Africa presents a complex and changing reality, a contrasting physical and human geography, large disparities in population size and living standards, a mosaic of languages and ethnicities all of which can not only be sources of conflict but also of intense exchange. Despite the diversity of situations, it is a young and dynamic continent, where initiatives abound, and where positive signs of economic growth and development have been multiplying over the last decade.

Nevertheless, Africa still lags behind in the achievement of international development goals and continues to have the highest number of least developed countries, as well as of countries in post-conflict or post-disaster situations. This situation is the reason why UNESCO maintains the continent’s priority status terms of resources and capacities.

For more than twenty years, Africa has been a priority for UNESCO, which has framed its action in the region within a set of institutional mechanisms specifically designed to support the implementation of this priority: the Africa Department (AFR) since 1996, the Addis Ababa Liaison Office since 2010, and the Intersectoral Platform on Priority Africa since 2008.

While many actions carried out in this framework have been successful - whether it be the strengthening of Education for All, science, technology and innovation policies, the Oceanographic Data Network Africa, or the relationship between culture and development -, and while the Africa Department has been able to strengthen its strategic role and establish partnerships with key players in the region, the picture is still far from satisfactory.

The evaluation of UNESCO's Priority Africa, carried out at the end of 2012, revealed that the mechanisms intended to bring it dynamism and substance had not led to significant progress in the decentralization of human and financial resources for the benefit of the region. A number of systemic problems specific to the Organization had a particular impact on its activities in Africa, including the lack of concentration of its programmes and the complexity of its administrative procedures.

UNESCO has been called upon, therefore, to review the modalities of its action in Africa in order to strengthen its relevance, effectiveness and impact. It is with this in mind that UNESCO's Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021) was launched, a result of a process of forward-looking reflection and consultation with major actors on the continent, first among which was the African Union, whose  Pan African vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena” (Agenda 2063 – the Future We Want for Africa) was endorsed by the Organization.

To address this issue, the Memory and Future Club has invited Henri Lopes, former Deputy Director-General, who launched the Africa Department and was its director until 1998, and Edouard Matoko, Assistant Director-General of the Africa Department since 2016.

The Memory & Future Club of the Association of Former UNESCO Staff (AFUS) seeks to highlight the experience of former staff members and to balance it against the vision of their successors, as well as against the current challenges of international cooperation. Building on their shared memory and wishing to preserve it, participants in this group are able to meet informally with their colleagues still in active service so as to engage in a free exchange of ideas and identify how past experiences may enhance future directions.