The General History of Africa (GHA) is a two-phase project launched by UNESCO in 1964. The 1964 General Conference of UNESCO, during its 13th Session, instructed the Organization to undertake this initiative after the newly independent African Member States expressed a strong desire to reclaim their cultural identity, to rectify widespread ignorance about their Continent's history, and to break free of discriminatory prejudices. Phase One, which began in 1964 and was completed in 1999, consisted of writing and publishing eight volumes which highlight the shared heritage of the peoples of Africa. Phase Two, which began in 2009, focuses on the elaboration of history curricula and pedagogical materials for primary and secondary schools on the basis of the eight volumes of the GHA. Phase Two also focuses on the promotion of the use and harmonization of the teaching of this collection in higher education institutions throughout the Continent. Phase Two also concerns the implementation of these materials in schools in Africa and the diaspora. The objective of both Phase One and Phase Two of the project is to re-appropriate the interpretation and writing of African histories and to demonstrate the contribution of African cultures past and present to the history of humanity at large.
Volumes and contributors
Volume 1: Methodology and African Historiography (1981)
Volume 2: Ancient Civilizations of Africa (1981)
Volume 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century (1988)
Volume 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century (1984)
Volume 5: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century (1992)
Volume 6: Africa from the Nineteenth century until the 1880s (1989)
Volume 7: Africa under colonial domination, 1880-1935 (1985)
Volume 8: Africa since 1935 (1993)
Volume 9 (to be published by December 2023) A future ninth volume is planned which will "update the knowledge of previous volumes [...] in the light of new developments in research".
This volume will be made up of four sections: Section 1 – Will explore the "epistemological, methodological and theoretical foundations of writing on the history of Africa and people of African descent in the twenty-first century". Section 2 – Reviewing content from the first eight volumes. Section 3 – Updating of early history of Africa. Section 4 – New developments in historical studies over the past two thousand years.
Volume 10 (to be published by December 2023) This volume will include "critical observation of the dynamics of the relationship between Africa and its diasporas, the movements between Africa and the rest of the world, and the ways in which Africa connects with the rest of the world".
Section 1 – The historical contexts in which the concept of Race emerged and how Africans and African-descended people perceive themselves and others. Section 2 – Mapping of the African diaspora and how cultural identities have been recreated in the diaspora. Section 3 – Biographies of Africans.
Volume 11 (to be published by December 2023) This volume will "[address] contemporary challenges for Africa and its diasporas around the world".
Section 1 – Exploring the concept of "Global Africa". Section 2 – The current situation of "gloablized Africans" on the continent and beyond the continent. Section 3 – How Africa is "participating in the challenges of the contemporary world".
History
"My own background, the experience I gained as a teacher and as chairman... taught me how necessary it was for the education of young people and for the information of the public at large to have a history book produced by scholars with inside knowledge of the problems and hopes of Africa and with the ability to apprehend the Continent in its entirety." - Amadou Mahtar M'Bow, former Director General of UNESCO (1974-1987)