Mayor Andre meets Unesco ADG for culture |20 November 2021
Mr André (right) presenting Mr Ramirez with a copy of a CD of Creole songs
The Mayor of Victoria, David Andre, held talks with Ernesto Renato Ottone Ramirez, the assistant director general for culture at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) yesterday.
The two men had very fruitful discussions during their one-hour long meeting held at the headquarters of Unesco in Paris.
Mayor André, who is also the director of the newly launched Seychelles National Institute of Culture, Heritage and Arts (SNICHA), apprised Mr Ramirez of the new cultural policy and priorities of the government of President Wavel Ramkalawan. The head of Unesco’s culture sector said he was very impressed with the decision taken by Seychelles to depoliticize culture by institutionalising it. He said Unesco stands ready to help Seychelles implement her new cultural policy and gain international recognition for its new structure through advocacy.
The two men agreed to boost cooperation between Unesco and Seychelles. Unesco called on Seychelles to take a leading role in the Sids (Small Island Developing States) group in the consultation that will lead to Mondiacult in Mexico City in September next year.
Mondiacult is the World Conference on national cultural policies, and it will be a great opportunity for Seychelles to showcase its innovative cultural architecture and aspects of its very rich Creole culture.
Mayor André is in Paris to attend the 41st General Conference of Unesco which started on November 9 and will go until November 24. He met Mr Ramirez, who is a former minister for culture of Chile, on the sidelines of this conference.