TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY . .

Special to CPNN from Jerry Bibang (translation by CPNN)

Celebrated under the theme “Together, it’s possible through volunteering,” the International Volunteer Day was the opportunity, this year, to appreciate the contribution of volunteers in the fight against the health crisis, which has become a social and economic crisis as well.

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PAYNCoP Gabon [National Coordination of the Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace] took part in the event organized by the Central Africa Office of the OIF [International Organization of La Francophonie] and the United Nations system, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth. The event recognized the actions carried out to fight against the covid 19 pandemic.

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“Since the onset of the disease, we have carried out awareness-raising and support actions for the most vulnerable,” said Jerry Bibang, the National Coordinator. These actions included :

– the sensitization of young people via social networks on barrier measures, in partnership with the National Youth Council (CNJ);

– the project to fight fakes news around covid19 (infodemic), in partnership with UNESCO;

– raising awareness among young people through comics strips, in partnership with Yali Gabon and Laboratoire Citoyen du Nouveau Monde;

– the project to set up a hand washing kit in the under-integrated neighborhoods of Libreville, in partnership with Engineers Without Borders;

– the urgent support project for people living with a disability, thanks to the support of Unesco;

– and the project to combat the spread of covid19 among young people and women in prisons, with the support of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and the Omar Bongo Foundation for Peace, Science and Culture (FOBO).

“Through our actions, we have directly reached 950 people and impacted more than 1000 people indirectly. It is also an opportunity for us to reiterate our gratitude to the partners who place their trust in us, notably UNESCO, UNOCA, FOBO and many others.”

“Despite these efforts, we are nonetheless aware that the challenges are still many and varied. One of our challenge is to be able to make vulnerable people economically autonomous by setting up income-generating activities.

Peace is not limited to the absence of war, it is also the absence of unemployment, of inequality, of injustice …

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from Radio Okapi

Two hundred young Twa and Bantu have been trained as actors of peace within the framework of the Tusikilizane Joint Project initiated in Tanganyika by UNFPA, FAO and UNESCO. This project consisted in training in the culture of peace young people and women from two communities previously in conflict. Provincial authorities say they support the project.

A view of the commercial district in Manono, 450 km southwest of Kalemie (Katanga / DRC).

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It was the Twa-Bantu conflict, which raged in five of the six territories of Tanganyika province, that motivated the three agencies of the United Nations system (UNFPA, FAO and UNESCO) to plan the Tusikilizane Joint Project. Since 2018, Tusikilizane has targeted 200 young people from two communities previously torn apart by bloody conflicts.

This project has just ended its activities in the territories of Kabalo, Kalemie and Nyunzu, after having trained for two years the nucleus of two hundred young people as actors of peace.

UNESCO Country Representative in the DRC, Jean-Pierre Ilboudo, explains:

“Their role is therefore a relay role, which will make that from 200, we will go to 2000, to 2 million to 20 million, to 200 million later. ”

Fifty other women from two communities also benefited from numerous sessions, tools and other capacity-building workshops to involve them in peacebuilding and social cohesion in the region.

“Now that they understand, they would rather work for the welfare of the country and not be manipulated by adventurers. The government is there to support them ”, assured the provincial Minister of Youth and representative of the provincial governor, Radjabu Ali Lugogo Raligo.

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from Gabon Media Time

Following an exploration mission in Woleu-Ntem province recently led by Salah Kaled, Unesco Regional Director for Central Africa and Representative of the Unesco Office in Gabon ad interim, Oyem was chosen to accommodate the future headquarters of the project entitled “young people, weavers of peace in the cross-border regions of Gabon, Cameroon and Chad”. The project is intended to counter insecurity and growing crime on the borders of the three countries.

Governorate of the province of Woleu-Ntem © D.R.

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During his mission, the UNESCO representative made a point to present to Jules Djéki, Governor of the province, the challenges of this project which plans to mobilize nearly 1,800 young peace weavers aged 15 to 35 for conflict prevention and peacebuilding in the cross-border regions of the three countries.

Note that this project also aims to achieve 4 major results. According to Juste-Joris Tindy-Poaty, in charge of the Human and Social Sciences program, we can cite, among others:

– the strengthening of the Central African Early Warning Mechanism (MARAC) of ECCAS in the prevention of conflicts and violence with the participation of young people in each of the border areas;

– the involvement of young people in the trafficking of wildlife, natural resources and other forms of crime,

– improvement of national coordination and monitoring mechanisms by local authorities, in order to provide a more effective and more balanced response to the challenges posed by cross-border crime and the risks of insecurity ”.