What do we know about Africa’s history? The United Nations and the General History of Africa
“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”*
In 1964, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) lunched the mega project “General History of Africa”. “The challenge consisted of reconstructing Africa’s history, freeing it from racial prejudices ensuing from slave trade and colonization, and promoting an African perspective”. By so doing, the United Nations through its specialized institution UNESCO intended “to remedy the general ignorance on Africa’s history”.
For the achievement of this project, African and non African experts have been mobilized through years. Globally, 230 historians and scientists from other disciplines worked hard during 35 years of scientific cooperation, this under the supervision of an international scientific committee among which 2/3 of the members were Africans.
As result of this UN inspired initiative, the “General History of Africa” was compiled into 8 volumes in 1999, and translated in 13 languages among which Arabic, English, French and Portuguese. UNESCO is actually involved in the second phase of the project. Launched in March 2009, “the goal of the new project entitled the Pedagogical Use of the General History of Africa, which will be implemented in four years, is to contribute to the renovation of history teaching in African countries and to promote the process of regional integration launched by the African Union”.
Nevertheless, despite all those perceptible efforts of the United Nations, Africa’s history and its teaching remain matters of a great concern. Many citizens of the Western world still approach the continent through stereotypes and clichés which dismantlement are yet to occur.
NB: Details of the project “General History of Africa” are available on the website of UNESCO.
*Source: UNESCO, July 4th, 2011
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