16 November 2020 marked the 75th anniversary of UNESCO’s founding in London. Education, Science and Culture are the tools needed to foster dialogue, mutual understanding and ensure the lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world. UNESCO's mission remains as vital as ever: to build the defences of peace in the minds of men & women. 

The #UNESCO75 campaign was a huge success: events and observances across the world demonstrated the extraordinary convening power of UNESCO. Activities and celebrations will continue throughout this 75th Anniversary year culminating in global celebrations at UNESCO's General Conference in November 2021.

An Early Day Motion was tabled by our local MP Patrick Grady congratulating UNESCO and specifically mentioning the Chair at the University of Glasgow. The full text of the EDM can be read here.  

The UNESCO RILA team marked the occasion with our event "Spotlight Eritrea". Eritreans make up a significant worldwide diaspora of people who have sought sanctuary and the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of this small country in the Horn of Africa is immense. We celebrated the culture of our friends and colleagues in Eritrean communities worldwide with a cultural and critical presentation which recognised Asmara World Heritage Site, which received designation in 2017, and other ancient sites in Eritrea. Research shows UNESCO World Heritage Sites contribute many of the Sustainable Development Goals, including  

  • SDG3 Good Health and Wellbeing student
  • SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities 
  • SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals

The event combined conversation with a traditional Eritrean coffee ceremony performed by Prof Alison Phipps, the ceremony by which peace is made or restored to families, communities and ethnic groups. Participants experienced the sounds and sights, but sadly not the smells(!) of this important cultural practice. After the event registered participants received a care package from the team so they could conduct their own coffee ceremony! 

Hyab Yohannes our UNESCO RILA PhD scholarship holder and Tesfalem Yemane, PhD student at Leeds University, led the discussion as Eritrean refugees and survivors of multiple wars. Discussions focused on the new war in Tigray, the ways in which music and ceremony can assist in peace building and on the World Heritage Site of Asmara, together with other sites of significance across Eritrea, which are not of the colonial period.    

Patrick Grady MP attended alongside delegates from the UK National Commission for UNESCO and participants called in from Pakistan to the USA. We were also delighted to host Ghirmay Andom and Andit Okbay, two of Eritrea’s leading musicians. Ghirmay provided some music for the event, even though it was 5am where he was in Delaware!   

'Life' by Ghirmay - the song reflects on life and love in exile.  

'Luwamey' - a true story of an Eritrean young girl, Luwam, marrying an Italian man. Luwam's father wrote the lyrics to his daughter who then asked Andit to change it to a song. 

And to round off a special day, a rainbow across the firth of forth!  

Alison and Hyab penned an article published in the Sunday National on 15 November to mark the contribution of Scottish UNESCO sites and the work of the UNESCO Chair. 

Hyab and fellow postgraduate students at University of Leeds are hosting a seminar series entitled “Decolonising Forced Migration: Political (Un)-Intelligibility, Reflexivity, & ‘Epistemological Agency’”. The first event is on 24th November at 3pm and will feature a discussion the fraught and contested concept of integration, the ways it is used in differing policy contexts worldwide, the hopes it embodies and the utopianism of its demands. For more information on the series see the UNESCO RILA Eventbrite site. 

Recordings of Spotlight Eritrea and select online events during 2020 will be made available on our events page in the coming weeks.  Please check back soon. 

Should you have any questions about any of our work, please contact us on unesco-rila@glasgow.ac.uk 

 

First published: 23 November 2020

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