Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike
Senior Reporter
UNESCO director-general Ms Audrey Azoulay is today expected to meet the President at State House as part of her official visit to Zimbabwe.
Ms Azoulay arrived in the country yesterday and was received by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to France Dr Sekai Nzenza and other Government officials.
Soon after her arrival, Ms Azoulay met Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava at his offices in Harare.
She later visited the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare where various exhibits are on display to mark the gallery’s 68th anniversary.
In her meeting with Minister Shava, Ms Azoulay said UNESCO will continue its operations in Zimbabwe, especially in the education and heritage sectors.
She said her organisation was working towards recording the history of liberation movements in the region, including Zimbabwe.
She said the development will open a new phase of cooperation between UNESCO and Zimbabwe in areas of research and the education sector.
“I will also add one point which I know is dear to the heart of the Minister, which is that we are also working with Zimbabwe on the history of the movement of liberation in the region, and we are going to start a new phase of this cooperation that will support researchers, universities, young researchers from the region, to continue to work on this extraordinarily rich and regional history of the movement of liberation,” she said.
Ms Azoulay expressed gratitude for working with Zimbabwe on the new milestone.
“UNESCO is also happy to work on this very living strategic memory together with Zimbabwe,” she said.
Ms Azoulay also commended the existing relations between her organisation and Zimbabwe, which she described as excellent.
“We work together on many of the government’s priorities for inclusive education, for science, technology, innovation, artificial intelligence.
“Also, of course, the preservation and promotion of the extraordinary cultural heritage of the country,” she said.
Minister Shava welcomed UNESCO’s decision to record the history of liberation movements in the country, hoping that the UNESCO Director-General will pay a visit to the Liberation Museum in Harare.
“We are proud to say that we house the UNESCO office in this region, which is composed of nine countries, and the office is here in Harare. Our Ministry accommodates the UNESCO desk, and this is why we are hosting UNESCO today.”
He added: “We are hoping, of course, that she may be able to visit the Liberation Museum, which Zimbabwe is spearheading, and UNESCO, as people who try to preserve cultures, will be very interested in participating, like she says, in the construction of the Museum for Liberation.”
The Minister also confirmed that they agreed UNESCO will continue with its work in the country.
“We have agreed and confirmed that the programmes that UNESCO is running in Zimbabwe will continue to be run and to the best of their ability, in terms of the heritage sites, in terms of the schools’ programmes, in terms of all the other aspects that the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) has in their books,” he said.
Ms Azoulay is expected to travel to the Great Zimbabwe National Monument.
She is expected to be received by Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira, Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe, Tourism Minister Barbara Rwodzi and other local UNESCO officials.
On Wednesday, she is expected to travel to Victoria Falls, where she will tour the Mosi-oa-Tunya heritage site before attending the Conference of the Contracting Parties meeting the following day.
