At the age of 53, Lazare Eloundou Assomo becomes the1st African appointed to the direction of the center of this organization.
Lazare Eloundou Assomo is the very first African to hold the position of Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Prior to this promotion, he was head of the Culture and Emergencies sector within the organisation. Appointed by the Director-General at the head of UNESCO World Heritage, the Cameroonian says that much remains to be done: "Many regions in the world are not sufficiently represented, especially Africa and small island states. Just because we don't have an Eiffel Tower doesn't mean the sites aren't important or don't have Outstanding Universal Value. We will launch a dialogue with all states to correct this imbalance," he told RFI.
The UN Representation based in Cameroon has for the occasion addressed its congratulations to the new "Our sincere congratulations to Lazare Eloundou Assomo, appointed today as Director of the World Heritage Centre, Culture Sector Paris (France) by Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO", wrote the office of the UN institution in Yaoundé.
In 2003, Lazare Eloundou Assomo joined UNESCO. It contributes to the establishment of the African World Heritage Fund and coordinates several heritage restoration projects in Africa, including Mozambique (the fortress of the Ilha World Heritage site), Uganda and Mali. In 2012, he co-authored the book "African World Heritage" published by UNESCO. He previously headed the UNESCO office in Bamako. Faced with him, new challenges are opening up.
