Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Egypt hosts African World Heritage Fund board in Cairo
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptian Expatriates hosted the 38th Board of Directors meetings for the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) in Cairo this week.
The sessions were inaugurated by Ambassador Amr ElSherbini, Assistant Foreign Minister for Multilateral Affairs and International Security, and attended by Mr. Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, as well as the permanent delegates of South Africa and Namibia to UNESCO, Board members, and executive secretariat of the Fund.
Discussions during the meetings centered on the Fund’s achievements over the past six months. Notably, the AWHF contributed to the preparation of nomination files for four African heritage sites recently added to the World Heritage List during the latest session of the World Heritage Committee in July 2025. The Fund also assisted in removing three African sites from the List of World Heritage in Danger and facilitated training for 160 individuals to strengthen the capacity of African national institutions responsible for heritage protection. Additionally, financial grants were provided to four countries to support heritage conservation, research, and training initiatives.
The Fund also organized two major events in Zambia and Kenya, gathering over 450 heritage experts and resulting in the release of two important declarations on World Heritage and Sustainable Development.
As the meetings concluded, participants were invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority—on a special visit to the Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum. Delegates praised the Grand Egyptian Museum as a source of inspiration for fellow African nations, describing it as a continental model in the preservation of national heritage.