Award ceremony for the Félix Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize

The ceremony will be held on Wednesday 8 February 2023 at 10 am (local time) in Yamassoukro, Côte d'Ivoire

The jury’s decision recognizes “her courageous decision in 2015 to welcome more than 1.2 million refugees, notably from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea”. On the occasion of the award ceremony, Angela Merkel will deliver an important statement.   

An "honourable mention" will also be awarded to Julienne Lusenge, President of the NGO "Solidarité féminine pour la paix et le développement intégral" (SOFEPADI), for her commitment to the women who were victims of sexual violence in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The ceremony will also be attended by

• Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, current Chairperson of the African Union; representing Mr Abdou Diouf, Patron of the Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize;
• Umaro Sissoco Embaló, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau; current Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States;
• Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana;
• George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia;
• Henri Konan Bédié, former President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Sponsor of the Prize;
• Laurent Gbagbo, former President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire ;
• Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission;
• Dr Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize 2018, President of the International Jury of the 2022 Félix Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize;
• Members of the Government of Côte d'Ivoire,
• Members of the International Jury of the 2022 Prize;
• Members of the Diplomatic Corps. 

The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize - created in 1989 - honours individuals, institutions or organisations that have made a significant contribution to the promotion, research, safeguarding or maintenance of peace, in accordance with the Constitution of UNESCO and the Charter of the United Nations.

The Prize has already been awarded to 29 other personalities, including Nelson Mandela and Frederik W. De Klerk (1991), Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat (1993), Mary Robinson (2000), Abdoulaye Wade (2005), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2008), Giuseppina Nicolini and SOS Méditerranée (2017).