The former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, received, this Wednesday, February 8, the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize for the search for Peace, during a ceremony organized for this purpose in Yamoussoukro, the Ivorian political capital.
Merkel’s assumed choice to open Germany’s borders to the many refugees in the summer of 2015, despite some criticism, is the factor that would have played in her favour.
“The entire Jury was touched by his courageous decision, taken in 2015, to welcome more than 1.2 million refugees from notably Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. It is a lesson that she leaves to history”, declared the President of the jury, Dr Denis Mukwege, Congolese gynecologist, Nobel Peace Prize 2018.
Merkel is the 30th recipient of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize. South African Nelson Mandela and Senegalese Abdoulaye Wade are among the former laureates.
Several high-ranking personalities took part in the award ceremony, including the current President of the African Union, the Senegalese Macky Sall, the President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Bissau-Guinean El Moctar Umaro Sissoko Embaló, and the former president of ECOWAS, the Ghanaian Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Reacting to this attribution, the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, stressed that “suffering is universal, the solutions to suffering must also be universal. Building peace is also about opening doors to those who suffer. This decision of the Jury is a reminder that the reception of migrants and refugees is an essential issue”.
The Prize Jury also awarded an “honorable mention” to Julienne Lusenge, for her commitment to women victims of sexual violence. This national of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is at the head of the NGO Female Solidarity for Peace and Integral Development (SOFEPADI).
This Wednesday’s ceremony was preceded, the day before, by an inaugural conference on the founder of this Prize, the late Ivorian President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, in Yamoussoukro.
Created in 1989, this Prize annually honors individuals, institutions or private or public organizations that have made a significant contribution to the promotion, research, safeguarding or maintenance of peace, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the Constitution of UNESCO.
By OMA Newsletter N° 1041 of 08/02/2023
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
