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1994 - Address by Mr Abdou Diouf |
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| President of the Republic of Senegal and Patron of the Prize | |
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Your
Majesties, I have the great honour and privilege of saying a few words at this important ceremony in Yamoussoukro, a symbolic place. I owe this honour and privilege to the special friendship that President Félix Houphouët-Boigny felt for my country, Senegal, and to my deep affection for him, whom I remember with the greatest emotion. President Félix Houphouët-Boigny wished me to be closely associated with the work he undertook with UNESCO for a culture of peace, of which the prestigious distinction we are awarding is a vital aspect, and with his legendary generosity he made me patron of the Peace Prize. It is in this capacity, therefore, that I should first like warmly to congratulate His Majesty Juan Carlos I of Spain, and Mr Jimmy Carter, represented here by his son, James Earl Carter, and his daughter-in-law, Ms Ginger Carter. I, too, should like to say that the universally recognized work both prizewinners have accomplished for democracy, pluralism, tolerance, human rights and peace fully justifies the choice made by the eminent persons on the Peace Prize Jury. Your Majesty, your name is now indissolubly linked with the idea of a democratic, resolutely European Spain, which, because of its location and vocation, is also attentive to the societies and cultures of the South; in a word, a Spain ready to play a full part in bringing about a peaceful world in which humanity may be reconciled with itself and concur in the values of democracy, pluralism and solidarity. Mr Carter's commitment to these values is also known throughout the world. When he was in office, his work for world peace, marked in particular by the Camp David Agreements, strikingly demonstrated that there was also a form of political efficacy within nations and in international relations, based on the ethical requirements of sincerity, goodwill and faith in humanity. The jury emphasized that when he once again became an ordinary citizen, Jimmy Carter did not believe he was thus released from the imperative duty he had set himself to work for peace and a culture of respect for human rights throughout the world whenever there was a need to put an end to violence or assist the democratic process. Ladies and Gentlemen, The draft Medium-Term Strategy (1996-2001) submitted to UNESCO's General Conference proposed that the culture of peace be understood as "all the values, attitudes and forms of behaviour, ways of life and of acting that reflect, and are inspired by, respect for life and for human beings and their dignity and rights, the rejection of violence and commitment to the principles of freedom, justice, solidarity, tolerance and understanding among peoples and between groups and individuals". Promoting these values so as to "construct the defences of peace in the minds of men", in the words of the Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO, such is the philosophy on which the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize is founded. For UNESCO the aim is to acknowledge the gratitude of peoples to the eminent individuals who, in the teeth of circumstance, have succeeded in bringing hope of a world without racial, national, religious or ethnic hatred and violence, the hope of "civilizing the world", or as the sociologist Edgar Morin wrote, "confederating humanity, while respecting cultures and homelands, but also bringing democracy and solidarity". By spotlighting these people and the work that led to their being distinguished in this way, UNESCO is drawing attention to the idea of dialogue that was at the heart of President Houphouët-Boigny's life, as I said in my tribute a few moments ago. Knowing how to break out of the self-perpetuating logic of conflict and confrontation, and being always ready in heart and mind to engage in dialogue, at whatever cost -this was his creed. The creed of a wise man, an apostle of human fellowship, on the one hand, but also the mission of a universal institution committed to fostering a culture of peace: this is the confluence that the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize has brought about with a jury of unanimously respected eminent persons from various backgrounds. We now also have the prestigious list of UNESCO prizewinners to show what the prize is and what impact it has had: President Nelson Mandela and Vice-President Frederik De Klerk, Mr Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, his successor, Shimon Peres, President Yasser Arafat, and now Mr Jimmy Carter and King Juan Carlos I of Spain, not forgetting the Academy of International Law at the Hague, which was awarded the prize in 1992. The eminent persons who have thus been recognized as "peace-makers" have shown themselves to be men of conviction and dialogue, firm in their faith that reconciliation between those who regarded each other as implacable enemies is always possible. These are the people who, along with the Academy of International Law at The Hague, today bear witness to the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize. "We are in a hurry so that children can be born into a new world - a world where "hostility" and "war" are just words, found only in the dictionary", said Yitzhak Rabin when he was awarded the prize; he was echoing a sentence of the Sage of Yamoussoukro, who said: "Let us proceed slowly, for we are in a hurry". The words Yitzhak Rabin uttered and his tragic death at the hands of the fanaticism which is the enemy of peace, which ended his life but did not succeed in killing the ideal with which he had at last become identified, are now testimony to the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize. Your
Majesties, I am sure you share the feeling I have here in Yamoussoukro, where a worthy son of our continent rests, who embodied the noblest values of Africa and offered them to the world: the hope that some day children will learn of war only in dictionaries. That hope has the intensity of a promise. Thank you. |
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