The selection committee singled out Conakry “on account of the quality and diversity of its programme, in particular its focus on community involvement” as well as “for its well-structured budget and clear development goals with a strong emphasis on youth and literacy”.

While welcoming the quality of all applications received by UNESCO for the title of World Book Capital 2017, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, endorsed the Committee’s decision to designate Conakry World Book Capital for 2017. 

In congratulating Conakry, the Director-General said, “Books, learning and reading are key to human life.  The strong investment of the Republic of Guinea in promoting books and literacy bears witness to a clear vision of culture and education as drivers of development and recovery, and UNESCO is determined to support these efforts.”

The World Book Capital is selected every year by the international organizations that represent the three major sectors of the book industry: the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Booksellers Federation (IBF) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). The year starts on 23 April, World Book and Copyright Day, and brings together the city’s publishers, writers and book industry to promote and celebrate books and reading over the next 12 months.

Conakry is the 17th city to be designated World Book Capital, after Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Antwerp (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Yerevan (2012), Bangkok (2013), Port Harcourt (2014) Incheon (2015) and Wroclaw (2016) .

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For more information: www.unesco.org/culture/bookcapital

Contact: wbcc(at)unesco.org