Re|founding cultural heritage law in sub-Saharan Africa

This meeting will bring together 18 authors from nine (09) African countries selected to contribute to a research project entitled “Re|founding cultural heritage law in sub-Saharan Africa”. This unprecedented project aims to produce a reference work on cultural heritage law in Africa, based on the observation that no such work yet exists, and that jurists interested in issues relating to heritage protection remain relatively unknown, particularly in the African region.

Its ambition is therefore to highlight the original principles of African legal systems for heritage conservation, through the work of a young generation of jurists, and to create a network of African experts on these topics.

Scientific responsibility for this research project has been entrusted to Professor Vincent NEGRI of the Institut des Sciences sociales du politique / ISP - ENS Paris-Saclay, and will focus on five major themes: 

• A history of heritage policies and rights in sub-Saharan Africa

• (Re)thinking heritage law in national legal systems today

• From heritage law to the right to heritage. Lessons from cultural rights
• Scope and limits of the reception of international standards relating to culture and heritage in national laws
• Building an African law on the return of cultural property.

The workshop to be held in Lomé represents a key stage in the production of this reference work, following a rigorous selection process begun in 2024. This meeting will consolidate the contributions of the authors, harmonize methodological approaches, establish definitive guidelines and lay the foundations for a lasting network of African experts in heritage law.

This initiative is part of UNESCO’s ongoing efforts to promote inclusive and sustainable cultural policies, in line with the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration, which recognizes culture as a “global public good”, and the objectives of MONDIACULT 2025. It also contributes to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and UNESCO’s Priority Africa Phare 3 program. 

The project enjoys the institutional support of ECOWAS, the Geneva Art Law Centre, the OHADA (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa) Ecole régionale supérieure de la magistrature, the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, UNIDROIT, and Senghor University of Alexandria.

The publication is scheduled for publication in 2026.