Rwagweri gets a rare moment to meet with the UNESCO Director General, Ms Audrey Azoulay

 

Rwagweri with UNESCO boss

The Executive Director of Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) and CEO of “African Continental Crafts Ltd” Stephen Rwagweri yesterday got a rare opportunity to meet and have a light moment with the UNESCO Director General, Ms Audrey Azoulay during the opening ceremony for the meeting and a Royal Dinner hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco.

 

Rwagweri is attending the seventeenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will be hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco in Rabat (Sofitel Rabat Jardin des Roses) from 28 November to 3 December 2022.

 

Audrey Azoulay was elected as the Director-General of UNESCO since 2017, becoming the second female leader of the organization. She previously served as France's Minister of Culture in the government of Prime Minister Manuel Valls from 2016 to 2017.

UNESCO is a specialized global agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 193 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector.  Headquartered at the World Heritage Centre in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions that facilitate its global mandate.

UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. Its constitution establishes the agency's goals, governing structure, and operating framework. UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the Second World War, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboration and dialogue among nations. It pursues this objective through five major programme areas: education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and communication/information. UNESCO sponsors projects that improve literacy, provide technical training and education, advance science, protect independent media and press freedom, preserve regional and cultural history, and promote cultural diversity.

Rwagweri at the opening ceremony

As a focal point for world culture and science, UNESCO's activities have broadened over the years; it assists in the translation and dissemination of world literature, helps establish and secure World Heritage Sites of cultural and natural importance, works to bridge the worldwide digital divide, and creates inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication. UNESCO has launched several initiatives and global movements, such as Education for All, to further advance its core objectives.

UNESCO is governed by the General Conference, composed of member states and associate members, which meets biannually to set the agency's programs and the budget. It also elects members of the executive board, which manages UNESCO's work, and appoints every four years a Director-General, who serves as UNESCO's chief administrator. UNESCO is a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, a coalition of UN agencies and organizations aimed at fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals.