Accra earns literary acclaim

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has named Accra (Ghana) as UNESCO World Book Capital for 2023, following the evaluation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee.

After Guadalajara (Mexico) in 2022, Accra was selected for its strong focus on young people and their potential to contribute to the culture and wealth of Ghana.

Its proposed programme seeks to use the power of books to engage these young people as an effective way of skilling up the next generation.

It proposed to the committee a broad programme that targets marginal groups with high levels of illiteracy including women, youth, migrants, street children and persons with disabilities.

Measures to be implemented include the reinforcing of school and community infrastructure and institutional support for lifelong learning in order to foster reading culture.

By championing the publishing sector and other creative industries, the programme also aims to encourage professional skills development to stimulate the country’s socio-economic transformation.

Activities will include the introduction of mobile libraries to reach marginalized groups, the holding of workshops to promote reading and writing of books in different Ghanaian languages, the establishment of skills and training centres for unemployed youth and the organization of competitions to showcase Ghanaian arts and culture and promote inclusivity.

The application from Accra also includes a strong human rights dimension which aims to raise public awareness about freedom of information and expression and also have an active involvement in World Press Freedom Day.

The year of celebrations will start on April 23, 2023 on World Book and Copyright Day.