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1992 - Statement from President Félix Houphouët-Boigny |
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| President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire | |
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Following the addresses delivered by the various participants in the ceremony, President Houphouët-Boigny, himself took the floor. He said that he did not wish to make a formal speech. After congratulating the Director-General of UNESCO, the General Conference, the Executive Board and the members of the Jury on the institution of the Prize named after him and on the procedures adopted for its award, he expressed his warmest thanks to the Heads of State and the numerous distinguished guests who were honouring the ceremony by their presence. In a brief and moving extempore address, the art of which is known only to the great masters of African oral tradition, he recalled how the Prize came into being, the philosophy that it represents and the role it is destined to play on the international scene. Extolling the Jury's first decisions, he expressed his satisfaction at their great symbolic value. when the Prize was awarded for the first time, in 1991, the winners had been Nelson Mandela and Frederik W. De Klerk. He emphasized the difficulties encountered by these two prominent figures in South African political life in their quest for a fair and equitable peace, and appealed to the international community to support the efforts of these two great leaders until they were crowned with success, as they strove to free their country from the bonds of apartheid and to further the advent of a multiracial, free, just and democratic South African society. He then praised the Jury's decision to award the 1992 Prize to The Hague Academy of International Law. He stressed the irreplaceable role played by that distinguished institution in safeguarding and maintaining peace through the channels and according to the principles of international law, and the need for these two concepts never to be separated. "Peace and law make good bedfellows", he said. He concluded his remarks by reaffirming his commitment to peace in the true sense of the word, peace "of hearts and minds, through justice, tolerance, respect for human rights, active solidarity and happiness...'" and reiterated his belief that "God is love". |
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