.
Article 36
Interpretation of the Charter
Any question which may arise concerning the interpretation
of this Charter shall be resolved by decision of
Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the
OAU.
Article 37
Adhesion and Accession
a. Any OAU Member State may at any time notify
the General Secretariat of the OAU, of its intention
to adhere or accede to this Charter.
b. The General secretariat shall, on receipt of
such notification communicate a copy of it to all
the Member States. Adhesion and Accession shall
take effect fourteen days after communication of
the applicant's notice to all Member States by the
General Secretariat of the OAU.
