Five Eastern African countries receive #SOSAfricanHeritage grants to promote COVID-19 resilience

With support from the German Commission for UNESCO’s #SOSAfricanHeritage Fund, seven World Heritage sites from five Eastern African countries have received grants to help overcome impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on management and conservation. The recipients include: Simien National Park in Ethiopia; Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests and Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest in Kenya; Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve and Bélo sur Mer Kirindy-Mite Biosphere Reserve in Madagascar; Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve in Seychelles; and Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania.

The #SOSAfricanHeritage Fund invited UNESCO World Heritage sites and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Africa to submit proposals for financial support to overcome the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The German Commission for UNESCO received 72 applications requesting 1.6 million Euro in support by the deadline, and was able to grant funding to 22 projects for a total of more than 500,000 Euro to support resilience from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Africa region.

The short-term financial and technical support from #SOSAfricanHeritage aims to help maintain independent and sustainable organizational structures at these UNESCO-designated sites with the participation of civil society. The projects are also encouraged to ensure spaces dedicated to global citizenship education, sustainability and cultural diversity.