Statement by Moky Makura, Executive Director, Africa No Filter

164 countries have agreed: it is time to correct the map.

Africa No Filter started #CorrectTheMap with Speak Up Africa because we wanted to prove something bigger – that even narratives hiding in plain sight can be challenged and changed.

For generations, we have accepted a map that makes Africa appear smaller than it is. Today’s UN vote proves we don’t have to.

Now the real work begins. We want to see accurate maps in schools, textbooks, newsrooms, businesses and on the digital platforms billions of people use every day.

And we want to ask a bigger question: if we got something as basic as Africa’s size wrong for this long, what else about Africa have we simply accepted without questioning?

Africa doesn’t need to be made bigger. It needs to be seen accurately.

Moky Makura
Executive Director, Africa No Filter