i. Mrs Nawel Dahmani, Director of Prospective Studies, Documentation and IT within the Ministry of Culture, Algeria, and Chairperson of the GMA Technical and Advisory Committee;

i. Distinguished Members of the Technical and Advisory Committee of the Great Museum of Africa representing Algeria, Cameroun, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa;

ii. Esteemed Resource Persons, representative of UNESCO, representative of the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and Independent Cultural and Heritage Experts;

iii. Representatives of the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the Diplomatic Mission of Algeria in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m honoured to welcome you to the 6th Meeting of the Technical and Advisory Committee of the Great Museum of Africa (GMA) and Permanent Memorial of Slave Trade, a Flagship Project of the African Union Agenda 2063.

On behalf of H.E. Amira Elfadil, Commissioner for Social Affairs and the AU Commission I wish at the onset to express our gratitude to all of you for your continued contribution and engagement in the process of the establishment of the Great Museum of Africa thus far and also for your participation in this 6th Meeting Technical and Advisory Committee of the GMA.
Allow me to start by thanking the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria for confirming the new Chairperson for this important committee Madam Nawel Dahmani, you are welcome and we wish also to express our gratitude to Mr. Faycal Ouaret , former Chairperson of the committee for the work achieved under his leadership. We hope that under your leadership Madam Nawel, we will continue making greater strides in the achievement of this aspiration of our continent – the establishment of the Great Museum of Africa.

Allow me also to welcome the representatives of Kenya and UNESCO to the Technical and Advisory Committee of the GMA. We look forward to your support and unwavering contribution to the process of establishment of the GMA.

As you are aware, the main objectives of this two days meeting, are to:
i. Discuss the status of the Great Museum of Africa Public Consultation ;
ii. Discuss the status of the clearance of the Host Agreement between the AUC and Algeria;
iii. Brainstorm on the organization and launch of the Continental Exhibition at the Great Museum of Africa Temporary Site (Villa Du Traite) as part of the year of Arts, Culture and Heritage 2021;
iv. Review the 3rd Draft of the Statute of the Great Museum of Africa.
Ladies and Gentlemen

As per the work achieved in your 5th Meeting, the Comprehensive Project Document to establish GMA has been completed and it incorporated inputs from various stakeholders and processes. I believe the information collected through the public consultation will add value to the project establishment mainly its operationalization and it will also provide wider ownership of the project by the AU Member States and Pan-African Cultural Institutions.

The agreement between AUC and the host country Algeria is very crucial for the realization of this AUC flagship project. I am aware that the agreement has been finalized and it should be signed by both parties in the near future.

I am also informed that the preparations of the 1st continental exhibition to be hosted in Algeria at the Villa du Trait - the temporary structure of the GMA in 2021 are underway. I call upon the Technical and Advisory Committee to look carefully into this issue and plan accordingly to ensure that the exhibition is launched in 2021 as part of the year of arts, culture and heritage whose theme has been approved by the Executive Council as: ‘Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want’. This exhibition is crucial for AUC because it will directly support the theme of the year.

We hope that by early 2021 Members of the Technical and Advisory Committee of the GMA will be able to visit Algiers to be able to assess the art works that Algeria has in store from all AU Member States since the organization of the 2nd Pan African Cultural Festival held in 2009. The visit will also enable the comprehensive planning of the launch of the GMA at Villa Du Traite, the temporary site of the Great Museum of Africa.

Before I conclude, I should take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who have tirelessly worked to make sure the Great Museum of Africa (GMA) documents are completed and ready for the realization of this AU Agenda 2063, Flagship Project.

THANK YOU!