French President François Hollande awarded UNESCO peace prize for action in Africa
query_builder 05-06-2013
“It’s a symbol of ancient Islamic wisdom, spanning all of the Sahel, and of a common culture spanning all of West Africa,” she added, “from the ancient empire of Ghana to the Toucouleur empire and the Peul and Bambara kingdoms, that has been carried to our time for dialogue between civilisations.”
President Hollande received the award at UNESCO headquarters in Paris for taking action in January to end the control of insurgents in Northern Mali and bring peace and stability to the region.
Several presidents of West Africa and countries of the Sahel region attended the ceremony: Thomas Boni Yayi of Benin; Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso; Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire; Dioncounda Traoré of Mali; Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania; Idriss Déby Itno of Chad; and Macky Sall of Senegal. Niger was represented by its Prime Minister, Brigi Rafini.
During the ceremony, Malian President Dioncounda Traoré expressed his gratitude to the French President, praising the French operation in Mali as “a new chapter in human solidarity,” and asserting that “Francois Hollande left Timbuktu as a liberator, acclaimed by the Malian people.”
President Hollande was presented with a peace diploma, a gold medal, and $150,000. He will donate the money to two charities – one to support women in Africa and one to assist war veterans. In his acceptance speech, he underscored the urgency of the French intervention in Mali. “In the face of hatred, we had to intervene… Any delay would have been disastrous… It was for the women and children of Africa that France intervened,” he stated.
Photo Galery:
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/multimedia/photos/felix-houphouet-boigny-prize/
