INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING – IACIU

The Institute for African Culture and International Understanding, a UNESCO Category 2 Institute of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State, was approved by the Executive Board of UNESCO in October 2008 and formally commissioned at its OOPL site on January 9, 2009 by Koichiro Matsuura, the immediate-past Director-General of UNESCO. The Governing Board of the Centre, chaired by Dr Christopher Kolade, was inaugurated on March 4, 2009.
The primary purpose of the Institute shall be to give greater recognition to culture as an enabler and a driver of sustainable development in the post-2015 development agenda, notably by promoting and supporting the implementation of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions within the Africa region.
To this end, the Institute aims at:

• raising awareness among stakeholders and supporting research, indicator development/benchmarking and the collection of information, data and best practices at the national, and regional levels in Africa about the 2005 Convention and developing tools for effective monitoring and communication about the Convention;
• contributing to program delivery in Africa through capacity building programmes to support the effective implementation of the 2005 Convention at the national level, by strengthening human and institutional capacities in the cultural and creative industries, supporting the preparation of international assistance requests to the International Fund for Cultural Diversity, and supporting the preparation of quadrennial periodic reports;
• facilitating African and international partnerships and synergies with academic entities, UN, international and regional organizations, as well as civil society networks for the implementation of the 2005 Convention at the country level and providing a platform of cooperation for them; and
• exploring the links between this work and other relevant international initiatives such as the UNESCO General History of Africa programme or the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024).