2 CONVINCED that all the cultures of the world are equally entitled to respect just as all individuals are equal as regards free access to culture; RECALLING that, under colonial domination, the African countries found themselves in the same political, economic, social and cultural situation; that cultural domination led to the depersonalization of part of the African peoples, falsified their history, systematically disparaged and combated African val ues, and tried to replace progressively and officially, their languages by that of the colonizer, that colonization has encouraged the formation of an elite which is too often alienated from its culture and susceptible to assimilation and that a serious gap has been opened between the said elite and the African popular masses; CONVINCED that the unity of Africa is founded first and foremost on its History, that the affirmation of cultural identity denotes a concern common to all peoples of Africa, that African cultural diversity, the expression of a single identity, is a factor making for equilibrium and development in the service of national integration; that it is imperative to edify educational systems which embody the African values of civilization, so as to ensure the rooting of youth in African culture and mobilize the social forces in the context of permanent education; that it is imperative to resolutely ensure the promotion of African languages, mainstay, and media of cultural heritage in its most authentic and essentially popular form, that it is imperative to carry out a systematic inventory of the cultural heritage, in particular in the spheres of Traditions, History and Arts;