Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay delivers a speech at the launching ceremony for the 2023 World Book Capital in Accra, Ghana, April 24, 2023. The Ghanaian capital Accra formally took over as the 2023 World Book Capital of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from the Mexican city of Guadalajara on Monday. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)
ACCRA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Ghanaian capital Accra formally took over as the 2023 World Book Capital of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from the Mexican city of Guadalajara on Monday.
"Books and reading are essential to us all, as a source of information, questions, and emotions, to get us close with the world," Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay said at the launching ceremony for the 2023 World Book Capital along with Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Stressing the importance of reading to Ghana as well as to Africa, she added that the choice of Accra as the 2023 World Book Capital was a call for action to support reading among all people and remove the barriers to reading on the African continent.
Reading books with some school children at the ceremony, Akufo-Addo said: "The World Book Capital is more than a reading campaign. It is an opportunity for the government and international partners to leverage these diverse linkages to culture and education to deepen our collective actions to make progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals."
"It is also a catalyst for investment in Ghana's creative and cultural sector that will enable this growing sector to provide more decent jobs for our young people," the president added. ■
Students read books at a book exhibition in Accra, Ghana, April 24, 2023. The Ghanaian capital Accra formally took over as the 2023 World Book Capital of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from the Mexican city of Guadalajara on Monday. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)
People read books at a book exhibition in Accra, Ghana, April 24, 2023. The Ghanaian capital Accra formally took over as the 2023 World Book Capital of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from the Mexican city of Guadalajara on Monday. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)