Conference on the Integration of African Languages and Cultures into Education - Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. (20-22 Jan 2010)

We, Ministers and representatives of Ministers of Education participating in the African Confer-ence on the Integration of African Languages and Cultures into Education held in Ouagadougou, 20-22 January 2010, co-organized by the Ministry of Basic Education and Literacy of Burkina Faso, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and the Association for the Develop-ment of Education in Africa (ADEA) with support from the Education Program Development Fund (EPDF) of the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) and the GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) representing the government of the Federal Republic of Germany,

Conscious of the commitment of Heads of States and Heads of Government of the African Union to make education a priority sector for the development of our continent;

Affirming that education is both a fundamental human right and an investment in human capital which reinforces in all people the knowledge, values and competencies which are needed for them to make choices and to determine their future all the while enabling the conditions leading to socio-economic development;

• Convinced that recourse to local African languages and cultures contributes to facilitating access of all people to education and to significant improvements in the quality of the teach-ing/learning process and outcomes;
• Recognizing that the promotion of African languages and cultures is a factor of social cohe-sion at the national level and integration at the regional and continental levels;
• Re-affirming our commitment to the ideals of the African Union contained in the Linguistic Plan of Action for Africa and the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance both adopted by the Heads of States at the African Union summit of January 2006 in Khartoum;
• Considering the Action Plan of the Second Decade of Education for Africa (2006-2015);
• Re-affirming our commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to Educa-tion for All (EFA);
• Considering the Recommendations of the Eighth Conference of Ministers of Education of Members of African States (MINEDAF VIII) to change and improve the status of African languages within a well thought-out language policy grounded in a legal framework;
• Recognizing that the transformation of African societies with the view of attaining just, sus-tainable and balanced, cultural, social and economic development cannot go without the in-tegration of African languages and cultures in the educational systems of African states;