As part of the Child - Friendly School and girls – friendly school project, UNICEF supported
the Government in the establishment of libraries in 33 schools in the departments of
Brazzaville, Likouala, Plateaux, Pointe Noire, Pool and Sangha. The project has provided
50,000 various books ranging from practical publications such as dictionaries and
encyclopaedias, to fiction through thematic papers on diseases, agriculture, livestock, etc.
These allocations were accompanied by the training of 66 school principals and teachers in
the management and running of these facilities.
In the case of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, it should be noted the important role played by
French institutes (e.g. cultural centres) which, besides many and varied cultural activities
(theatre, dance, music, exhibitions, conferences, etc.) host richly endowed media libraries.
The library-media centre of the Brazzaville French Cultural centre offers more than 20 000
documents (books, comics, magazines, records, audio and video cassettes, DVD, CD-ROM),
it accounts for nearly 4,000 subscribers and welcomes over 35,000 visitors.
Beside schools playgrounds and several sports areas somehow structured in vacant lots, there
are virtually no playgrounds for children, especially the younger ones. The few initiatives
attempted in this direction (playgrounds with swings, slides, rides, etc.) have either failed or
did occasionally reappear on the occasion of the organisation of fairs or shows. It should be
noted, however, that at the level of the Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Literacy, a
commitment was made during a session of the National Council of preschool, primary,
secondary education and Literacy towards the practice of sport in schools and cultural
activities. Thus it is now developed, especially at the upper secondary education level, theatre
groups and vocal groups. Finally, the government has announced the revitalisation of school
and university games.
It should finally be noted that, under the "accelerated municipalisation" activities, in addition
to the construction and rehabilitation of various basic infrastructure (prefectures, town halls,
roads, water supply, electrification, health centres, schools) at the decentralised level, there is
a resurgence of the organisation of summer camps by private companies or by the State, such
as that initiated by the Ministry of Youth and civic education for the benefit of about 500
children aged 11 to 17 years, on the occasion of the "accelerated municipalisation" of
Plateaux Department in August 2013.
7.3. Prospect
We must refer to DSCERP 2012-2016 to get an idea of the prospects envisaged for culture
and sport in the coming years.
Regarding culture and arts, among the programmes and key actions retained, there are: (i) the
promotion of arts and cultural industries (support for endogenous cultural industries, the
National Ballet and the National Theatre...) (ii) the construction of the City of Culture (to
house the FESPAM), the National Museum, and management of the national archives and
documentation; and (iii) construction of cultural and artistic spaces (house of culture
including libraries, cinemas, shows and exhibitions, museums) in each department.
In sport, we note: (i) the finalisation of the national sport development plan as part of a
public-private partnership aimed at providing sustainable infrastructure in each department;
(ii) capacity building of the provision of sports activities (with the continuation of the
construction and rehabilitation of various infrastructures); (iii) The promotion of physical
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