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2000 - Opening of the ceremony by Mr Alioune Traoré |
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| Executive Secretary of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize | |
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Honourable
Guests, It is a great honour for the Executive Secretariat of the Prize to be organizing this ceremony at which the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize will be presented to Ms Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. First, allow me to discharge a duty and introduce the Jury of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize to our honourable guests, and to greet its President, Dr Henry Kissinger, whose fidelity to the memory of the Sage of Yamoussoukro shows exemplary commitment to the cause of peace and to the Prize. My greetings are also extended to the eminent members of the Jury present:
The other members of the Jury, who are unable to be with us, have asked me to greet Ms Mary Robinson on their behalf and to congratulate her on the high distinction she is receiving today from the hands of Dr Henry Kissinger and the Director-General. The members concerned are:
As in the past, this distinguished international Jury has shown proof of its lucidity and competence by designating a prizewinner who is unanimously respected and admired the world over. Your
Excellencies, Allow me to turn with gratitude and deference to President Abdou Diouf, Patron of the Prize, and President Henri Konan Bédié, Sponsor of the Prize. I wish to express my profound thanks for the support they have never ceased to give me in the performance of my duties in the service of the international reputation of the Prize. Their fidelity to President Félix Houphouët-Boigny has taken the form of a constant commitment to the cause of the Prize. I do not hesitate to say that their action has been, and still is, irreplaceable. Your
Excellencies, I am particularly pleased to announce that the French Government is represented at this ceremony by Mr Pierre-André Wiltzer, Minister for Cooperation and Francophonie reporting to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I am also pleased to draw your attention to the presence of a high-level Mauritanian delegation representing the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mr Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, who has made this Prize the symbol of his attachment to peace and to the memory of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Your
Excellencies, The community of UNESCO Member States cannot but be gratified by the reputation acquired in the space of a decade by this high international distinction that has become a symbol of UNESCO’s universal mission for peace and I am glad to have been associated with this lofty undertaking from the outset by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny himself. To the already prestigious list of previous prizewinners is added today the name of Ms Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Director-General and the other eminent persons present will, in a few moments, pay Ms Mary Robinson the tribute she deserves, and will do so better than I, but I do wish to express my profound admiration for the work she has accomplished in the service of human rights and peace. Your
Excellencies, The Patron and High Moral Authority of the Prize, President Abdou Diouf, will not be taking the floor at this ceremony. He has asked me to greet and thank on his behalf our honourable guests – eminent persons, representatives of governments and institutions, diplomats – who have accepted UNESCO’s invitation. He expresses his deep gratitude to the Director-General, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, for his essential contribution to the success and growing impact of the Prize. President Diouf pays a warm tribute to Dr Henry Kissinger, President of the Jury, and to all the members of the Jury who, with their experience and knowledge of world affairs and their commitment to peace, have made this Prize a distinction that is sought after and respected. He extends his warmest thanks to his brother and friend, President Henri Konan Bédié, Protector of the Prize, for his action on behalf of the prestige and lasting influence of the Prize. Mr Director-General, It is to your credit that you have created conditions more propitious to the implementation of the Prize, this instrument for the promotion of the values and ideals of peace that inspire UNESCO’s action. May I be allowed to express once more my profound gratitude and to reassure you of my total commitment to the pursuit of our common goal. You have made this Prize one of UNESCO’s priorities and you give your personal attention to the smallest detail so that nothing may impede its harmonious functioning. This is scarcely surprising. Your commitment to the African continent is not new; it dates back to the 1960s, when your diplomatic functions brought you in contact with the historic leaders of Africa, including Kwamé Nkrumah and a certain Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Your passion for peace goes back to your early youth. In La diplomatie japonaise à l’aube du XXIe siècle, an excellent work published in Paris in 1998, which made a valuable contribution to political science, you say that you entered primary school just before the end of the Second World War and grew up during the conflict and the difficult period that ensued. Of this period of poverty, you say, you still retained a painful memory which was indelibly impressed on your mind. You thought that Japan should not make the same mistakes again, and that in the future it should seek means of ensuring peace. You therefore chose diplomacy. As we see, you are thus a seasoned diplomat whose vocation for peace springs from a revolt against war and injustice. Today you have placed this conviction at the disposal of the international promotion of the Prize, which is most gratifying to me and to all friends of peace. Thank you. |
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