Prevention of violence and promotion of the culture of peace during the electoral period in Africa
Contributing to the consolidation of electoral democracy in Africa through the promotion of democratic values was the objective of the FESA-UNESCO International Conference on 12 December 2016 in Luena, Angola.
It is in this symbolic city of Luena, in the province of Moxico, where the « cease fire » was signed in February 2002, ending the Angolan civil war, that the Eduardo dos Santos Foundation (FESA) and UNESCO held an international conference on «Prevention of violence and promotion of the culture of peace during the electoral period in Africa».
The main speakers at this conference, attended by about five hundred people, were Angolan officials such as the Minister of Education Mr. Pinda Simão, Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Albino da Conceicao José and the Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Angola to UNESCO, His Excellency Diekumpuna Sita José, and some members of the Network of Foundations and Research Institutions for the Promotion of the Culture of Peace in Africa and the Pan-African Youth Network for the Promotion of Culture of Peace (PAYNCOP).
At the opening ceremony, the Minister of Education reaffirmed the importance of the culture of peace as the best tool for preventing violence in Africa and ensuring healthy coexistence between citizens of different regions and cultures.
The Representative of the Assistant Director-General for Africa at UNESCO, Mr. Loïtéohin Félix Yé, Director of the Regional Multisectoral Office in Yaoundé (Cameroon) and Representative of UNESCO in central Africa, on the occasion, praised the exemplary leadership of Angola in promoting the culture of peace in Africa.
« Peace is a real and long process that involves everyone without exception. This conference should be a lever for the promotion and consolidation of peace, with young people, for the prosperity of Angola, Africa and the world, » said the President of the Angolan National Youth Council and member of the PAYNCOP, Mr. Antonio Tiagao Mateus
The conference, organized around two round tables, provided an opportunity for speakers to present the actions taken by their institutions in their different countries in the field of conflict prevention during the electoral period, and discus the means to bring all parties involved to abstain from all acts likely to create political and inter-community tensions, by favouring actions that promote peaceful conduct during the electoral processes. At the end of the discussions, several recommendations were made with a view to preventing pre- and post-election violence in Africa.
The conference concluded with the official launch in Angola of the Youth Campaign for the Culture of Peace in Central Africa «Different Words, One Language: Peace »; Campaign launched on 9 July 2016 in Gabon, on the initiative of the Pan-African Youth Network for the Promotion of Culture of Peace (PAYNCOP).The objective of this Campaign is twofold: media coverage of the notion of « culture of peace » in order to generate both an awareness and a reaction of public opinion; and more generally the role of youth in building and consolidating peace and non-violence on a daily basis.
The conference was also an opportunity, in the following day, 13 December, to hold two parallel meetings of the Network of Foundations and Research Institutions for the Promotion of the Culture of Peace in Africa and the Pan-African Youth Network for the Promotion of Culture of Peace.
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