WE, the Ministers responsible for Arts, Culture and Heritage from the following African Union (AU) Member States, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Republic of Congo, Egypt, The Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda , Zambia and Zimbabwe met virtually on Wednesday 27 May 2020 in a Forum chaired by H.E. Lai Mohamed, Minister of Information and Culture of Nigeria and 2nd Vice-Chairperson of the 3rd Specialized Technical Committee on Youth, Culture and Sport (STC-YCS3) and H.E. Amira Elfadil, Commissioner for Social Affairs. The Virtual Forum was aimed at discussing the impact of COVID-19 Pandemic to the arts, culture and heritage sector and urgent actions to support the sector on the continent in line with the AU Continental Strategy in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Virtual Forum was also attended by the Director of the Africa CDC, the Minister of Labour and Employment of Algeria, the President of the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM Bank), AU Commission staff members and Observers.

RECOGNISING the crucial and essential role that the arts, culture and heritage sector can play in assisting Member States in curbing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the socio-economic and cultural landscape of the continent as enshrined in major continental policy instruments including the AU Agenda 2063, the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance, the AU Plan of Action on Cultural and Creative Industries, the AU Model Law on the Protection of Cultural Property and Heritage and the global instruments such as the UN Agenda 2030;

NOTING WITH CONCERN that the COVID-19 pandemic had a sudden and substantial negative impact on the arts, culture and heritage sector;

CONCERNED that most cultural institutions have been indefinitely closed (or at least with their services radically curtailed, exhibitions, events and performances cancelled or postponed); FURTHER CONCERNED that the closure of heritage sites and related cultural infrastructure, the cancellation or postponement of events, and the interruption of cultural production will have significant economic and social consequences for the cultural and creative industries sector on the continent;

AWARE that the impact of the crisis will further weaken the professional, social and economic conditions of artists and cultural professionals, particularly in the areas of crafts, music, audiovisual and cinema, fashion and design, museums and performing arts.

HAVING deliberated on the current status of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the arts, culture and heritage sector, HEREBY COMMIT OURSELVES TO:

1. ADVOCATE AND SENSITIZE artists, actors, and musicians to use creative ways and means to continue producing arts and culture including the use of online/virtual and TV platforms for music concerts, fashion and design shows, visual arts webinars, cultural and creative industries hubs amongst other.

2. ADVOCATE for heritage experts and African world heritage site managers to continue promoting and disseminating information on African sites of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) through online/virtual platforms and interactive programmes.

3. ADVOCATE for cultural workers to be in the fore front of the fight of the COVID-19 Pandemic by using their art as a powerful tool for dissemination of key messages originated from the Ministries of Health, Africa CDC and W.H.O related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

4. SET OUT cultural and creative industry schemes and provide where possible emergency funds to rescue the cultural workers, with a view for them to continue producing cultural goods and services as it is already being done in some AU Member States;

5. EXPLORE FURTHER the schemes to be provided by the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM Bank) through its strategy for the support of the cultural and creative industries sector which amongst other looks into positioning Africa’s creative enterprises as attractive commercial assets and viable components of global investment portfolios.

6. COMMISSION a desktop survey on the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural and creative industries sector including the heritage sector with a view to identify the main issues to inform national and continental intervention strategies to curb the impact of COVID-19 on the sector.

7. CONTINUE sharing best practices to inform policy development and curb the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Arts, Culture and Heritage Sector on the continent.

8. EXPRESSgratitudetotheAfricanUnionCommission(AUC)forhaving organized the Virtual Forum of Ministers responsible for Arts, Culture and Heritage which was very informative and enable us to establish synergies in fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Done on the 27th Day of May 2020