Félix Houphouët Boigny Peace Prize awarded to Angela Merkel

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a speech during the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize award ceremony at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation in Yamoussoukro, February 8, 2023. AFP - ISSOUF SANOGO

Text by: RFI Follow

3 mins

Several personalities are gathered this Wednesday, February 8 for the presentation of the Félix Houphouët Boigny prize for peace.

This UNESCO prize is awarded this year to the former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

Several distinguished guests from the sub-region made the trip to Côte d'Ivoire.

And this meeting is all the more symbolic on a national scale since this ceremony will bring together the three heavyweights of Ivorian politics.

Advertisement

Read more

With our correspondent in Ivory Coast,

By awarding the former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the Félix Houphouët Boigny Prize for Peace, the jury composed of 11 personalities wanted to mark its gratitude for "

 ", taken in 2015, to welcome more than one million refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea in particular. 

On the occasion of this award ceremony, nearly 2,000 guests made the trip.

There were many heads of state from the sub-region: Macky Sall who represents Abdou Diouf, the sponsor of the prize, Umaro Sissoco Embalo for Guinea-Bissau, George Weah from Liberia or even Moussa Faki Mahamat, the president of the African Union commission.

And on the Ivorian side, all political sensitivities were represented, opposition as well as the ruling party.

We noted in particular the presence of former presidents Henri Konan Bédié, protector of the prize,

and Laurent Gbagbo, invited on the initiative of Alassane Ouattara, also in the room.

Their last official meeting dates back to July 2022.

A sign of openness that the organizers willingly put forward a few months of highly disputed elections.

," says Jean-Noël Loucou, Secretary General of the Félix Houphouët Boigny Foundation.

"Akwaba" to Ms. Angela Merkel, former Chancellor of Germany and winner of the prestigious Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize for Peace Research from UNESCO!

pic.twitter.com/jpS5thq0Sd

— Alassane Ouattara (@AOuattara_PRCI) February 7, 2023

“Commemorating the spirit of Houphouët-Boigny and reviving “houphouëtism””

This is the second time that this Félix Houphouët-Boigny prize from Unesco has been awarded to Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Côte d'Ivoire.

For local authorities, it is also an opportunity to remember the figure of the father of the Nation, who died thirty years ago.

This is what Augustin Thiam, Minister Governor of the District of Yamoussoukro, explains to us:

It is a joint decision of Unesco and the Ivorian government to do this in Yamoussoukro, perhaps to commemorate the spirit of Houphouët-Boigny and revive “Houphouëtism”.

In terms of demography, if you take the population of Côte d'Ivoire, 70% of the population is under 30 years old.

This therefore means that 70% of the population does not know Houphouët-Boigny.

Say, they know the name, but they didn't live under him, don't know his thought.

So it is up to us who knew Houphouët-Boigny to convey his thought, to popularize it.

Today, for example, there is a series of conferences on the theme: “A youth for the future of Côte d'Ivoire”.

And the Foundation for Peace Research has decided to make 2023 the Houphouët-Boigny year. 

COTE D'IVOIRE Q/A EVENING FILE (Q/A) presentation of the HOUPHOUËT BOIGNY Peace Prize to Angela MERKEL

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

• UN

• Unesco

• Ivory Coast

• Angela Merkel