Page 101 - 41st Summit Brochure

This Euro-linguistic reality, from which it is impossible to abstain, at the risk of missing the train of
Universal History and its menu of Technological Progress, imposes that the teaching of children up to
the age of twelve should necessarily contemplate Europhonic linguistic competences, such as Portuguese,
French and English, which the students will then deepen until the end of pre-university education, in
order to be able to dialogue with the neighbouring countries and the rest of the world.
In this era of unipolar globalisation, the insertion of African citizens into the world of the benefits
of civilisation on the planet (Science, Technology and even Employment or Sports), in addition to learning
a national African language, requires fluency in Portuguese, English and French.
This refers to the need for human development in Southern Africa (SADC) by means of the
expansion of the teaching of the three Indo-European languages (English, French and Portuguese),
through the accumulated use of the social media, social networks and dynamic community networks.

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY OF SADC MEMBER STATES
During the 20th Assembly of the African Union (AU), a crucial question was raised by several theorists:
“Is this not the opportune moment to reinforce the role of Culture, as a factor for social progress and as
a driving force for innovation?”
The Heads of State and Government of the African Union, during the Sixth Ordinary Session held
on 23 -24 January 2006 in Khartoum, Sudan, developed the African Charter on Cultural Renaissance.
This international diploma provides paths for actions that each government, as a public body, and
each citizen, in their individual capacity as a culture agent, can and should promote, with a view to sub-
regional and perhaps inter-regional reunion.
The Charter advocates the exchange and dissemination of cultural experiences among African
countries. However, this task has not been easy for SADC governments, to some extent, due to the reality
of Euro-linguistic insularities inherited from colonisation (with two sides of the same coin, one permeable 99
to dialogue with the far West and the other impermeable to regional transcultural dialogue).
Against this backdrop, African artists, intellectuals and governments have a guide that is always
available in the African Charter on Cultural Renaissance itself, which should come out of the drawers
and computer screens to become part of the praxis of mankind and of political action on the Continent,
which is the cradle of humankind.
The African Charter on Cultural Renaissance, in its Article 30, recognises that it is vital to establish
inter-African cultural co-operation as a contribution to mutual understanding and enrichment of African
cultures, and between Africa and the rest of the world and with the African Diaspora.
Article 31 stipulates the most appropriate way to achieve these objectives, through the following
actions:
• Strengthen capacity building, including of specialised institutions of the African Union
Commission to enable them to coordinate, monitor, evaluate and harmonise best practices on
policies, programmes and networks;
• Organise cultural events, such as festivals, symposia, sporting events and art exhibitions;
• Create research centres and encourage the exchange of cultural programmes;
• Commit to ensuring that African cultural values are expressed with maximum impact in order to
promote and strengthen the sense of African identity among Africans.
In order to achieve the long-awaited cultural fraternity among the countries that make up the region,
SADC requires a diplomacy of an African cultural renaissance.
The starting point is the recourse to cultural exchange, in the fields of the so-called universal
languages, such as music, dance and painting. Through these languages, it is possible to develop the
outline of regional transculturalism.
To begin with, one could start with music, since CDs are easy to transport. For this exchange, the
potential of radio and television (in the case of DVD) and the cultural services by the Embassies is useful.
Each Cultural Attaché or secretary of the respective embassy can approach the institutions that
produce or market the music and regularly acquire the recordings made. Thereafter, it is a matter of
forwarding them to the media in their countries. In this way, the SADC public will be able to know the
musical strengths, trends and innovations of the entire region.