The Mayor of Accra, Madam Elizabeth Naa Kwatsoe Tawiah Sackey, has signed the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Book Capital Network (WBCN) charter.
The Charter, which was created with UNESCO’s assistance and the support of 15 World Book Capital (WBC) cities, including Accra, Antwerp, Athens, Buenos Aires, Guadalajara, Incheon, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid, Montreal, Ljubljana, Strasbourg, Sharjah, Tbilisi, Turin and Wroclaw, aims to use the expertise and dedication of member cities to develop collaborative projects and programmes that will support the world.
Madam Sackey, who signed the charter on behalf of the City of Accra, reiterated the AMA’s commitment to working hand in hand with member cities to ensure a successful title year.
She encouraged Ghanaians in the book industry to continue reading and writing books.
The International Coordinator of UNESCO, World Book Capital, Ian Denilson, said the network of WBC cities aimed to foster collaboration between cities and partner organizations to increase public awareness of culture, books and literature and to improve the network’s capacity to better address global challenges. He added that the idea to foster a community of readers originated from former WBC cities which were enthusiastic about the programme.
He said Accra was selected as the 2023 WBC due to the sustainability of its programme to equip young people with reading and marketable skills while promoting the rich cultural legacy of Ghana and the country’s book industry.
He praised the mayor of Accra for her dedication to promoting reading in Accra and expressed the hope that by the end of the year, all of the targeted cities would have ratified the Charter.
Accra was chosen to hold the title in 2023, succeeding Guadalajara (Mexico) in 2022, ahead of places Budapest (Hungary), Jakarta (Indonesia), Constanta (Romania) and Saint-Marc (Haiti).
Dzifa Hukporti, ISD
