Addis Ababa, Febuary 09 2019: The Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission Amb. Kwesi Quartey has received a donation about 22,000 books from “Books for Africa” organization. Under the theme “Promoting Reading Culture in Africa”, the books on various disciplines will enrich the resource capacity of the African Union Commission library and greatly impact the quality of its knowledge products. The African Union Commission library is a resource centre for the staff of the Commission, AU Organs and the member states.
While receiving the donation from Mr. Jote Tadesse, the President of the Board of Books for Africa, the Deputy Chairperson noted that books are a great resource that Africa urgently needs as the continent seeks quality education and skills training for its citizenry. “Books are a capital resource. The more they are used, the more they add value into the lives of the readers. If your child can on his own get lost in a book, your future is crowned”, the Deputy Chairperson stated adding that while the donation of money gets exhausted, books add more value as they are used and re-used. “Education brings with it freedom and liberation. That is why education and slavery are not compatible. In the days of slavery it was a capital offence punishable by death, to teach a slave to read and write”, he concluded.

AU Commission Director of Strategic Policy Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Resource Mobilization Mr. Mesfin Tessema, on his part, described the donation as a great human intellectual capital output noting that users of the AU Commission library would be inspired to conceive thought provoking ideas and be able to develop a vision for themselves, for their nations and the world, at large. He added, “To me the brightest side of this world is the lives enjoyed by those who are educated and enlightened, and having unlimited access to development opportunities; such opportunities are attained through reading and research. Unfortunately, however, this is not the case for the majority of Africans, as most still lack access to books, the main sources of knowledge and wisdom, thus struggling to survive on the darkest side of this world.”

Mr. Jote Tadesse underscored the commitment of the “Books for Africa” organization to upscale engagements with Africa to complement the efforts to address the knowledge resource deficit that still exists. The organization has over the years donated books bilaterally to member states. “Our goal is to walk with Africa and to support in providing resource materials that would help the continent achieve its vision to develop the human capital.”

The Deputy Chairperson was joined by Prof. Sarah Anyang Agbor, AU Commissioner for Human Resources Science and Technology, Directors, Heads of Division and staff members to receive the donation. The books cover a wide spectrum on social and political sciences; human resource management; economics; medicine; law; university level text books and references.

For media inquiries, contact:
Mrs. Wynne Musabayana | Head of Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org
Mr.Stephen Kwaku Darko| Information and Communications Officer, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission | Tel: +251(0) 953406832 | E-mail: DarkoS@africa-union.org
For further information contact
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dic@africa-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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