Juba, South Sudan (PANA) - On the eve of South Sudan’s independence, UNESCO has called on the international community to act with a greater sense of urgency in supporting the development of a national education system, the UN body said in a press statement, released Tuesday in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The future of the World Heritage Convention ahead of its 40th anniversary next year and the growing challenges of heritage preservation were the key themes Monday at the opening addresses of the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee at UNESCO in Paris, France. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova will designate American actor, director and producer, Forest Whitaker, as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation, the UN organization said in a press statement from its headquarters in Paris, France, Thursday. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade has turned down requests to hold an international summit in Dakar against Françfriquea, insisting that the subject was too sensitive on the eve of the 2012 presidential election in the country, reliable sources told PANA here Thursday. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The Ivorian reggae star, Tiken Jah Fakoly, is holding an African week in France, marked among others by film screenings, book presentations and concerts. It will run till Saturday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has pledged its support for the development of the film industry in Nigeria, through the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), according to the agency's Director-General, Muhammad Nadada Umar. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has pledged its support for the development of the film industry in Nigeria, through the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), according to the agency's Director-General, Muhammad Nadada Umar. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – Forty-three dancers from 20 African countries on Friday evening put on a one-hour show as they crowned their two-month training at Ecole des Sables at Toubab Dialaw, about 50 km south of Dakar Full text...

Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - Internationally-renowned filmmaker and Mali's former minister of Culture, Cheick Oumar Sissoko, has been named chairman of the jury which will award prizes Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – Senegalese musicians Baaba Maal and Coumba Gawlo Seck will on Saturday attend the humanitarian concert dubbed "La nuit Africaine" (The African evening) at Stade de France in Paris, a statement made available to PANA said on Wednesday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Francis Gurry, on Wednesday announced a project to help musical artists in 11 West African countries to get paid for their work through a single, standardised registration system. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The number of students due to sit for the baccalaureate examination in Tunisia has reduced from 138,464 in 2010 to 126,767 this year, PANA reported. Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - The State University of Burundi and the Belgian Flemish Universities were due to launch later Tuesday a cooperation programme worth US$4.5 million over the next ten years, according to a statement from the Belgian Embassy in Bujumbura. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - Several African music stars, including Mali’s Mory Kante, Senegal's Baaba Maal, and Ivorian Alpha Blondy, are to feature in an African music night, slated for Saturday at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris, PANA learnt here Monday from the organizers. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – The remains of popular Mauritanian singer, Dimi Mint Sydatt Ould Abba, who died Saturday in Paris, France, were flown home Sunday, official sources revealed. Full text...

Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - Egypt's culture minister, Dr. Emad Abu Ghazi, affirmed here on Saturday that Egypt was seeking to enhance and build strong cultural ties with all African countries. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The chairman of the Pan-African Federation of Film-Directors (FEPACI), Gabonese producer and director, Charles Mensah died Friday in a private hospital in Libreville, the Gabonese capital, at the age of 63, a press release from the country's video and record Institute (IGIS) made available to PANA said. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - The Mauritanian government is to create a fund to support culture, youth and sports, one per cent of which will come from resources accruing from customs' revenues, the minister of culture, youth and sports, Mrs. Cissé Mint Cheikh El Boidé, announced Thursday. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade plans to make English language a compulsory subject in the country’s primary and secondary schools, as well as in vocational institutes. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The planned shooting of two movies in Tunisia by world-acclaimed movie star Antonio Banderas is expected to boost the country's image as a tourist and film destination, analysts said. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, will designate Chinese opera performer Zhang Jun as the UNESCO Artist for Peace for a period of two years. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - Three Brazilians -- businessman Nizan Guanaes, designer Oskar Metsavaht and artist Vik Muniz -- will be named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors for a period of two years by Director-General Irina Bokova at a ceremony on 27 May at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - A film devoted to the fight against discrimination against women in Congo, called the Boulistes, was presented in the Short Film Corner category of the International Film Festival in Cannes, France, PANA learnt Friday from the series producer, David Lawson. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - A film devoted to the fight against discrimination against women in Congo, called the Boulistes, was presented in the Short Film Corner category of the International Film Festival in Cannes, France, PANA learnt Friday from the series producer, David Lawson. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The Citizen Media Group of Senegal has been licensed to operate a television channel, to be called "Africa 7", according to a statement issued by the group here. Full text...

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - Museums can become attractive tourist destinations if they are renovated, the Director General of the National Museum of DR Congo, Joseph Ibongo, declared Tuesday in Kinshasa. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - More than 80 remarkable documentary items and collections from all parts of the world will be considered for inscription on the Memory of the World Register during a meeting of experts of the International Advisory Committee (IAC) of UNESCO’S Memory of the World Programme in Manchester, United Kingdom, from 22-25 May. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Tunis Municipal Theater on Saturday hosted the 2011 Albert Londres awards ceremony in tribute to the 14 JanuaryTunisian revolution that toppled the regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malians are thuis weekend paying tribute to their celebrated writer and researcher, Amadou Hampaté Bâ, as they mark the 20th anniversary of his passing with a series of activities including an artistes' night, a roundtable and exhibition. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) – Two books written by Amadou Mathar MBow, the former Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), have been published by Harmattan, the publishing house announced on Wednesday in Paris. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The Chadian filmmaker, Mahamat Saleh Haroun is the only African member of the jury of the 64th edition of the Cannes Cinema Festival in France, due to begin Wednesday. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - More than 3,000 participants are expected from 1 to 5 June in Kayes, in western Mali, for the fifth International Festival of Rails (FIRKA), PANA learnt from the organizers. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - Remarkable natural and cultural properties from 40 countries will be considered for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during the meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Paris, France, between 19 and 29 June, a news release made available to PANA said Thursday. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - An international symposium will be held from 10 to 12 May in Dakar, Senegal, as part of the celebrations marking the 90th birthday anniversary of the former Director General of UNESCO, Amadou-Makhtar Mbow of Senegal, the first Vice-Chairman of the Organising Committee, General Muhammadu Mansour Seck, announced here Wednesday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, was agog all day Saturday as Lagosians from all walks of life gathered on the major streets to participate in this year’s carnival, PANA reported from here. Full text...

Lome, Togo (PANA) - Togolese Kanan Maleki, a 25-year-old history student, has won the second annual Griot National Festival held in Pagouda, northern Togo, PANA learned Friday in Lome from cultural sources. Full text...

Ziguinchor, Senegal (PANA) - A major sub-regional Festival for Peace, bringing together young people from Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, kicked off Thursday in the town of Sindian, a village in the Casamance (southern Senegal), on the border with Gambia, PANA reported from here. Full text...

Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - World renowned reggae star, Alpha Blondy of Cote d'Ivoire, on Thursday condemned the concept of "Ivorite" or "Ivonianness", which, according to him, has been the source of all ills in his country for over a decade. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – A national development plan for intellectual property (PNDPI), covering the period 2011-2015, will soon be unveiled in Senegal, according to an official of the ministry of Mines, Industry, Food-processing and Small and Medium-seized companies, Emmanuel René Moïse. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said in Dakar on Friday that the newly-inaugurated National Theatre in his country would allow the revisit of the history of Africa and the world. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Kéba Mbaye Foundation has awarded the Kéba Mbaye Award for Ethics to the Malian President, Amadou Toumani Touré, for making his country an exemplary democracy, according to a communiqué from the Malian presidency on Tuesday. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - Sudanese actor and theatre director, Ali Mahdi Nouri, and French professor, Cherif Khaznadar, have been awarded the 2010 UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture, according to a statement from the UN agency in Paris, France. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisia and France on Saturday in Tunis signed an agreement, tagged the “Tunis Declaration”, to strengthen cultural cooperation between the two countries. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Senegalese singer Marie Ndiaye Ndèye Gawlo died Thursday morning in Dakar after a brief illness, PANA learnt from sources. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - Sudanese Minister of Culture, Samaouel Khalifalla, arrived Wednesday in Nouakchott for a visit aimed at strengthening the cultural cooperation between the two countries. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - A 2.3-metre high sculpture of the famous Franco-American artist, Armand-Pierre Fernandez, nicknamed Arman, will be offered to Senegal as part of the Léopold Sédar Senghor Museum, the donor of the work, French historian, Gérard Bosio, told PANA here Monday. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mali is not participating in the Paris Tourism Fair which opened Thursday, at the Porte de Versailles, to protest against the decision by France banning its nationals from traveling to some Malian regions considered as "dangerous", PANA learnt here from the Malian Ministry of Crafts and Tourism. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - Authors drawn from countries within the Congo Basin featured prominently at the 2011 edition of the Paris Book Exhibition that ended Monday in the French capital, PANA reported from here. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), José Endundo Bononge, that the government had suspended prospecting for oil at the Virunga National Park, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, has called for the mobilization of all of the Organization’s partners to ensure the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Full text...