By Yunus S Saliu
The second meeting of the ECOWAS’s Regional Committee to monitor the implementation of the 2019-2023 ECOWAS Action Plan on the return of cultural property to their countries of origin is currently underway in Cotonou, Benin.
Members of this Regional Committee made up of eminent personalities from the cultural, political and diplomatic world included Mr. Noureini Tidjani-Serpos from Benin, former Deputy Director-General, UNESCO and current President of the National Committee for France-Benin Museum and Heritage Cooperation; Mr Filipe Savadogo from Burkina Faso, Former Minister of Culture, Tourism and Communication, Government spokesperson, Former Ambassador of Burkina Faso to France, United Nations Former Representative of the International Organization, La Francophonie; Madam Fatou Mas Jobe from The Gambia, Former Minister of Tourism and Culture and Gambian Former Ambassador to Malaysia; Madame Abla Dzifa Gomashie from Ghana, Former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Industries and current Member of Parliament; Mr. Malam Issa Assoumana from Niger, Former Minister of Cultural Renaissance, Government Spokesperson, Former MP and Mr. Abdulaziz Dankano, former Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to China and former Consular and Immigration Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The main objective of the meeting organized by the ECOWAS Commission is to assess the roadmap of the Action Plan on the return of the cultural property, with the view to reorienting the implementation of the said Action Plan.
Delving into the background of the Regional Committee monitoring the implementation of the 2019-2023 ECOWAS Action Plan, Madam Fatou Mas Jobe of The Gambia, a former Minister of Tourism and Culture and Gambian Former Ambassador to Malaysia said the ECOWAS 2019-2023 Action Plan on the Return of Cultural Property to its countries of origin was approved by the December 2019 Assembly of Heads of State and government with aim of contributing to the return of the cultural heritage of ECOWAS Member States to their countries of origin to reconstitute the regional cultural heritage.
This is with the vision that “cultural heritage is reconstituted, valued and contributes to regional integration and sustainable development of ECOWAS Member States,” while she disclosed that the Action Plan for the Return of the Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin is in three strategic axes which include “one, capacity building of returned cultural heritage actors; two, strengthening measures for the protection, promotion, enhancement, and transmission of the cultural heritage of the Member States, and three, Strengthening regional and international cooperation for the return of cultural heritage properties to their countries of origin.
Madam Fatou Mas recalled that at the first meeting of the Regional Committee to monitor the implementation of the 2019-2023 ECOWAS Action Plan on the return of cultural property to their countries of origin held from 29th June to 1st July 2021 in Cotonou, deliberations were on the Action Plan, presentation of the challenges of ratifying the UNIDROIT Convention and the 1970 Convention within the framework of the restitution of cultural property to their countries of origin; sharing experiences of restitution cases as Nigeria, Benin Republic and Senegal were invited to share their experiences on the issue of restitution; support to states; outline of a methodology for inventories of cultural property in holder countries; and lots more.
However, in the ongoing meeting starting 21st through 22nd July 2022; she said the points of discourse include the implementation of the Action Plan on the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin (Activities already underway or ongoing); Consideration of the concept note of the International Symposium on Restitution; approach for the inventory of cultural property in the western countries (presentation of the Terms of Reference); Discussions around the role of the Regional Committee to the Champion on the return of cultural property Visit of the exhibition of the 26 works returned to Benin (to be confirmed) and among other agenda.
