Message from the president

Dear PANAF Members,

It is with great pleasure that I write to welcome you to our 16th congress which will be held in Zanzibar between the 7th and 12th of August 2022. The PAA permanent council and the congress organizing committee are privileged to host this meeting which marks the Diamond Jubilee of Pan African Association of Archaeology and Related Studies (PAA). The meeting will be hybrid a (virtual and physical) and therefore, we hope everyone working within our disciplines in Africa will have the opportunity to take part

The theme of our conference ‘Learning from the African Pasts to Manage Local and Global Disasters’ resonates with the current array of disastrous events that the world is currently grappling with. We are aware that none of these events (whether pandemics, extreme weather conditions, locusts etc) are not new to the world. We are also aware that different regions have suffered differently and have instituted different measures to arrest the accompanying negative effects. In addition, Africa as a region has had to deal with colonial injustices, slavery, plunder and inequalities among other undesirable situations. All these are well documented in our environmental, archaeological, historical records and living memories. Your contributions in addressing these issues will not only play a major role in demonstrating the relevance of our disciplines to humanity, but also, may provide workable solutions from learnt lessons. Thus the main theme of our congress.

Please note that the local organizing team has done a great job in convincing some hotels in Zanzibar to offer discounted rates to registered members. It is our hope that you will take advantage of this offer

Since our last meeting in Morocco, the PAA permanent council has achieved much including registration of the organization, opening of the PAA account and putting together payment mechanisms for members. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members who have paid their dues and to appeal to everyone who would like to join or to support this organization to do so using the information provided on this website. I would also like thank all the people who have expressed their interest in joining during the congress registration. Should you require additional information, please feel free to write to the [email protected] or [email protected]

It is also my pleasure to mention that the Association has been very active in dealing with heritage matters in the region. Appeals from our colleagues to intervene on their behalf culminated into written statements from PAA which were appreciated and gave us more visibility in the public domain. We have also joined like organizations in pursuit of staying abreast with the happenings in the archaeological front. More awaits to be done and we hope further discussions regarding scholarship and research in the region will solicit in- depth discussions during our business meeting at the end of the congress.

Many thanks for your continued support!

Looking forward to seeing all of you in Zanzibar!