In December 2010, UNESCO and the International Council of African Museums (AFRICOM) signed a new partnership agreement, which aims to reinforce the communications, awareness-raising and networking among the professional museum community in Africa.

AFRICOM is an NGO based in Nairobi, Kenya dedicated to uniting museum professionals across Africa in order to share knowledge and experiences. Among their many communication tools, they have a very active "list serve" with discussions ranging from repatriation issues to technical information on conservation of collections.

As part of the partnership, AFRICOM’s communication tools will be strengthened and supported, including: the annual newsletter, the active AFRICOM List serve (AFRICOM-L platform), the AFRICOM Directory of members, and the AFRICOM web site.

In addition, UNESCO is building on its existing partnership with GOOGLE to enlarge the scope of the AFRICOM Membership Directory to include more information on museums in Africa in order to elaborate a mapping of museums in Africa on the general GOOGLE site and a more detailed mapping that includes museum professionals and their specialities on the AFRICOM web site.

Lastly, the partnership will explore modalities for facilitating internship exchanges between museums in Africa and international universities offering museum studies graduate coursework.

Contact: Karalyn Monteil, Desk Officer for Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, UNESCO Museums Section