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2021 4th African Martial Arts Webinar
2021 4th African Martial Arts Webinar

Rationale

2021 4th African Martial Arts Conference (Webinar), which is on the theme: ‘The Potential Role of ICM in Africa’, is being organized by the UNESCO International Centre of Martial Arts (ICM) in collaboration with the UNESCO Member States in Africa and its National Commissions for UNESCO, and various martial arts (regional) organizations are purposed to provide ONLINE discussion platform to dialogue on the prospective role of ICM for African youth and women development.

After a successful hosting of the 1st and 2nd African Regional Martial Arts Congress in Kenya in 2018, and Ghana in 2019, respectively, the 3rd Conference was to be held in Harare, Zimbabwe in the Southern African region in 2020. However, last year, we hosted the 3rd one online ever due to the continuous state of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this pandemic remains uncertain so far until this year, we finally have decided to host our 4th African Martial Arts Conference online (Web Seminar) too.

Therefore, we, ICM are organizing the 2021 4th African Martial Arts Conference through the web (Zoom Platform), scheduled to take place on 1st – 2nd December 2021. The Conference is expected to convene more than 20 related experts from the UNESCO Member States in Africa, UNESCO National Offices, International and regional organizations, and the field of youth education and women empowerment aligned with martial arts topics across the African Continent.

Background

Since 1984, UNESCO has defined the African Continent as a global priority area in the implementation of its mandate. In 37 C/4 Medium-Term Strategy (2014-2021), UNESCO mainstreamed Africa and Gender Equality as in its two Global Priorities to be formalized across UNESCO’s programmatic activities. In relation to this, the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021) has been devised which namely details 6 flagship programs related to all of the focus areas such as Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information. This strategy is closely aligned with both the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the African Union’s 2063 Agenda: The Africa We Want.

Likewise, UNESCO also has developed the Operational Strategy 2014-2021 on Youth as a means of mobilizing key stakeholders around common goals. According to the world youth report 2018, there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24, accounting for 16 percent of the global population. So, UNESCO encourages youth aimed at empowering young people, especially young girls and women, fostering and supporting their activities, promoting partnerships, and ensuring their recognition and visibility with its various networks and partner organizations. Along the same line, we, ICM believe martial arts is an effective educational method to teach youth and women values and life skills that are needed to build a culture of peace and non-violence. This movement can start in schools with quality martial arts education to teach all African youth and women.

Furthermore, ICM has been at the forefront of efforts to support women’s and girls’ rights to participate in our martial arts projects (e.g. Martial Arts Open School from 2017 to 2021) to achieve their empowerment and gender equality through martial arts education. We believe gender equality in education is a basic right and a prerequisite to building inclusive societies to attain the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, particularly Goal 4 on quality education and Goal 5 on gender equality. This also supports UNESCO’s global priorities included in the Medium-Term Strategy 2014-2021 and the Gender Equality Action Plan 2014-2021 as well as UNESCO Strategy for Gender Equality through Education 2019-2025. Especially, a large gender gap exists in access to martial arts, learning achievement, and continuation in the martial arts education field in Africa. We, ICM believe that martial arts education should be strengthened as it is an effective tool for sustainable development in Africa: Improving equity, quality, and relevance of its education. This Conference will look into Africa, youth, women, and martial arts together and discuss the potential role of ICM for Africa.

Overview

  • Date : 1(Wed) to 2(Thu) December 2021
  • Venue : Online Web Seminar (Broadcasted in YouTube and Facebook Live)
    * For Korean Participants, filming in International Conference Hall, UNESCO ICM, Chungju-city, Korea
  • Time : 16:00 ~ 19:00 pm (3 hours, Local Time in Korea) for each day
    Africa Local Time (Broadcasting Time)
    Kenya (East) Zimbabwe (South) Ghana (West)
    10:00 am ~ 13:00 pm (3h) 09:00 am ~ 12:00 pm (3h) 08:00 am ~ 11:00 pm (3h)
  • Conference Theme : “The Potential Role of ICM in Africa”
    2021 4th African Martial Arts Conference is divided into four sessions, in which scholars, martial arts practitioners, field experts in Africa and the related UNESCO personnel are invited to present various topics and opinions on the main theme
    Date Topic
    Day 1
    (12.1)
    16:00 ~ 19:00 (KST)
    Opening – Opening Remarks & Congratulatory Remarks, Introduction of ICM, Ceremony of ICM 2021 Martial Arts Education Prize
    Keynote Session – UNESCO Vision and ICM with Africa Tradition and Peace
    Session 1 – SDG 4: Quality Martial Arts Education and Leadership for Children and Youth in Africa
    Day 2
    (12.2)
    16:00 ~ 19:00 (KST)
    Session 2 – SDG 5: Capacity Building and Equality for Girls and Women in Africa
    Session 3 – SDG 17: Global Partnerships and Networking for Africa
    Closing – ICM-Africa Martial Arts Action Plan and Way Forward

  • Language : English (Korean - Simultaneous Interpretation)
  • Host/Organizer : UNESCO International Centre of Martial Arts (ICM)
  • Participating Countries (11) : Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Rwanda, Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, USA, UNESCO, WoMAU and the Republic of Korea
    ※ All successful participants will be awarded a Certificate of Participation

Objectives

The 2021 4th African Martial Arts Conference intends to:

  • Create an online platform for in-depth discussions on current issues in African youth and women with martial arts
  • Discuss a joint resolution that has provided long-term cooperation with Africa and has obtained support and cooperation from UNESCO member states and related organization
  • Promote continuous exchanges between African and domestic experts through preservation and awareness of traditional African martial arts and policy discussions.

Expected Outcomes

  • Contribute to establishing peace and reconciliation culture in Africa by enhancing mutual understanding and interest in martial arts issues in Africa
  • Establish a human network by discovering martial arts experts and researchers, and developing martial arts activities in the African region, as well as promoting experts exchanges.
  • Adopt ICM-Africa Martial Arts Action Plan and propose martial arts-related policies for the youth and women development.
  • 2021 4TH AFRICAN MARTIAL ARTS CONFERENCE | Day 1

  • 2021 4TH AFRICAN MARTIAL ARTS CONFERENCE | Day 2



Session Description

▶ 2021. 12. 1 - Day 1 / Keynote Session

Session Title: UNESCO Vision and ICM with Africa Tradition and Peace

▶ 2021. 12. 1 - Day 1 / Session 1

Session Title: SDG 4 - Quality Martial Arts Education and Leadership for Children and Youth in Africa

▶ 2021.12.2 - Day 2 / Session 2

Session Title: SDG 5 - Capacity Building and Equality for Girls and Women in Africa

▶ 2021. 12. 2 - Day 2 / Session 3

Session Title: SDG 17 - Global Partnerships and Networking for Africa

Sponsors

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea, Chungcheongbuk-do, Chungju-si

Venue

Online Web Seminar (Broadcasted in UNESCO ICM YouTube and Facebook Live)

Correspondence and Contacts

All inquiries on the Conference should be addressed to:
Chang-hee HAN (Mr.)|Programme Specialist  /  International Cooperation Team|UNESCO International Centre of Martial Arts (ICM)
Tel : +82 43 845 6728|Fax : +82 43 857 7437|E-mail : ch.han@unescoicm.org / korean313@snu.ac.kr|Website : www.unescoicm.org/eng