The 8 volumes in the GHA collection, each with over 1,000 pages, are the culmination of exemplary international cooperation over the course of more than 35 years. However, this collection was not destined to remain on library shelves or in boxes. Considered a pre-eminent contribution to the knowledge of African history, the GHA paradoxically remains largely unknown to teachers, students and the general public, even in Africa and among the African Diasporas.

This landmark work, which tells the story of Africa since the origins of humankind up until the aftermath of independence, helps to rigorously deconstruct racial prejudices about Africans and people of African descent, which were inherited from the slave trade and slavery. Also, it provides a novel African perspective, using authentic sources, such as African oral traditions, while also relying on non-Western sources from India, Turkey, and China, as well as Ajami archives written in Arabic and in African languages.

The audiovisual adventure on the GHA began with a partnership established in January 2015 between UNESCO, Kush Productions and OCP (Moroccan Phosphate Group). This partnership was launched on the occasion of the production of a series of six films that UNESCO, in collaboration with the Moroccan Permanent Delegation to UNESCO and OCP, held on 10 February 2015 at its Paris headquarters. Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Mostafa Terrab, CEO of OCP, Mr Lejeune Mbella Mbella, Chairman of the Africa Group in UNESCO, Mrs Zohour Alaoui Permanent Delegate of the Kingdom of Morocco to UNESCO and Mrs Zeinab Badawi, producer of the series, took the floor during this event, which brought together several Permanent Delegates to UNESCO and project partners.

During the discussion, which was moderated by Mr Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán, Assistant Director-General for Culture at UNESCO, participants recognized the crucial importance of this new initiative to support efforts undertaken by UNESCO during the second phase of this project, aimed at developing common educational contents for primary and secondary schools, as well as elaborating a 9^th volume to update the previous collection and analyze the new challenges faced by Africa and its diasporas today. Considering the great interest expressed by Member States during the exchanges, we hope that the Director-General’s appeal for funding in relation to this project will not remain unanswered. If these pedagogical contents are successfully integrated into the curricula of all African schools, in line with the commitment of African Heads of State, Africa would be the first region in the world to build its regional integration on the basis of a shared common history.