Southern Africa Builds Expertise to Manage the Return of Cultural Heritage

Southern African heritage professionals are receiving specialised training in the return and restitution of cultural property as institutions across the region prepare for a more complex era of heritage recovery, conservation and museum management.

UNESCO, AUDA-NEPAD and the University of Pretoria are supporting a programme involving 27 professionals from nine Southern African countries, with a focus on the legal, technical and institutional skills required to manage cultural objects that may be returned to their countries or communities of origin.

From claims to institutional readiness

Debates over the restitution of African cultural objects have often centred on ownership, colonial acquisition and the willingness of foreign museums or institutions to return contested artefacts. But successful restitution also raises practical questions about conservation, documentation, legal process, storage, exhibition and long-term stewardship.

The current training programme addresses that less visible side of the restitution debate. Building professional capacity can help ensure that returning objects are supported by institutions able to preserve them, interpret their histories and manage any legal or administrative obligations attached to their return.

UNESCO said the initiative is designed to strengthen regional expertise and cooperation around the return and restitution of cultural property, while also supporting wider heritage protection.

A regional cultural-policy issue

The involvement of professionals from nine countries gives the programme a regional dimension. Cultural objects removed during colonial rule and other periods of conflict or unequal exchange are held across museums and collections around the world, while African governments and institutions have taken different approaches to seeking their return.

Greater regional expertise can also support cooperation between museums, universities, governments and communities as restitution cases become more frequent and technically demanding.

The programme does not determine ownership of any particular object or collection. Instead, it focuses on the institutional capacity required to handle restitution and conservation processes responsibly when claims are resolved.

Source

UNESCO, 26 August 2026.