Luanda - The empowerment and emancipation of youth were the dominant note of the panel "Young people, actors in promoting the culture of peace and social transformations on the continent", within the framework of the Luanda Biennale.
The President of Cabo Verde, José Maria Neves, defended the creation of conditions for young people to trust more in their states.
According to José Maria Neves, we need, in this century, to fulfill the promise of the continent's development so that its people can live with more dignity.
In his intervention, he spoke of the need for profound reforms and visionary leadership to reduce the gap in the level of development between Africa and the rest of the world, creating opportunities in all areas and avoiding defrauding the youth.
In another point, the Cabo Verdean President suggested greater investment in sports infrastructures in all educational establishments to take advantage of the potential and talents of the youth, for a culture of peace and non-violence.
Also when addressing the topic, the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, valued intergenerational dialogue and advised a greater role for the family and community in the education of youth.
With this, he urged for specific initiatives for the development of states instead of waiting for organizations like the World Bank, which actually advises against programs that help reduce dependence on great powers.
"The World Bank was not created for us. It does not subsidize agriculture in Africa, but it does in other countries", he concluded.
Mr Obasanjo also conveyed the fear of new types of slavery of Africans in 50 years.
In turn, the President of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, believes that young people have a crucial role to play if their education for citizenship is strengthened.
He also considered it essential to provide young people with skills to positively influence a culture of peace.
In this sense, he highlighted that this segment of society, if empowered and with access to financing, can contribute much more to the stability and development of countries.
Likewise, he criticized organizations that announce funding without reaching the countries in need.
In another intervention, the president of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, highlighted the challenges of promoting equality between men and women.
This, in the view of this continental official, must come from education, as attention to women must be a practice as they are the drivers of society.
Moussa Faki said that Africa has lost a lot with the segregation of women, even after proof of its management capacity.
The former Mozambican statesman, Joaquim Chissano, also made his voice heard, who urged youth to make better use of new technologies, in order to obtain good results and start exporting.
Another notable intervention on this day was from the President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, who considered it important for states to contribute to strengthening confidence in institutions and honoring the commitments made.
Sahle-Work Zewde called on states to ratify commitments made in areas such as education, integrating them into their political orders.
For her, education is the key to the growth of society, due to its transformative power for citizens, which is why she advocated greater youth involvement in situations of peace and security, prevention, mediation, electoral observation and in decision-making and positioning.
She also defended the need for governments to create an environment conducive to the return of the diaspora and that promotes conscious youth, strong institutions, with rules and guidelines.
In the afternoon's highlights, the former President of Malawi, Joyce Banda, defended the inevitability of the inclusion of young people in peace processes, as well as in all political processes and agendas. The former President of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, called for greater attention to environmental protection “in order to prevent nature from losing patience”.
For this reason, she considered it important to invest in the creation of clean and sustainable energy sources, to avoid natural catastrophes.
“The more educated we are, the more in tune we will be to produce enough for all human beings,” she said.
For the Secretary of the Council of Christian Churches of Angola (CICA), Deolinda Dorcas Tecas, the recovery of moral and civic values must be valued, through several programs for the culture of peace.
Deolinda Dorca reaffirmed her commitment to peace and development in the country.
In the same vein, the deputy director general of UNESCO, Xing Qu, considered education as a foundation for strong institutions and helps in dealing with adversity, which is why he defended greater investments in man.
Another personality who also spoke was the Vice-President of Namibia, Nangolo Mbumba, during which he called for the correct use of available devices to transform resources for the good of all.
The Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea, Manuela Botey, defended a culture of love for life and taking advantage of the country's potential to change youth mentality.
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