New Zealand contributes €100,000 to future OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology
ChemTech Centre will provide leading-edge facilities and strengthen implementation of Chemical Weapons Convention
In the picture the Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Lyndal Walker, and OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — 6 May 2021 — The Government of New Zealand has contributed a further €100,000 to a special Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Trust Fund to support the construction of a new facility, the OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology (“ChemTech Centre”).
The contribution was formalised during a ceremony between the Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Lyndal Walker, and OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, which was held yesterday at OPCW Headquarters in The Hague.
Ambassador Walker stated: ““New Zealand is proud to contribute a further €100,000 to the construction of the new OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology. Our total contribution of €200,000 demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to disarmament and our strong support for the OPCW’s vital role as the world’s chemical weapons watchdog. The new Centre will enable the OPCW to future-proof its work, respond to the concerning re-emergence of chemical weapons, and enhance international cooperation. We look forward to construction starting soon on this important project.”
The Director-General expressed: “I am grateful to the Government of New Zealand for its further support to the ChemTech Centre project – a new leading-edge facility that will ensure the OPCW remains adequately prepared and robustly equipped to address future challenges for the Chemical Weapons Convention. The project is progressing swiftly as construction is scheduled to begin this summer.”
Both delegations during the ceremony.
Director-General Arias also thanked all the OPCW States Parties and other donors that have supported the project to date. He emphasised the important role the new ChemTech Centre will play in strengthening the OPCW’s ability to address threats from chemical weapons use and enhance capacity building activities to the benefit of all 193 Member States.
So far, 47 countries, the European Union, and four other donors have contributed or pledged to contribute financially to the ChemTech Centre project, and €33.6M has been raised.
States Parties are encouraged to continue participating in this important project. Further voluntary contributions will be used to finance equipment and activities related to International Cooperation and Assistance involving the ChemTech Centre.
A new important meeting took place between representatives of the European Union and officials and business people of Canada. The third meeting of the bilateral dialogue focused on raw materials established under the strengthening of CETA opportunities took place.
The deepening on new opportunities and synergies was born following the analysis of the economic sector on the mechanisms of raw materials after the spread of the health pandemic. Particular importance was given to recovery and recycling models related to raw materials and how to jointly affect climate and environmental protection.
Both sides expressed a strong interest in establishing stable relationships on common interests through the mutual integration of their respective commodity chains, cooperation in Research and Innovation, levelling of environmental, social and governance criteria. Further impetus to the opportunities of the CETA agreement was achieved as a result of the common vision to look forward to the EU-US-Japan Trilateral Conference on Critical Materials as an important forum to address global challenges related to raw materials and criticality analysis with countries sharing environmental and social concerns.
The recent opening of the EU-U.S.-Japan Conference on Critical Materials to Canada and Australia is an important step in ensuring greater coordination activity between Canada and Europe in the immediate future. Canada is among the largest per capita producers and consumers of energy in the world. Its prosperity and competitiveness in the energy sector are linked to achieving sustainable economic growth and a transition to a low-carbon future.
Canada’s energy industries operate in free markets, where investment by Canadian and foreign companies ensures an efficient, competitive and innovative energy system. International energy trade is a vital part of the Canadian economy. In 2018, Canada traded energy with 165 countries, totaling C$132.2 billion in exports and C$50.5 billion in imports. The country has a wide variety of energy resources, producing primary energy, from crude oil (45%), natural gas (33%), hydroelectricity (7%), coal (6%), other renewables (4%), natural gas liquids (4%) and nuclear power (2%). In 2018, Canada ranked third in global crude oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. 96% of Canadian reserves are concentrated in the oil sands, whose production in 2018 (2.91 million barrels per day) has exceeded conventional oil production (1.64 million barrels per day) since 2010. In 2018, Canadian coal production reached 63.3 million tons, of which 34 million tons were for export.
Currently, nearly 20% of Canada’s total energy supply comes from renewable sources. Canada has 7% of the world’s renewable freshwater with a hydroelectric capacity of 80,764 megawatts, available to a population that represents only 0.5% of the world’s population. The mining industry has a considerable weight in the Canadian economy, and is supported by a great diversity of resources: there are over 60 metals and minerals present in the territory that make up the great geological endowment of the country. Thanks to its rich resources Canada is a world producer of uranium and cobalt, aluminum and tungsten, with important resources of platinum, sulfur and titanium, nickel and diamonds. Fifty-seven percent of the world’s mining companies are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
These dynamics have generated an important debate between Europe and Canada regarding the development of the R&I sector along the commodity value chain. In Canada, the main elements of the research strategy for the commodity value chain want to explore how best to strengthen research and innovation cooperation with European research. The important meeting that took place between the representatives of the European Union and the institutional and business realities of Canada focused on the dynamics of sustainability and innovation characterizing the interaction with stakeholders, in particular on four topics: increased investment; environment and social license to operate with responsible extraction of raw materials; common procedures and jurisprudence and innovation processes.
Stakeholders believe it is essential to work on an economic system that follows the principles of green economy, digital and climate neutrality. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the health pandemic, the date of the next dialogue meeting has not been set precisely, and will take place in mid-2021.
IOM the Netherlands is launching virtual counselling support for migrants considering return to 10 selected countries. Direct contact with our staff in countries of origin makes it possible for them to exchange information in their native tongue. Also, reliable and up-to-date information can be shared on diverse topics such as housing, medical support and economic possibilities.
The virtual component of the return support is an addition to the existing counselling offered by our staff in the Netherlands. Next to information about the current situation in the country of return, migrants can be informed in advance about the post-arrival assisted voluntary return and reintegration procedures. This way, both the migrant and IOM can manage expectations and prevent misconceptions. Moreover, it gives migrants the opportunity to make a well-informed decision about their return.
The concept of virtual counselling was introduced last year by IOM Germany. Learning from their positive experiences, we will make virtual counselling available to all migrants from the selected countries who are considering return from the Netherlands starting in April. IOM staff in the selected countries of origin are currently being trained in this new way of counselling.
For now, virtual counselling will be offered to migrants from Algeria, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinee Conakry, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam. They will receive information on how to contact the virtual counsellor via our counselling team in the Netherlands, once they have indicated their interest in voluntary return. Contact with the country of origin can be established together with the Dutch IOM counsellor or independently.
“Good ICT staff is hard to find; and once you do find someone, the turnover rate is high. People have another job offer in no time,” says Guido Geerts, CEO of Delft Imaging Systems. Guido supports our MATCH project, aimed at supporting Dutch companies from all sectors that have struggled for years to find the right staff.
The pandemic has been a source of challenge, but also innovation for the MATCH project team. While the physical relocation of highly skilled employees from Senegal and Nigeria is near-impossible under current travel restrictions, Dutch companies have responded positively to the project’s offering to support remote work and upskilling.
As the world adjusts to working-from-home arrangements and online meetings, remote work is becoming more and more appealing to Dutch companies who want to tap into highly skilled talent pools within Africa, and who want to establish a stronger foothold for themselves.
The MATCH project recently supported a Dutch company active in seed and agriculture technologies. They struggled to find the right staff member through their own recruitment efforts, and so MATCH stepped in to find their ideal candidate from a pool of thousands of highly skilled Nigerians.
“This is a win:win:win arrangement” confirms Mia McKenzie, MATCH focal point for the Netherlands: “The company was looking for an extremely specific profile, and we made it happen. Now this successful candidate is receiving a 6-month training in Senegal and will return to Nigeria to build the Dutch company’s base there. Through MATCH, the company benefits from highly skilled staff and the recruit now has a promising career path ahead of him. Also, Nigeria is going to reap the rewards of competence that the recruit will return from Senegal with – not to mention the possibilities for further recruitments once this Dutch company scales up its business in Nigeria.”
The project’s aim to bring together African and European expertise, which is interesting for Dutch companies looking to grow their business outside of Europe. Many Dutch companies are making the most of this time of international travel restrictions to recruit, upskill, network and enjoy the benefits of remote recruitment. We can hardly wait to see what the rest of 2021 has in store.
__________________
To learn more about the MATCH project, click here. Interested in discussing your company’s recruitment needs, or to organize a matchmaking session with candidates, please contact Mia McKenzie: mmckenzie@iom.int
Her Majesty Queen Máxima had a number of online digital meetings with government representatives of the Togolese Republic on April 22. The meetings concerned digital inclusive finance and the role it will play in economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. Queen Máxima is the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).
In recent years Togo has undergone positive changes when it comes to inclusive finance. This is partly thanks to mobile banking. In the period 2011 to 2017 the number of people aged 16 or over with a bank account rose from 10% to 45% (Global Findex 2017). In response to effects of the corona pandemic Togo recently launched the Novissi emergency cash transfer scheme, which has so far provided an estimated 820,000 people with financial help. The entire process – from applying for financial support, providing identification and assessing applications to transferring funds to a bank account – takes place digitally.
Queen Máxima spoke with a number of key figures including the Prime Minister of Togo, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbé, Minister of Economy and Finance Sani Yaya, Minister of the Digital Economy and Digital Transformation Cina Lawson and Minister for Financial Inclusion and the Informal Economy Mazamesso Assih. The subjects they discussed included completing the National Strategy on Inclusive Financing and improving access to digital financial services for disadvantaged groups, such as women and residents of remote rural areas. Togo is one of the eight members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The other members are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger and Senegal.
The African continent is one of Queen Máxima’s priority areas as UNSGSA. In early March she spoke with President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, who was previously also Chairperson of the African Union (Government Information Service news item no. 56 ). In January she paid a virtual visit to Senegal (Government Information Service news item no. 13) and spoke with Governor Tiémoko Meyliet Koné of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), which serves the countries of the WAEMU.
Thursday, 29 April 2021, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany: The Russian Federation Ambassador to Germany, Sergej Jurjewitsch Netschajew paid a working visit to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, wherein he encountered the Bundesland’s head of government Manuela Schwesig.
Together they visited the Nord Stream2 facility, and answered journalists’ questions in the town of Lubmin.
Premier Manuela Schwesig defended the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline against political criticism, and highlighted the economic benefits and suitability for the region.
Ambassador Sergej Netschajew mentioned during the press conference that he expected the pipeline to be completed in 2021. The talks with Schwesig were mainly about regional cooperation, a planned Russia Day at the beginning of June and remembrance culture.
The almost completed gas pipeline will one day transport 55 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year from Russia to Germany, and is constantly the subject of political discussions.
In the course of his working visit to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Ambassador Netschajew alongside Premier Manuela Schwesig, partook in a memorial ceremony in the city of Greifswald, laying wreaths at the Soviet memorial commemorating the town’s surrender to the then Red Army.
By Mohammed Karim, currently a diplomatic Protocol Manager at Expo Dubai 2020.
The capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi, now more than ever before, serves as the political capital of the Middle East.
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince is admired by everyone in the UAE. Under his political leadership, Abu Dhabi is on a role to stabilizing diplomatic relations between various nations. Abu Dhabi initiated the momentous Abraham Accords of 2020, normalizing diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel. Beyond the latter, Abu Dhabi has strengthened its diplomatic ties with military powers such as Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia to build a fortress for the region.
Furthermore, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), which invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi, has financially helped and developed many neighboring countries and international businesses through heavy investments to further establish Abu Dhabi as the political capital of the Middle East.
Abu Dhabi played pivotal roles in many political events to stabilize diplomatic relations between nations. In September 2020, Abu Dhabi worked with the U.S. to move Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE towards signing the Abraham Accords. This agreement formally normalized diplomatic relations, exchanged embassies and ambassadors between nations, and began international collaboration in many areas including trade, technology, mobility, sustainability, education, healthcare, tourism, and security. Not only that, Abu Dhabi have kicked off a historic project named ‘The Abrahamic Family House”, that will have a church, a mosque and a synagogue all side by side creating a beautiful landmark of peace, tolerance and solidarity.
Abu Dhabi’s role in the Abraham accords agreement has far-reaching implications for trade and financial success of many people across the entire Middle East. A day after the Abraham Accords were signed, Emirates Airlines announced plans to add new flight routes between the UAE and nations signing the agreement by conveniently and directly flying between newly connected nations, business owners will be able to generate more international commercial opportunities within the Middle East. In addition, immediately after the Abraham Accords were signed, UAE’s DP World signed agreements with companies located in other nations to establish direct trade routes across international borders.
Analogous to the Abraham Accords, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi has been proactively mediating between Pakistan & India. Both nations are great allies of the UAE and the population of both Pakistanis and Indians constitute to nearly 15% of the UAE’s total population. It is vital for both great countries to come in peace for a more developed, economic driven & a secure region, away from cold wars and closer to hot business negotiations.
Since the Founding Father of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi had also maintained strong diplomatic relations with many world leaders, and in particular the Arab leaders since the 1960’s. Sheikh Zayed’s investment at the time had led to the UAE’s successes now politically and economically.
Egypt is an example of one of the UAE’s allies since the rule of the founding father. Now, MBZ & Egypt have formed very solid ties, focused on economic development and military relations. “The Promised Land” a book by former U.S. President Barrack Obama analyzed MBZ highly as per his one-to-one experience… “Young, sophisticated … and perhaps the savviest leader in the Gulf”. In addition, Obama reminisces that MBZ did not dither when it came to defending Egypt and Bahrain, having their backs as he shares a strong alliance with those nations.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi alongside his brother, HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE, visited Egypt in 2019 to boost economic development and serve the mutual interests of both nations. In addition, new partnerships through military firms such as IDEX helped Abu Dhabi and Egypt strengthen military defense ties, with the two nations practicing joint military drills since 2015.
A paragon of how MBZ shares a stark solidarity with the region is the recent incident wherein several senior Jordanian officials were arrested on security grounds for attempting to destabilize Jordanian government. In response, MBZ telephoned King Abdullah II of Jordan to reassure him that Abu Dhabi will support Jordan, and reject any menace destabilizing Jordan and endangering the safety of its people. In addition, the UAE’s media immediately released a 100-year strong alliance of both nations, that are bound to achieve more successes.
Further a conquest for world peace; the UAE insisted in having every nation to be part of the world EXPO 2020 that will be hosted in Dubai from October 2021. Nations that do not have a set budget for such a vast event have been aided by the government of the UAE, assisting them in building their own country pavilions for the vast event. The purpose of such a generous offer is to bring every nation on earth, to one joyful event, hosted by the UAE. A sign for world peace.
This year, the first day of Ramadan, the Vice President of the UAE, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also started a campaign of 100 million meals to the needy around the world. The food distributions started within the region, beginning with Jordan, Pakistan and Egypt and that would moreover expand to all nations around the world. The East being succored first allows World Leaders within the region maintain and strengthen relations with the UAE far away from the political world. Another example of such regional aid, was provided to Iran, a nation that serves as a threat by many sources within the region. During the early stages of the COVID 19 pandemic, the UAE sent 16 tons of medical aid to Iran. at a time where humanity came before the realm of politics.
It may seem surprising that the UAE only became a nation in the year 1971. For being in such a young nation, Abu Dhabi leads the entire Middle East politically – leading nations whose histories go back to ancient historical times. Since 2014, MBZ has led Abu Dhabi through many events that put Abu Dhabi on the political map as the rising capital of the Middle East.
By H.E. Prof Kristina Sinemus, Hessian Minister of Digital Strategy and Development.
“Too big to care” – this is how Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market, described the problem: Digital platforms with considerable market power exercise control over whole platform ecosystems.
They act as “gatekeepers” by limiting access to digital markets for smaller businesses and start-ups. The dependency of many businesses on these gatekeepers often leads to unfair practices. This is why the European Commission presented the Digital Markets Act in December 2020, which is currently being debated in the European Parliament and the Council.
The aim of the new regulation is to enable all market players to operate in a fair digital ecosystem.
Indeed, the time is ripe for a new European framework that ensures fair competition on the Internal Market irrespective of the market power of the platform on the one hand but leaves sufficient room for innovation on the other hand.
Platforms significantly change the way our economies and industries have traditionally been organised. They are the bedrock of future value creation systems. They are already part of our daily lives – be it as a social networking platform, marketplace or content platform. The European Commission estimates there are over 10 000 online platforms operating in Europe’s digital economy.
A recent study by the German Bundesnetzagentur – the authority ensuring compliance with the Telecommunications Act, Postal Act and Energy Act in Germany – confirms their importance for our economy and SMEs in particular. Between March and August 2020, during the Bundesnetzagentur’s public consultation a total of 210 business customers reported on their experience with marketing and sales activities via digital platforms in Germany. Nearly three quarters of business customers felt they would have considerable difficulties competing successfully in the German market without the use of digital platforms. Overall, half of business customers assume they would not even be able to exist on the market without digital platforms.
Against this background, it is worrying that only 12 out of the 100 biggest platforms in the world are European. Europe is dramatically lagging behind!
It is urgent and important for Europe’s digital sovereignty that it strengthen its platform economy. New innovative platforms and digital services must increasingly be created in Germany and Europe. We have a strong industrial base in Hesse and Germany, and many innovative companies in the information and communications technology sector, for which platforms are becoming increasingly important.
This is why the European Commission’s proposal for a Digital Markets Act is so important. The proposed regulation is designed to ensure contestable and fair markets in the digital sector by providing regulatory safeguards throughout the European Union against unfair behaviour by very large gatekeeper platforms towards other providers and clients with less market power. I fully support this vision: by creating the right regulatory framework, we allow smaller platforms and start-ups to enter the market and to grow, strengthening our European platform economy in the process.
At the same time, we ensure fair market conditions for all companies on the Internal Market, in particular SMEs that need platform services for their business. However, we must strike the right balance. Yes, we need to tame the gatekeepers.
Big platforms must not be “too big to care”. They have to respect European rules. However, we must not over regulate either. We need to avoid burdensome requirements that could hamper innovation. The behavioural obligations set by the Digital Markets Act should be complemented by a general clause that gives a certain flexibility regarding new business models and behaviour in order to make the new regulation future-proof.
By HHSheikha Intisar AlSabah. Founder and Chairwoman of Intisar Foundation, member of Kuwait’s Ruling House.
Trauma is a consequence of being exposed to an experience that exceeds one’s ability to cope with or integrate the emotions involved, leaving long-term negative consequences on the brain.[1] Another explanation that I also appreciate is that it is a rupture[2] in meaning making, a discrepancy between appraised and global meaning of a situation that affects the person’s sense of the world as meaningful and their own life as worthwhile.[3]
There are many potential causes of trauma over our lifetime, but wars definitely create a wide variety of traumatic events that result in many people developing different types and degrees of post-traumatic and/or mental disorders. The World Health Organisation states that 1 in 11 (9%) people who have experienced war or other conflict in the previous 10 years, will have a moderate or severe mental disorder, and that 1 in 5 (22%) people living in an area affected by conflict is estimated to have depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.[4]
I fall into a sub-category of people who were left with anger and violent feelings, even towards my children, after living through the state of war and all other traumatic events that happened in connection to it. I still remember that my every waking minute was consumed with fear of everything and everyone.
I also fall into a sub-category of people who consider themselves healed from it.
I know that I am not alone in this unusual box of how I choose to describe myself for the purpose of this article, but sadly, I also believe that the box is not crowded.
How did I get to this? To begin with, I was one of many who received the traditional humanitarian aid response which, until this day, includes the delivery of human, medical, food, shelter, water sanitation, and hygiene resources, but not any kind of psychological support – neither in the immediate aftermath of the traumatic experience I went through, nor later.
Over the years, I have been blessed with faith, mindset, willpower, and perseverance to subject myself to psychological support that has enabled me to eventually fulfill all the parameters of how mental health is defined today.[5]
Yet, whenever I sit in a meeting to discuss psychological support programmes for women affected by war and to explore how these are linked to Peacebuilding, I cannot help but wonder how different my life would have been if my psychological recovery had started much earlier than it actually did. In a split second, my mind starts listing the implications that this lack of timely and adequate mental health care back then, as well as for many years later, had on my psychological wellbeing and, for instance, on the wellbeing of my children.
However, I am not talking only from personal experience when I say that a person traumatised by the brutality of war and violence can rebuild their lives, revitalise their families, and spread peace in their communities, in a very short period of time – if and when given proper psychological support.
In 2021, I have evidence that further supports us advocating the inclusion of psychological support programmes to people, and especially women, affected by war into international humanitarian aid and all our peacebuilding efforts, including international and national war and disaster preparedness and emergency plans.
Source: A pilot study conducted by Intisar Foundation in Shatila Refugee Camp in Lebanon between 2019 and 2020 using psychometric scales.
The international community has been exploring innovative ways in which international organisations, donors, governments, and local non-governmental organizations can contribute to better conflict prevention and management, Peacebuilding and reconciliation.
However, one formula is simple but easily overlooked – offering immediate mental health support to survivors of war, and especially women among them, is the innovationin Peacebuilding that we need. Therefore, we must make mental health support an integral part of international humanitarian aid and any international and national war and disaster preparedness and emergency plans.
We must do it because, in 2021, we know that, if not treated, mental health issues increase with age and deprive war and disaster-affected populations of ever fully perceiving a future of Peace, stability, and hope for themselves and their families.[6]
We must do it because, in 2021, we are sad to witness that many of the world’s emergencies have become longer-lasting and increasingly harder to address, exposing conflict and disaster-affected populations to years and decades of repeatedly experiencing psychological distress.[7]
Intisar Foundation has been supporting Arab women traumatised by war and violence with its culturally competent, neuroscience-based, and socially impactful psychological support programme based on drama therapy.
One of our current research projects analyses how tackling the psychological impact of trauma on women affected by war leads to their lower levels of aggression and higher impulse control at home, which then reduces the danger of them maltreating their children, and consequently, reduces the children developing any maladaptive behaviours that might lead to violence in the future. In this way, where there was conflict, we manage to raise Peaceful children.
Conclusion
The Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO declares that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.”
I would humbly add that “since our evidence shows that Peace begins in the minds of women, it is the minds of women that we need to support for Peace to flow forth to reach and affect all of humanity.”
By H.E. Mr. Yusuf Tuggar, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Germany.
The subject of restitution of Africa’s stolen cultural properties is not a new one; African countries like Nigeria have been calling for the return of such assets since they gained independence from colonial rule. The momentum the subject has gained of recent, is an attestation to the progress we have made as humans in recognising and observing universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, irrespective of race, sex, language or religion.
When Nigeria became independent in1960, many African countries were still under colonial bondage- Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa were ruled by racist regimes. It was as part of the struggle to liberate such countries that Nigeria hosted the Festival of Black & African Arts & Culture in 1977 (FESTAC ‘77). Culture was at the very centre of the struggle against colonialism because of the manner it was used to racially segregate people under colonial rule in sub-Saharan Africa.
African cultures and their memetic manifestations were considered inferior by colonial overlords. An epistemology was created that promised integration and social mobility to the ‘native’, if she or he abandoned her or his inferior culture and adopted that of the European overlord and mastered it.
Exclusive European living quarters were created that Africans could aspire to live in only if they abandoned their culture and traditions wholesale and adopted European ones. The educational system also emphasised this epistemology with a historiography that presented sub-Saharan Africa as tabula rasa with (to paraphrase Hegel) no history worth studying prior to contact with enlightened outsiders. Such an epistemological foundation to newly independent African nation-states made nation building for countries like Nigeria all the more challenging, even as they struggled to help liberate others.
But in most cases the best evidence to demonstrate to young Africans that African culture and history were neither inferior nor non-existent before contact with ‘enlightened outsiders’ was not available; it was in the possession of northern hemispheric museums and private collectors. Nigeria, the most populous African country with over 350 different languages (and the largest economy today), was not even allowed to borrow the famous Queen Idia mask to use as the symbol of FESTAC 77 from Britain. The mask was part of the huge loot stolen by British soldiers during the murderous attack on Benin City in 1897. Some of these items were sold on to museums in Germany that are today finally beginning to respond positively to Nigeria’s demand for their return.
Restitution has not been short of international legal premises over the last 50 years; the United Nations General Assembly, UNESCO, International Council of Museums (ICOM) have all enacted resolutions and conventions that were for the most part ignored. Although Germany was not a signatory to a 1970 UNESCO Convention prohibiting the export of cultural properties, in 1972, the German Bundesgerichtshof (Supreme Court) in Karlsruhe it upheld the provisions of the Convention as well as Nigerian domestic law in a decision on six bronze statues illegally shipped from Port Harcourt to Hamburg. The court maintained that the UNESCO Convention was representative of international public policy and “the export of cultural property contrary to a prohibition of the country of origin for the reason merits, in the interest of maintaining proper standards for the international trade in cultural objects, no protection from [German] civil law”.
Nigeria is happy with the support restitution of its stolen cultural properties is receiving in Germany and the all-important cooperation of the German government. The discourse further presents an opportunity for a global re-evaluation of the ontology of Museums in the 21st Century. The time is rife.
