Tag Archives: Africa

Nigeria: Reps Push For ‘Silence The Guns’ Implementation

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Philip Nyam in New Telegraph

The House of Representatives recently passed a resolution calling on the executive to immediately implement the “silence the guns” peace policy of the African Union (AU). PHILIP NYAM reviews the roadmap

Worried by growing conflicts and widespread insecurity across the continent, the African Union met in Lusaka, Zambia in 2016 and drew a master roadmap of practical steps to silence guns in Africa by the year 2020. Six years after, the implementation of the roadmap titled “Lusaka Master Roadmap 2016” has been beset by challenges and Nigeria, the biggest black nation on earth is yet to fully integrate the policy.

It was in view of this that the House of Representatives last month passed a resolution to impress on the government to speed up the process of its implementation. The House resolution came barely after the meeting of the African Union Commission in Lusaka, Zambia, between June 6 and 8 brought together participants from the relevant departments of the AU Commission, Divisions within the Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department, representatives from RECS/RMs, representatives of the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL), African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) and Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) and representatives of AUC partners supporting silencing the guns project such as the UN Department of Political and Peace-building Affairs.

The meeting finalised an implementation plan that will guide the operationalisation of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework of the AU Master Roadmap Silencing the Guns AU and Regional Economic Communities converge to finalise the implementation plan and road map on practical steps to silence the guns in Africa. This is in addition to adopting the terms of reference of an AURECs/ RMs Steering Committee on Silencing the Guns. The meeting also agreed on the establishment of the Steering Committee including the relevant departments of the AUC and focal points/officers in each REC/RM to follow up and coordinate activities related to the STG Initiative.

It also served as a collaborative platform to facilitate regular exchanges between the AU, RECs/RMs, Civil Society Organisations, academia, the private sector and other stakeholders that have a role to play in the implementation of the Silencing the Guns Master Roadmap. Explaining why the implementation had to be postponed from 2020 to 2030, the Coordinator of Silencing the Guns under the Political Affairs, Peace and Security at the African Union Commission, Mr. Advelkader Araoua, said that “the extension of the life span of the AU master roadmap on practical steps to silence the guns in Africa to the year 2030, is a test of our ability to deliver on our commitments to free the African continent from wars, civil conflicts, humanitarian crises, human rights violations, gender-based violence, and genocide.” Also, the Head of Governance, Peace and Security at the COMESA Secretariat, Ms. Elizabeth Mutunga stressed the need to continuously assess the external environment in developing an implementation plan for the monitoring and evaluation.

“Emerging and unpredictable factors, that have not necessarily originated from our region are having a very big impact on the peace, conflict and security dynamics of our region,” she noted. The motion It was after the meeting that the House of Representatives passed a resolution pushing for the implementation of the roadmap. In a motion titled “Need to adopt and implement the “Silencing the Guns” Road Map, Hon. Ahmed Munir noted that “Silencing the Guns 2030” is a flagship roadmap project adopted in Lusaka, Zambia in 2016 by the African Union with the aim of realising a Conflict-Free Africa by the year 2030. He said that the concept of silencing the guns was borne out of the observation that the African Continent is the scene of numerous violent conflicts that make the desired economic and political integration of the continent difficult. As part of the AU’s Agenda 2063, the AU sought to ensure that Africa is characterised by peace, political tolerance and good governance.

Hon. Munir expressed concerns that initially, the roadmap was to be achieved by 2020 of which the continent fell short and the goal was further extended to 2030 “cognisant that peace and security matters across Africa are interwoven and the continent cannot afford to further miss the 2030 set target.” In adopting the motion, which was unanimously endorsed, the House urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to fully embrace the report and ensure relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) key into the roadmap. The lawmakers also urged the office of the National Security Adviser to fully adopt the report and cascade it down to other relevant security agencies.

Synopsis of the roadmap

The African Union Master Roadmap of practical steps to silence guns in Africa by the year 2020 better known as the Lusaka Master Roadmap 2016 entails the following. The continuing insecurity, instability, disruption of political harmony, erosion of social cohesion, destruction of the economic fabric and public despondency in various parts of Africa call on the Peace and Security Council (PSC) to play a locomotive role in spearheading strategic interventions to put this sad situation to an end.

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Question related to this article:

Can the African Union help bring a culture of peace to Africa?

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Most crises and violent conflicts in Africa are being driven by poverty, economic hardships, violation or manipulation of constitutions, violation of human rights, exclusion, inequalities, marginalisation and mismanagement of Africa’s rich ethnic diversity, as well as relapses into the cycle of violence in some post-conflict settings and external interference in African affairs. Undoubtedly, these challenges can be overcome, as long as the correct remedies are idenpletified and applied.

It is in this context that the PSC convened a Retreat that was dedicated to the theme: Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa by the Year 2020, from 7 to 9 November 2016, in Lusaka, Zambia. The Retreat regrouped the PSC Member States, representatives of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), the AU Commission, Regional Economic Communities/ Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (RECs/RMs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA) and the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA).

This was all the more urgent given the central thrust of Agenda 2063 and the overall AU Vision of building a peaceful, stable, secure, integrated and prosperous Africa, and the essence of Agenda 2030 on sustainable development goals. Notably, the 4th aspiration of Agenda 2063, which is the African Union’s strategic framework for socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next five decades, highlights the need for dialoguecentred conflict prevention, as well as the management and resolution of existing conflicts, with a view to silencing the guns in our Continent by the Year 2020. Agenda 2063 provides that in order to achieve sustainable conflict prevention and resolution, a culture of peace and tolerance must be cultivated and nurtured in our children and youth, among others, through peace education.

Furthermore, in its first 10 years implementation plan, Agenda 2063 stresses the imperative of ending all wars, civil conflicts, gender-based violence and violent conflicts and prevent genocide, as part of Africa’s collective efforts to silence the guns in the continent by the year 2020. In organising the retreat, the PSC was inspired and guided by the clarion call in the OAU/AU 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration adopted by the AU Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa on 26 May 2013, in which they, among other aspects, expressed their “determination to achieve the goal of a conflict-free Africa, to make peace a reality for all our people and to rid the continent of wars, civil conflicts, human rights violations, humanitarian disasters and violent conflicts, and to prevent genocide.”

The PSC’s resolutions further read: “We pledge not to bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation of Africans and undertake to end all wars in Africa by 2020. In this regard, we undertake to address the root causes of conflicts, including economic and social disparities; put an end to impunity by strengthening national and continental judicial institutions, and ensure accountability in line with our collective responsibility to the principle of non-indifference.

“We undertake to eradicate recurrent and address emerging sources of conflict including piracy, trafficking in narcotics and humans, all forms of extremism, armed rebellions, terrorism, transnational organized crime and new crimes such as cybercrime; push forward the agenda of conflict prevention, peace-making, peace support, national reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction and development through the African Peace and Security Architecture; as well as, ensure enforcement of and compliance with peace agreements and build Africa’s peacekeeping and enforcement capacities through the African Standby Force.

“We will maintain a nuclear-free Africa and call for global nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy; ensure the effective implementation of agreements on landmines and the non-proliferation of small arms and light weapons; address the plight of internally displaced persons and refugees and eliminate the root causes of this phenomenon by fully implementing continental and universal frameworks.”

In conceiving practical steps to silence the guns in Africa by the year 2020, the PSC took into consideration the political history of the African continent, which has been marred particularly by three major tragedies, namely, slavery, colonization and the unpaid extraction/ exploitation of natural resources, which have created a huge burden for Africa and its people. The end of slavery at the end of the 19th century and the fall of colonialism under the weight of protracted nationalist and liberation struggles across the continent ushered in a new era in Africa.

However, the new era is faced with a myriad of challenges that the continent has not yet been able to successfully overcome. The cycle of violent conflicts and disruptive crises persist on the continent, so do situations of relapses back into the cycle of violence and destruction for some countries that were perceived to have already emerged from conflicts. It is therefore critically important for Africa and its people to put in place strategic guidelines for addressing these challenges.

In some instances, the African continent has also not been able to foster and manage effective political transitions, partly due to the fact that the erstwhile liberation movements have taken too long to transform themselves into dynamic governing political parties, which could more successfully adapt to operating in pluralistic democratic societies as agents of political discourse and crucial facilitators rather than act as a stumbling block to any democratic dispensation.

Similarly, failures to transform some of the military wings of some of the liberation movements into professional and disciplined national armies, which pledge loyalty to civilian government regardless of the political party in power, have brought problems to some parts of Africa. All of these facts have stifled serious attempts to silence the guns in Africa.

Yet, peace, security and socio-economic development should be pursued simultaneously. Equally challenging is the task of sustaining transitions from war to peace and to prevent relapses. This is why the AU PSC developed a Master Roadmap of realistic, practical, time-bound implementable steps to silence the guns in Africa by 2020.

The master Roadmap is premised on the principle that Africa should take, assume total responsibility for its destiny. Assuming such responsibility should also take into account the fact that, while appropriate decisions and programmes have been adopted with a view to resolving some of the challenges Africa is faced with, there has been encroachment on some of those decisions by the implementation deficit.

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Gabon: Women’s Commitment to Health and Sanitation in the Province Woleu-Ntem

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article for CPNN by Jerry Bibang (translation by CPNN)

The Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace, Gabon section (PAYNCoP Gabon) launched, on Wednesday August 03, in Oyem, in the north of Gabon, the project “Women’s Commitment to Health and Sanitation in the Province Woleu-Ntem”.

The initiative supported by the Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sports of the Francophonie (CONFEJES) and the Town Hall of the municipality of Oyem is part of a vast program of CONFEJES entitled Woman – Sport – Health .

Its general objective is to encourage women to practice physical and sports activities as well as environmental protection, according to Rachel Oyane, member of the project team.

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(Click here for the original French version.)

Questions for this article

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

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The initiative, which targets 200 women in the province of Woleu-Ntem, is based on three main activities, in particular an awareness campaign on the benefits of sport for women, a walk with the collection of plastic waste, a fitness session and a provincial women’s football tournament which will engage women from Woleu-Ntem province in northern Gabon, said Jerry Bibang, the project coordinator.

After the launch in Oyem, our team will crisscross the municipalities of Mitzic, Minvoul and Bitam for the implementation of these various activities which primarily concern women who do not have regular physical and sports activity, explained Jimmy Thalès ONDO, also a member of the project team.

The objective is to get them to understand the benefits of sport, in particular the fight against certain diseases, but also the need to keep their environment clean, hence the activity of walking and collecting plastic waste.

For the Town Hall of Oyem, represented by the 4th deputy mayor, Mrs. Angue Owono Françoise, the initiative is in line with the vision of the municipal council of the town of Oyem which is to make the provincial capital of Woleu-Ntem a beautiful town. and clean, in accordance with the will of the highest authorities of the country. This project is a real opportunity to encourage women to get involved in the fight for healthy lifestyles and for the practice of physical and sports activities. The town hall, under the leadership of Mayor Christian Abessolo Menguey, will reflect on how to continue these activities even beyond the project, she said.

The implementation of this project follows a call for applications, launched by CONFEJES to public organizations and civil society at the pan-African level. Out of 79 applications, only 14 were selected. The PAYNCoP Gabon project was ranked 4th best project by an international jury.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Pretoria, South Africa : Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress 2022

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

Excerpts from the website of Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress

The Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress (SRI) unites more than 2000 global sustainability research leaders, government and civil society experts, funders and innovators to inspire action and promote a sustainability transformation.

A joint initiative of Future Earth and the Belmont Forum, this truly global, annual event sparks meaningful conversations, provides a platform to share innovative ideas, and creates an inspiring and inclusive space for collaboration and action.

This year, hosted by the Future Africa Institute in Pretoria, South Africa, and online, the second edition of SRI offered a program of over 200 interactive sessions, workshops, trainings, networking events, innovation demonstrations, satellite events, and much more. 

Highlights from Day One – June 21

Transdisciplinary research in Africa could be the turnkey that unlocks progress in the research and scientific innovations that address climate change, gender-based violence and achieving net zero targets – but collaboration is pivotal.

This was the consensus among speakers at the opening plenary session on the first day of the Sustainability, Research and Innovation (SRI) Congress in Pretoria.

Highlights from Day Two – June 22

The second day of the SRI Congress saw many diverse topics take center stage as a series of transdisciplinary hybrid content sessions showcased sustainability’s impact on culture, art, and finance.

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Question for this article:

How can we ensure that science contributes to peace and sustainable development?

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In a special session held in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) titled The role of Biodiversity Finance in a changing world post the pandemic, key stakeholders and leaders in the biodiversity finance space participated in a lively discussion on government initiatives across Southern Africa to improve investment into biodiversity, and also showcased innovative approaches to Biodiversity Finance globally.

Highlights from Day Three – June 23

The ethical concerns around the development and application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), harnessing Africa’s natural capital, and taking healthcare solutions to where they are needed most, local communities, were just some of the insightful discussions held on the third day of the Sustainability, Research and Innovation Congress (SRI) 2022.

Highlights from Day Four – June 24

As extreme weather events continue to have an increasing and intense impact across Africa and the world, governments along with the private sector will have to join hands in planning for the “cities of tomorrow” that allow for healthy environments with access to clean power, air and water.

The fourth day of the Sustainability, Research and Innovation Congress (SRI) 2022, saw engaging sessions that addressed these broad yet interconnected issues and crucially, what sustainable strategies and solutions could be implemented.

Highlights from Day Five – June 25

Predicting the future is hard. Scientists and foresight experts work with data and stakeholders to build scenarios, historians lean on their knowledge of the past to peek into the present and beyond, investors read weak signals – yet more often than not, we are surprised by life.

At the Sustainability, Research and Innovation (SRI) Congress’s closing plenary session, a group of leading professionals actively engaging with the future, scientists and science fiction writers, as well as foresight analysts, convened to give a taste of the future – or at least their makings of it.

SRI2023 to be held in Panama

The National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt) will host the congress in collaboration with its co-host, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI).

(Note: Thank you to Uzma Alam for calling this event to the attention of CPNN.)

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Africa confronts linguistic imperialism with Kiswahili

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article from the Monitor

The move by the African Union — the apex organisation for African states — to adopt Kiswahili as one of its official working languages, is not only culturally and political significant, but a shot in the arm in its global spread.

This comes just three months after the United Nations on November 23, 2021 designated July 7 as the World Kiswahili Language Day.

It becomes the first African language, which is spoken by more than 200 million people, to be honoured by UNESCO.

Kiswahili, mainly spoken in the East African region, is a fusion of the dialect born of Bantu and Arabic languages, has earned its place of pride as one of the world’s top 10 most spoken languages and Africa’s most widely used native lingua. It enjoys official status national in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It is also widely spoken in parts of DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

Officially, it was being used in the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional blocs before AU’s adoption.

Over the years, Kiswahili has spread south of the continent, to parts of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, while Burundi, Madagascar and the Comoros islands have also adopted it.

In June 2020, South Africa introduced Kiswahili as an optional subject in the hope that the language could become a tool to foster cohesion among Africans.

And it’s in this light that the AU move to adopt Kiswahili is a milestone in mainstreaming it– and eventual launch globally.

Proponents of a single language for Africa are hoping that the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTFA) will be the catalyst required to launch Kiswahili as Africa’s language of trade and continent-wide communication.

“Aside from fostering shared identity, Kiswahili as a language is a very important tool in the geopolitics of things. It will unite Africa just as other languages like French, Spanish or English have united those who speak them,” said Prof Macharia Munene, a history lecturer at the Nairobi-based United States International University Africa.

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Question related to this article:

Is language a human right?

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“Although it will take a few decades before Kiswahili gains a foothold in every African state, the recent developments are important catalysts.”

An expression of culture 

According to him, language is intrinsic to the expression of culture, arguing that’s why American culture is quite dominant in the world.

It is on that premise that he argues China is doing everything to promote mandarin, hoping it will use it to stamp its cultural influence in the world.

Kenya, Uganda and South Africa are some of the states where China has made initiatives to popularise mandarin.

But China and France –– which also announced plans to make French the language of Africa –– encounter a continent increasingly conscious about its identity.

The diplomatic use of Kiswahili in Africa, and its subsequent introduction into schools’ curricula across the continent is expected to help forge friendships, cultural and economic relationships.

According to Global Voices—an international multi-lingual organisation of writers, translators, academics and digital rights activists—currently, there are more than 7,100 languages spoken around the world, 28 per cent of which are spoken on the African continent.

Despite the existence of some 2,140 local languages in Africa, English, French and Arabic reign supreme.

English on the other hand dominates online spaces in the region.

But this has shrunk to between 51-55 per cent as opposed to 80 per cent on online dominance two decades ago. Projections indicate that Kiswahili, which is now online, will become an increasingly important instrument of trade.

Renowned author Stanley Gazemba asserts that the language has the potential to forge strong trading ties between the people of eastern, central and southern Africa and to promote cultural cohesion.

“If widely promoted in these regions, the language can single-handedly remove the artificial barriers and boundaries imposed by imperial powers,” he wrote in The Elephant.

“There are an estimated 2,000 languages spoken on the continent. Colourful as this may appear, it also poses a challenge in marshalling all these diverse cultures into thinking and working towards a collective goal, which necessitates the creation and promotion of a lingua franca that can be used seamlessly across political and administrative borders, and which can ultimately allow the African people to speak in a single voice.”

“Kiswahili has proved to be a useful tool in unlocking the potential of this sleeping giant in the regions south of the Sahara.”

Kiswahili is taught in universities around the world, including in China, while in the USA, an estimated 100

Africa, HUMAN RIGHTS

Algeria: 19th edition of the Mediterranean Games

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from L’Expression (translation by CPNN)

“the 19th edition of the Mediterranean Games will highlight the role of sport in promoting human rights and the culture of peace”

The National Council for Human Rights and the Center for Anthropological, Social and Cultural Research have just ratified a memorandum of understanding, the content of which concerns partnership, the exchange of activities and cooperation in the field of research scientific. This memorandum is the culmination of the meeting which brought together on Tuesday the participants in a study day centered on “the strengthening of human rights through sport and the Olympic ideals, in the service of development and peace”. 

Simultaneously, the National Human Rights Council and the Mediterranean Games Commission held a meeting whose work focused on “the importance of sport in popularizing peace and human rights”.

The speakers were unanimous in emphasizing that “the 19th edition of the Mediterranean Games will highlight the role of sport in promoting human rights and the culture of peace”.

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(Click here for the article in French.

Question for this article:

How can sports promote peace?

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In her speech at this meeting organized by the National Human Rights Council and the Mediterranean Games Commissioner, the Secretary General of the Organizing Committee for this event, Nawel Benghaffour, indicated that “the 19th of Oran will particularly highlight the use of sport as a tool for the promotion of human rights and the consecration of the culture of peace, dialogue, reconciliation and sustainable development”, emphasizing that “in addition of the sports program, the edition of Oran, which will begin on June 25, includes other activities with economic, environmental, recreational and cultural dimensions”. “They highlight the cultural heritage of Oran in particular and Algeria in general,” explained the speaker.

The President of the National Human Rights Council, Abdelmadjid Zaâlani, for his part underlined that “sport brings people together, creates friendships and knowledge and makes it possible to reduce conflicts throughout the world.” He emphasized the importance of the edition of Oran and its role in achieving these objectives.

Also speaking at the opening of the meeting, the commissioner of the Mediterranean Games of Oran, Mohamed Aziz Derouaz, focused “on the relationship between sport and human rights”, citing ” the role of sport in the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa, where athletes around the world boycotted participation in sporting activities initiated by that regime”. He also stressed that “sport is a human right”, noting that “in Algeria sport is practiced at all ages, by men and women without distinction and in all disciplines”.

This meeting served as a forum to honor former athletes, such as fencing champion Zahra Kamir and Mustapha Doubala, the former player of the national handball team, as well as the amateur sports club “El-Hikma” of volleyball for people with special needs.

The work of this study day, which took place at the Center for Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology of Oran (Crasc), was enhanced by the presence of university students and athletes.

Lectures were given on the role of the Olympic values ​​in promoting human rights, peace and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Africa, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Gabon: Training to Prepare Project of Youth as Weavers of Peace

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

Special for CPNN from Jerry Bibang (translation by CPNN)

(Editor’s note: Two months ago, CPNN carried an article on the launch of the project Youth as Weavers of Peace in Gabon, as part of a project in the cross border regions with Cameroon and Chad, implemented by Unesco, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This article updates the initiative.)

The Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace, Gabon Section (PAYNCoP Gabon) recently took part in the training of trainers workshop as part of the project young people, weavers of peace. It was the town of Oyem, in the province of Woleu-Ntem, in the north of the country, which hosted this training of trainers workshop from May 30 to June 04, 2022.

The meeting brought together ten participants from the public administration, civil society organizations and United Nations experts, making it possible to build the capacities of the target actors on the related themes of culture of peace, social inclusion, human rights, gender-based violence (GBV), the fight against radicalization and violent extremism, human trafficking and migrant smuggling…

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(Click here for the original article in French.)

Question related to this article:

Solidarity across national borders, What are some good examples?

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Beyond theoretical knowledge, the training was an opportunity for participants to better equip themselves with the skills and competencies necessary for adult training.

“At the end of these six days of intense work, we are resolutely ready to deploy ourselves for the training of future weavers of peace”, declared Jerry Bibang, on behalf of the participants in the training.

“The Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace (PAYNCoP) as an implementing partner of this initiative is satisfied with the effective start of these trainings in Gabon and remains completely optimistic for the continuation of the activities,” he added.

The project Youth as weavers of peace in the cross-border regions of Gabon, Cameroon and Chad essentially aims to train and deploy 1,800 young people for the promotion of the culture of peace in the three countries concerned, in particular in the border towns of these three country.

In Gabon, 250 young people are concerned in the province of Woleu-Ntem, particularly in Oyem, Bitam, Meyo-Kye and Minvoul.

Alongside the deployment of young people to promote the culture of peace, the project also provides for the creation and support of a dozen community-based social enterprises to help young people become financially independent and combat unemployment, which constitutes a real threat to peace.

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Chad, Cameroon and Gabon: Youth as Weavers of Peace in the border region

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

Special to CPNN from Jerry Bibang

With an information and orientation meeting on March 31, Gabon joined the project Youth as Weavers of Peace that has been developed by the other Central African countries of Cameroon and Chad.


The project team with members of PAYNCOP

The meeting took place in the town hall of the municipality of Oyem, in the province of Woleu-Ntem, in the north of Gabon bordering on Cameroon. It was chaired by the Governor of the province as the project involves the localities of Oyem, Minvoul, Bitam and Meyo – Kye.

The project aims to identify, train and operationalize 250 young people (young men and women 18-35 years old) to become weavers of peace in their respective communities.

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(Click here for the original article in French.)

Question related to this article:

Solidarity across national borders, What are some good examples?

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In addition, nearly 60 young leaders of community-based social enterprise projects will be trained and supported in order to launch their initiatives.

This work will be implemented by several organizations including the Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace (PAYNCOP) and will be coordinated by the United Nations System in Gabon, with UNESCO and UNODC as the lead agencies.

“This project comes at the right time because it gives young people the opportunity to contribute significantly to the prevention of violence and the consolidation of peace in our country. It is in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2250 that recommends States to involve young people as actors in peace and security issues,” explained Jerry Bibang, PAYNCoP Permanent Secretary.

“It will also be a real opportunity that will allow young women and men to embark on income-generating initiatives in order to contribute, even a little, to their economic empowerment and to fight against the youth unemployment that is growing in our country,” he added.

The launching ceremony of the project saw the participation of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Gabon, the Representative of UNESCO, the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), the United Nations Office Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a representative of the government, and several civil society organizations.

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Gabon Candidate for International Peace Ambassador

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article for CPNN by Jerry Bibang (translation by CPNN)

Gabon has officially presented its candidate for the International Peace Ambassador competition, organized by the International Organization of Young Peace Promoters (OIJPP).

The headquarters of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (Unoca) served as the setting for this ceremony, enhanced by the presence of representatives of several United Nations organizations, including UNESCO, UNFPA, UNOCA and the Coordination of the United Nations System in Gabon.
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(Click here for the original French version)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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The International Peace Ambassador Competition is an initiative that promotes excellence in female leadership to sustain peace between peoples and around the world. Its objective is to promote the involvement of women in peace processes and national and international cohesion for the effective implementation of resolutions 1325 (women, peace and security) and 2250 (youth, peace and security) of the United Nations Security Council.

The event will bring together, next month in Niger, 24 candidates who will represent their respective countries in order to win the final crown. Each of the candidates should present and defend, in front of an international jury, a project that will positively impact women on issues of peace and security in their community.

After the preliminary phases, punctuated by training and pre-assessments of the candidates, it is Mrs. Tamara Moutotekema Boussamba, a young entrepreneur, who will represent Gabon during this pan-African meeting, dedicated to the culture of peace.

“We are seeking the support of the various actors (government, development partners, private sector) in order to help us better support the Gabonese delegation which will have to take part in this meeting. On the sidelines of the competition, there is also an international summit during which Gabonese youth should make their contribution,” explained Jerry Bibang, Permanent Secretary of the Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace (PAYNCoP).

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Schools in the Sahel: lots of courage, but no teachers!

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article for CPNN by Emmanuelle Dufossez (translation by CPNN)

A few months ago, on the occasion of the Africa France Summit held in Montpellier, the need to enter into a phase of real cooperation with the the people of Africa was finally mentioned in an official and publicized framework, including by President Macron, who assured that this was an official engagement of France.

There is an urgent need to seize this opportunity to advance the project of peace in Africa; cooperation needs a common goal, and what more obvious issue then is that of Peace?

As a French teacher working with a colleague from the municipality of Tessalit in Mali, I would like to share our experience in order to demonstrate that cooperation is not only urgent but that it is above all possible, including in areas which, because they are declared dangerous, are deserted by institutionalized international NGOs and most journalists.


Video made by the students in Mali

Tessalit is in the Kidal region of northern Mali. France is very present on the spot, whether with the Barkhane force, or within the Minusma, whose camps are distributed in the North, most often quite close to the communes, although this is not always a factor of protection of civilians.

It is not a question of questioning the integrity of the blue helmets but of asking ourselves about their capacity for action on the ground without clear international cooperation with the populations on the spot. These people are quite simply the first victims of the conflict. In fact it is time, that this conflict is be clearly described.

Whatever the complexity of the situation, it is important to say that the populations, however abandoned by the successive governments of the country, are taking their destiny into their own hands. They do so within the very limited material conditions which are theirs, with courage and intelligence but without our support. France is aware of the situation, since there are effective collaborators on the spot when it comes to fighting an enemy for the common moment.

In December 2018, on a kind of optimistic collective whim, we had the idea, with my comrades from Tessalit, of organizing a meeting between a group of young people from my college in France and a group of the same age, accompanied of one of the few state teachers present in Tessalit. (See CPNN article of October 19, 2021.) Luckily, my Head of School, very sensitive to the situation in the Sahel, shared our enthusiasm, and had a web cam and microphone installed in my classroom. With the help of the CPE, we brought together a group of highly motivated students. For his part, my comrade Bakrene Ag Sidimohamed, convinced the head of the Minusma camp, located a few kilometers from the city, to welcome the group of young people, so that they could access an internet connection and equipment. allowing the exchange. And the adventure began! First in the form of these regular exchanges, then through joint, more targeted educational projects.

The purpose is not to describe our work at length here. What seems important to me is to provide, through our testimony, an example of how this beautiful idea of ​​cooperation can produce miraculous things: it was after the fact that we realized what we had succeeded in doing. with simple, obvious means, by combining the efforts, the skills, the material possibilities of each other, in France and in Mali. The projects that followed prove that mutual will is the essential ingredient of cooperation, since we have carried them out against all odds, and without any material support, except the provision of internet connection by our respective establishments (my high school in France, Minusma in Tessalit) (for a more precise description of the project, see article 2R3S)

By welcoming the students, the Minusma has fulfilled one of its missions in favor of peace. The positive consequences of this ongoing project are innumerable, but our satisfaction is mainly due to the surge of benevolent curiosity that it has provoked among young people.

We would like this to continue.

But the educational situation in Tessalit is a reflection of what is happening in the Kidal region, in northern Mali, and well beyond, on a good part of the Saharo-Sahel; public schools hardly exist, except sometimes on paper; there are no teachers, no material or so little that it amounts to zero. An example is Issouf Maïga, my colleague from Tessalit, who is almost alone with more than 350 students, who of course end up no longer coming to school, except for specific projects, such as those we are trying to set up together.

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(Click here for the original French version of this article)

Question related to this article:
 
Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

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Since I started working with teachers and volunteers in the Kidal region, I have been touched by the incredible commitment of a whole section of the population to advance the cause of the school. The inhabitants build classrooms as best they can, which are sometimes only a roof of dry grass to bring the children together in the shade. They band together to pay a teacher who will accept this difficult and dangerous task, which he will have to face most of the time with equipment and in conditions that are disastrous.

The argument which invokes the dangerousness of the region to leave all the youth there abandoned is not admissible. It is absolutely possible to help this population out of the crisis by its own strength, the local associations and NGOs present on the spot are largely doing the work of the large organizations which have deserted the region: they are the natural intermediaries of cooperation projects, those on which it is possible to rely. By committing to the education of their children, the population of the region is clearly showing their need for peace. They no longer want to see their children go to war.

One can sincerely wonder why for so many years, the international community has failed to put pressure on governments to make education a priority in this region.

We can also wonder how it is possible that despite the multitude of calls for help, requests for subsidies, transport of equipment, nothing happens, even though we bring the pledges of serious work. Most of the time, it is the uncertainty of the viability of the project that is invoked to justify the refusal. But the uncertainty is only due to a series of prejudices about the capacity and the will of the inhabitants. We may be judging in advance, in the light of the many scandals that taint our own humanitarian industry. Yet this is about men and women who want to ensure a future for their children and above all, it must be said, this is something that often comes up, in the exchanges I attend: a future of peace.

Lack of education is an argument for enslavement. Concretely, child labor, particularly in gold mining, is one of the immediate consequences of the absence of schools. One can then wonder if education is really a logical priority, since child labor brings to the system very low cost of wages and therefore of goods.

This scandalous situation is neither recent nor unique.

Schools in the North have been closed since 2012, but the reality of the region is one of general abandonment; what continues to function, despite everything, is essentially the fruit of a collective will. The international community need not search for twelve o’clock to two o’clock forever: in Mali, as in Niger, there are young men and women, who have often been stymied in the midst of their own studies by conflict, and are struggling today for the education of their children. We need to rely on them and support the projects that exist with confidence.

There is no shortage of very concrete examples to put on the table, and beyond the closed schools of major municipalities, there is the question of the children of nomadic populations, a large part of the inhabitants of the region, who have been forced to settle to find some security. Can we really accept that these children are deprived of school, even though we have signed the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child and we are talking about Peace?

Since there are projects out there, why not work with those who are doing them? The question is not to send manuals or desks from time to time, but above all to provide targeted support to each project, relying on local associations and community leaders. We must accept a way of working different from ours in the management of the collective and help these nomadic peoples whose freedom seems unacceptable in the eyes of the powerful, to train their children in the current world.

Without the teaching of vernacular languages ​​and vehicular languages, mathematics and culture, how can these men and women of tomorrow imagine that they will be able to go and train in schools and universities, to come back as doctors, engineers, teachers , to build the Peace they are calling for? And who will train the craftsmen of tomorrow on site, while families struggle to feed themselves? Local professionals must be helped to pass on their skills.

The international community, the donors, must grant their trust without trying to reproduce a Western school model which is not always appropriate. We must start from the premise that the mothers and fathers of the Sahel want the best for their children as much as we do. Simply.

We were recently touched by the forum co-signed by more than 30 elected officials from French communities and published by Cité Unie France. Like us, they call for a consolidation of links with the representatives of the population in the region. Will these multiplied calls be heard, at a time when far too many leaders are tempted by military action? For my part, I remain hopeful, carried by the courage of my friends, and I hope that my call for schools will be heard.

With the Franco-Malian Association Tazunt, for which I am speaking, we can make very concrete and serious proposals to provide real support in educational matters, and we will be happy to respond to your comments. The call of the people of Intescheq must be heard, we attach it here. We can no longer leave these children without help, the situation is becoming more critical every day.

Contact: tazuntazunt (arobat) gmail.com

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Mali: ancient manuscripts in favor of reconciliation and peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Mamadou Sangaré in Les Echos de Mali (translation by CPNN)

In order to promote and enhance ancient manuscripts, the NGO Savama DCI met with its partners on Monday, February 21, to talk about strengthening the process of reconciliation and peace.


The project named “Inspiration from Ancient Manuscripts for Reconciliation and Peace” is an initiative of SAVAMA-DCI in partnership with the Ministry of Crafts, Culture, Hotel Industry and Tourism, and supported by the Embassy of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Mali.

Indeed, it is addressed, in the first place, to academics and actors of national education to encourage knowledge and exploration of endogenous sources in order to draw from them possible solutions to today’s challenges.

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(Click here for the original article in French)

Questions for this article:

Can a culture of peace be achieved in Africa through local indigenous training and participation?

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In addition, it is addressed to decision-makers at the levels of the various institutions of the republic, in order to draw their attention to the contribution that the study and exploration of ancient manuscripts can bring in terms of political, economic, social and cultural ideas that support the development of the country.

Without forgetting the customary and religious authorities as well as the political class and civil society. This project allows them to learn from the lessons of ancient manuscripts in their daily actions for the development of the country.

The Ambassador of Great Britain, Barry Owen, invited the diplomatic and partners of Mali to support the efforts of Mali in its quest for endogenous solutions to face these development challenges. According to the English diplomat, it is a question of  sensitizing the general public in general on the importance of ancient manuscripts and the lessons they convey for the development of populations in political, economic, social and cultural life.

The representative of the Minister of Handicrafts, Culture, Hotel Industry and Tourism, Hamane Demba Cissé, indicated that the initiative will make it possible to know about ancient manuscripts, to divulge their teachings in favor of reconciliation and peace. In addition, “these lessons, he said, will serve as references and a guide to lasting peace in a prosperous Mali, based on democratic values ​​and good governance. »

The project revolves around six manuscript works that have been critically edited and translated by SAVAMA-DCI. These include, among others, the culture of peace and the spirit of tolerance in Islam, the council enlightening the villainy of conflict between believers, the principles of justice for rulers and high personalities, the approach to religion on the duties of kings and rulers, human interests related to religion and the body, and development of the morals of nobles.

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE