THE United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has commended Nigeria for its generous contribution to the organisation's Slave Route project over which an international conference is billed to hold from March 12 to 17, 2012 in Calabar, Cross River State.Tagged International Conference on Slave Trade and Slavery in the Arab Islamic World: Untold Tragedy and Shared Heritage, the assembly is being organized by the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC).But at the opening of 189th Session of UNESCO Executive Board Meeting last week in Paris, France, UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova was quoted to have singled out Nigeria for commendation as she noted the 'generous contribution of Nigeria to holding a conference on the Slave Route Project.'Communicating this to the DG of CBAAC, Prof. Tunde Babawale, Chief of Intercultural Dialogue Section, Division of Cultural Policies and InterculturalDialogue, UNESCO, Mr. Ali Moussa Iye said, 'Dear Professor Tunde Babawale, I am pleased to inform that, in her presentation at the opening of the 189th Session of the UNESCO Executive Board which began this morning (March 1, 2012), the UNESCO Director-General has mentioned, among the Member States which support UNESCO in this difficult moment, the generous contribution of Nigeria to holding a conference on the Slave Route Project.'We are very happy of this acknowledgment at the high level of the CBAAC's contribution. Please share this information with your Ministry of Culture.'Meanwhile the stage is set for the hosting of the meeting of the International Scientific Committee (ISC) of the UNESCO's Slave Route Project (March 13-14th) as part of the highlights of the international conference.The outcome of this meeting be reported to theDirector General and the General Assembly of UNESCO, as well as resolutions to be put before the African Union.Before now, Cuba, Angola, Toronto and Columbia have hosted the committee. The Director of CBAAC, Prof. Babawale on behalf of Culture and Tourism Ministry, will coordinate the two-day meeting. The board meeting in Nigeria highlights the leading role of Nigeria in world issues,the global stature of CBAAC as a first rate national cultural institute to attract the ISC to Nigeria, and broker this crucial international meeting.The meeting, according to Nigeria's Toyin Falola, Vice President, ISC, UNESCO Slave Route Project, will review global issues on old and contemporary forms of slavery, study the Calabar slave sites,review partnership with various African countries and discuss updates on the Permanent Memorial on the slave trade and slavery to be built in the UN Compound in New York, as well as follow up to the Head of States Summit in Salvador de Bahia, and the Declaration of the Summit and the Proclamation of an International Decade for People of African Descent.And with respect to the main theme of the conference, Slave Trade and Slavery in the Arab Islamic World: Untold Tragedy and Shared Heritage, efforts will be made to address fundamental questions such as: What is the state of the scientific debate on internal Slavery in the African and slave trade and slavery through the Arab-Muslim world' What was the specificity of the slave trade and slavery in the Arab-Muslim world' What is the position of Islam in general and the Koran in particular with regard to slave trade and slavery' What is the vision of literature on slave trade and slavery in Arab-Muslin regions' Was there any opposition or resistance to slavery in this context' How does the process of abolition worked-out in the region' What are the cultural interactions and common heritage arising from this human tragedy' How African and Arab societies integrated and absorbed enslaved populations' What are the main contributions of the enslaved peoples to these societies' What are the trends and challenges with regard to the development of scientific research, heritage protection and museum initiatives in this domain today'Participants to this workshop will include different academic backgrounds, namely from Africa and the Arab-Islamic region, but also some eminent specialists around the world.
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