President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed that Ghana’s capital town, Accra, has been named the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) world book capital for 2023. In a series of tweets shared on October 10, the president said that this honour is an acknowledgement of the country's progress in its development process. He added that it also means that Accra is now part of prestigious cities in the world which have been UNESCO world book Capital “I am happy to inform you that Accra has been named the UNESCO world book capital for 2023, making our vibrant city part of the prestigious world book capital cities network. “This is an acknowledgment of the giant strides that Ghana and Africa are making in developing our book and creative art industry and we thank you for your diverse contribution that made this possible,” he said. According to UNESCO, the World Book Capital programme is used to acknowledge cities' commitment t promoting books and fostering reading It added that cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital undertake to carry out activities to encourage a culture of reading and diffuse "its values in all ages and population groups in and out of the national borders”. Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo, while addressing the 215th Meeting of the Executive Board of UNESCO, on Monday, October 10, 2021, charged member states of UNESCO to ensure that education remains a priority in the common development agenda of countries. “At this moment, we cannot pick and choose between funding guns and education. We cannot pick and choose between the interests of the present generation and the future of our girls and boys. "We cannot choose geopolitical concerns over preserving our cherished cultural heritages, lest we perish universally,” he said. Read the President's tweets below:
This is an acknowledgement of the giant strides that Ghana and Africa are making in developing our book and creative art industry and we thank you for your diverse contribution that made this possible.— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) October 10, 2022 Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below: