THE FHB EDITIONS AT RABAT INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR 2025

The 30th edition of the International Publishing and Book Fair (SIEL) is being held from April 18 to 27, 2025, at the OLM Souissi venue in Rabat.

This major literary event brings together over 775 exhibitors from 51 countries, with more than 100,000 books on display and a rich program of conferences, debates, workshops, and literary evenings featuring over 760 speakers.

This year, the Emirate of Sharjah is the guest of honor, shining a spotlight on Emirati culture and literature.

The key highlights include:

  • Linguistic diversity & intercultural dialogue

  • Moroccan diaspora & voices of the world

  • Ecology & respect for living beings

Les Éditions de la Fondation Félix Houphouët-Boigny pour la recherche de la paix are represented by Mr. Mathias Yao KOUAKOU, Director of the International Documentation Center (CID) of our institution.

A Day of Reflection and Dialogue Ahead of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny – UNESCO Peace Prize Award Ceremony

A Day of Reflection and Dialogue Ahead of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny – UNESCO Peace Prize Award Ceremony

On the eve of the grand award ceremony for the Félix Houphouët-Boigny – UNESCO Peace Prize, scheduled for Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Abidjan, a day of reflection and dialogue was held on Monday, May 19 at the National Center for Scientific Equipment (CNMS) in Cocody.

Organized in the presence of Professor Jean-Noël Loucou, Secretary-General of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research, the event brought together academics, writers, community leaders, representatives of civil society organizations, as well as students and pupils.

A Rich and Constructive Space for Exchange

The inaugural conference focused on the theme: “Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Peace”, and was followed by a thematic panel discussion on: “The Citizen and the Culture of Peace”. These sessions were enriched by contributions from prominent personalities such as:

  • Professor Méké Méité, Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair for the Culture of Peace,

  • Mrs. Marie Kouadio Koné, Director General of Social Cohesion,

  • Mr. Nabil Ajami, writer and Ambassador for Peace.

Highlighting Peace Education

Presentations were also given by students and pupils who had participated in training sessions held on February 17 and 18 on the theme: “Education in the Values of a Culture of Peace.”

A Call for Vigilance in a Pre-Election Period

In a pre-electoral context marked by certain tensions, participants sounded the alarm on the need to safeguard peace — a value so dear to the Father of the Nation, Félix Houphouët-Boigny — by reviving his ideals: justice, dialogue, social cohesion, and national unity.

 

FHB EDITIONS AT SILA 2025

The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Publishing House (Éditions FHB) actively participated in the 15th edition of the Abidjan International Book Fair (SILA), held from May 6 to 10, 2025, at the Parc des Expositions in Abidjan-Port-Bouët. Under the theme “Books and Roots,” this edition highlighted the richness of African and Afro-descendant literatures.

Éditions FHB’s Presence at SILA 2025

Affiliated with the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research, Éditions FHB made a significant impact with a dynamic stand that welcomed numerous visitors.

Activities and Events

The Éditions FHB stand hosted various activities:

  • Author Meet-and-Greets: Book signing sessions allowed visitors to engage directly with authors published by the house.

  • Book Exhibitions: Attendees explored a selection of works emphasizing the culture of peace, history, and the values promoted by the Foundation.

Commitment to Promoting Literature

Éditions FHB’s participation in SILA 2025 aligns with its mission to promote Ivorian and African literature, reflecting the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation’s dedication to fostering culture and peace through books.

To revisit the highlights of their participation, you can view their official Facebook page: Fondation Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

Call for Papers – Revue Haris, Issue No. 17 (June 2025)

For its 17th issue, to be published in June 2025, Revue Haris invites submissions of original, in-depth articles focusing on themes related to International Relations, Geopolitics, or Strategic Studies.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Manuscript Length: Articles should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words.

  • Formatting Standards: Manuscripts must adhere to the CAMES formatting guidelines, available on the journal’s website: www.revue-haris.org

  • Required Information: Each submission should include:

    • Full names of the author(s)

    • Institutional affiliation(s)

    • Email address(es)

    • A passport-sized photograph of each author

    • An abstract in both French and English (maximum 300 words)

    • Seven keywords

Submission Process:

Manuscripts should be sent simultaneously to the following email addresses:

Timeline:

  • Call for Papers: April 1, 2025

  • Submission Deadline: June 5, 2025

  • Feedback to Authors: June 20, 2025

  • Revised Manuscripts Due: June 27, 2025

  • Publication Date: June 30, 2025

Fees:

  • Review Fee: 25,000 CFA francs (approximately €39)

  • Publication Fee: 40,000 CFA francs (approximately €61)

For payment details and further information, please contact:
Dr. SILUE Nahoua Karim

  • Phone/WhatsApp: (+225) 07 08 33 00 53

FHB Editions at the African Book Fair in Paris 2025

The publishing house of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research is participating in the 4th edition of the African Book Fair in Paris, taking place from March 14 to 16, 2025, at the Halle des Blancs Manteaux (48 Rue Vieille du Temple, 4th arrondissement).

This year, Cameroon is the guest of honor, with the central theme “Journey(s) through Diasporas.” The event brings together over 40 African and Afro-descendant authors, publishers, and artists, with a dynamic program of talks and literary encounters.

The FHB Editions delegation is led by Professor Jean-Noël Loucou, Secretary General of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research.

An unmissable event to celebrate and promote the richness and diversity of African literature.

Cracks of Peace 2024: Lycée Mamie Adjoua Claims Victory

On December 7, 2024, the grand finale of the Cracks of Peace competition, held at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research, crowned Lycée Mamie Adjoua as the champion of this edition with an impressive score of 211 points. The event showcased a strong commitment to excellence, eloquence, and the promotion of peace in schools.

Final Rankings:
1st – Lycée Mamie Adjoua (211 points)
2nd – Lycée Moderne 2 (193 points)
3rd – Lycée Moderne 1 (40 points)
4th – Lycée Mixte 1 (0 point)

Individual Awards:

  • Super Crack 2024: Diabaté David (Lycée Moderne 2)

  • Best Slam Performer: Kouadio Amenan Anne Annick Vanessa (Lycée Mixte 1)

Prizes:

  • Lycée Mamie Adjoua: Trophy, laptop, 500,000 FCFA, books from the FHB Foundation

  • Lycée Moderne 2: Laptop, 200,000 FCFA, books

  • Lycée Moderne 1 & Lycée Mixte 1: 100,000 FCFA each, books

Words from the Patron:
Mrs. Nina Fadiga, an expert in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, encouraged students to shape their future through education, eloquence, and self-confidence. She also generously donated the laptops awarded to the winners.

Looking Ahead:
In collaboration with Indigo Côte d’Ivoire, the organizers plan to establish Peace Messengers Clubs in participating schools. These clubs will promote dialogue, tolerance, public speaking, slam poetry, and podcast production as tools to foster peace in the school environment.

Congratulations to the winners and all participants for their outstanding commitment to this meaningful initiative.

Call for Papers for the symposium on the topic: « twenty years after the war in Ivory Coast: thinking about the crisis in times of peace »

Organized by the Research Group of Strategists in Ivory Coast (GRESCI) and Félix
Houphouët-Boigny University in collaboration with the Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Foundation and the Institute for Strategic Research of the Military School (IRSEM).

CALL FOR PAPERS

GRESCI and FHB University are pleased to partner with the Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Foundation and IRSEM to hold a symposium to analyze the legacy of the Ivorian crisis, with
an emphasis on current and future dynamics, through looking back twenty years after the
outbreak of the civil war on September 19, 2002. This conference will take place from
September 19 to 21, 2022 at the headquarters of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for
Peace Research in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.

Twenty years after beginning of the war in Côte d’Ivoire, it is beneficial in time of peace to
draw lessons from the war. Ivory Coast had been for a long time an island of stability in West
Africa marked by instability. But the country entered a phase of crises which led to the start of
a politico-military crisis on September 19, 200, which lasted for a decade. The long negotiation
process initiated by the Economic Community of West African States at the beginning of the
war gradually opened up to various actors, but was unable to spare the country from a deadly
end to the crisis. Indeed, the 2010 presidential election, which was supposed to bring peace and
democracy, increased divisions while exposing the fragilities of a decade of crises. On April
11, 2011, more than 3,000 deaths ended the tragic page of the war in the country.

Ended, the word seems strong as war transforms societies and has a lasting impact on the
progress of a nation. In fact, the Ivorian crisis seems to be an ideal terrain for understanding the
complexity of civil wars and for analyzing post-crisis reconstruction approaches which, beyond
economic performance, are rooted in democracy, the preservation of freedoms and citizenship.
The writings and productions on the subject have shown the particularities of the Ivorian case
as a land of immigration, of tensions between democratic openness and authoritarian practices,
in a context of particularly strong ties between France and Ivory Coast.

The crisis itself called into question Ivorian strategic choices in terms of defense and diplomacy,
the role of France and, more broadly, of the international community – including pan-African
institutions – in conflict prevention and management. International actors and institutions have
been at the heart of conflict management and the post-conflict reconstruction process, both in
terms of justice with the International Criminal Court, peace and security through the role of
the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire and the French Licorne operation, and in terms
of economic recovery with the Bretton Woods institutions, the European Union, and the United
States, among others. Beyond international action, the local dynamics of post-crisis
reconstruction have been the subject of much research. Paradoxically, the crisis was a catalyst
for synergies and mobilization of energies that gave rise to a tremendous artistic and cultural
activity, of which the coupe-decalé was one of its exemplification. In short, war and peace in
Ivory Coast is the product of a dual local and international logic, whose causes and effects are intertwined.
What lessons can be drawn from the years of the Ivorian crisis and post-conflict reconstruction? Which of yesterday’s dynamics have disappeared, which have persisted? How does the trajectory of the Ivorian crisis and post-crisis period fit into the history of West African civil conflicts? The importance of Côte d’Ivoire in the subregion and the interest in the study of conflicts have encouraged the production of several books, articles and other reflections on the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire. However, two decades after the beginning of the war, there is a need for a global reflection mobilizing practitioners and researchers, looking globally at its various facets.
The organizers invite researchers and practitioners to submit abstracts of 250 words specifying the axis in which they wish to intervene. Please send contributions in French or English, from April 15 to May 20, 2022 and to the following address: colloquevingtansciv@gmail.com.

Within the framework of this symposium, the following themes are envisaged:
– Axis 1. Origin and causes of the Ivorian crisis and beyond, what remains of it today?
– Axis 2. Living at the pace of war: mutations, political life, freedoms and human rights, relationships to the sub-region, arts, rebel governance, living in war in government territories and scientific productions.
– Axis 3. International actors during war and reconciliation in Ivory Coast: UN, France, ECOWAS, AU, Licorne operation, UNOCI, ICC, high-level personalities, development aid actors.
– Axis 4. Consequences and mutations linked to the conflict: living the post-conflict, reconfigurations of the social order, ex-combatants, post-conflict socio-economic transformations, local power in the post-war period, youth and social mobilizations.
– Axis 5. Reconstructing and reconciling in Côte d’Ivoire: economic and social aspects, diplomacy and defense, justice, democracy and citizenship, territorial equilibrium and state presence.
– Axis 6. Questioning the post-conflict model: good practices, liberal models, justice.
Please also note that contributors should approach their institution to obtain funding to attend the conference. Some limited funds will be available to support colleagues whose proposals are accepted, but this cannot be guaranteed at this time.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr. Abiy Ahmed Ali, Winner of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize for the peace research 2019

Mr. Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, is the winner of the 2019 edition of the UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize for the peace research.
He was appointed on April 29, 2019 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris by the new jury of this prize consisting of:
Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia, Nobel Peace Laureate, and Chair of the Jury (Liberia),
Mr. Forest Whitaker, actor, director and producer, Founder of the NGO Peace and Develop Initiative, Special Envoy of UNESCO (United States of America),
His Excellency Mr. François Hollande, former President of the French Republic, former laureate of the Houphouët-Boigny Prize, Vice-President of the Jury (France),
S.A.S Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, Princess of Jordan, UNESCO Special Envoy for Science for Peace (Kingdom of Jordan),
Mr. Michel Camdessus, former director of the International Monetary Fund (France).
Professor Muhammad Yunus, economist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (Bangladesh).

Students trained in community life, leadership and the culture of peace

A training seminar was organized for members of the “Icônes de la paix” club of Nangui Abrogoua University (IP-UNA) in Abidjan, from April 16 to 18, 2019 by the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for the peace research at its headquarters in Yamoussoukro. Its theme was “associative life, leadership, and a culture of peace” and allowed members of the Peace Icons to be educated on ways and means to bring a new momentum of peace to academia by developing their leadership and their ability to work as a team.

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