A training and exchange workshop on interreligious and intercultural dialogue in Côte d’Ivoire was held in Yamoussoukro from November 26 to 27, 2019, organized by the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research (FHB Foundation) in partnership with the Institut Afrique Monde (IAM) for religious leaders. It brought together some 40 Christian and Muslim leaders on the theme: “Contribution of religious leaders to the promotion of the culture of peace, non-violence and the prevention of religious extremism in Côte d’Ivoire“.
Opening of the Exhibition on the train from Abidjan to Ouagadougou – 25 11 2019
On November 25, 2019, the opening of the photographic exhibition on the theme: “The train from Abidjan to Ouagadougou: 1898-1958” took place at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Research Foundation (FHB Foundation). This exhibition was organized by the association “Images et Mémoires” in partnership with the FHB Foundation, the History Department of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University and the Institute of African History, Art and Archaeology (IHAAA). It aimed at raising awareness of the active participation of Côte d’Ivoire in the implementation of the railway from 1898 to 1958. Photographs illustrating the vision of the railway, the engineering railway school, the earthworks, the completion and laying of the track marked this exhibition.
The FHB Foundation received two awards at the first edition of the “African Foundations Awards” (AFA)
The 1st edition of the “African Foundations Awards” (AFA), organized by the Africa Event agency, took place on Saturday 16 November 2019, at the CRRAE-UMOA conference room in Abidjan-Plateau.
Doudou Stevens Cissé, Executive Director of Africa Event, took the opportunity to explain the motivations of this event: “For a long time, foundations and associations have been confused because both are dedicated to the general non-profit interest. Today their characteristics are very different. While an association is the grouping of several people with the will to act together around a common objective, a foundation exists by the irrevocable allocation of assets for the realization of a work of general interest. A foundation is private money made available to a public cause. If both are necessarily non-profit-making, the association can defend the interests of an organized group: former students of a school, defenders of the environment, while the foundation is an association dedicated to the general interest. The State’s supervision is there as a guarantor of the public utility. The association disappears with the dispersion of its members while the foundation can survive. Governance is very different. An association is by nature democratic in nature, decisions are taken by the general assembly during which each member has one vote, while the foundation has a governance based on a board of directors that takes decisions”.
16 award-winning foundations plus 3 special prizes
This ceremony was also the occasion to award 16 foundations for their numerous efforts to improve the daily lives of the population. Among others, the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research, which was awarded the AFA Super Prize and the Peace Prize, the Magic System Foundation, which was awarded the Education Prize and the Amadou Hampâté Ba Foundation, which left with the African Cultural Heritage Prize. In addition to these awards, special prizes were also awarded to the Children of Africa foundations (led by the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara), Congo Assistance and Servir le Sénégal.
According to the president of the jury, Makani Diaby, 1st vice-president of the Senate, these Awards were awarded according to the following criteria: “To be a foundation. Have at least 3 years of existence on January 30, 2019. Be active on the African continent or in the African diaspora. Have a functional website, have already carried out quality actions in the field, having a lasting impact on beneficiaries. Be proposed by the organizing committee, associations, the media or a third person as a foundation”.
Leading the inaugural conference of the 1st edition of the Africa Foundations Awards on the theme: “African Foundations, Perspectives and Impacts on the African Continent”, Professor Aliou Mané, President of the Atlantic University, underlined the “imperative” need to legislate only for foundations. For him, the need to create a specific legal framework for foundations lies in the role they play in the socio-economic development of countries.
“Many schools and health facilities that we encounter in isolated areas have been built and are the subject of sustained attention from foundations in general. If the foundations did not exist, they would have had to be invented. Fortunately, like their counterparts in the northern hemisphere, many African and African-based foundations continue to support public action. Whether it is a question of creating banking institutions, oil companies, electricity companies, cellular telephone companies, initiated by public or private personalities, foundations act” he argued.
For him, the challenges of development, the specificity of the problems according to the regions and sectors of the population concerned, require that NGOs and associations take charge of the training of management staff and the management of daily activities. “Managers and foundation execution staff must be supervised to ensure that the destination of the funds made available to them is an effective destination and that the money does not disappear along the way. The qualification of the agents responsible for identifying, identifying, evaluating and carrying out material and financial support tasks is the essential basis for the success of their actions”. According to the academic, this will avoid the losses observed in the management of the administration of foundations and in the identification of the destinations of contributions in equipment and finance. The second conference was moderated by Diabaté Fatoumata, Deputy Executive Secretary, DG Lonaci Advisor on the theme: “Theme: Foundations, social actions and the well-being of African populations”.
Source: Intelligent d’Abidjan on November 19, 2019. (in french)
FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY PRESIDENT’S BIRTHDAY COMMEMORATIVE DAYS: Gala Dinner – 18 10 2019
At the end of the days commemorating the birth of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the winners of the second edition of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize for Research were awarded on the evening of Friday, 18 October 2019, during a gala dinner hosted by the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research (FHB Foundation). This prize is awarded each year for the best research work relating to President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. This award ceremony was held with the effective presence of Mrs Henriette Konan Bédié, wife of the President of the PDCI-RDA and Senator Mrs Makani Diaby, 1st Vice-President of the Senate, who represented the President of the said institution.
FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY’S BIRTHDAY COMMEMORATIVE DAYS: Dedication Ceremony – 18 10 2019
On the afternoon of Friday, October 18, 2019, a dedication ceremony was held at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research (FHB Foundation) for books published by the Éditions de la Fondation Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Editions FHB) and/or on “the father of the Ivorian nation”. Several authors took part in this dedication ceremony. They were Professor Amani N’Goran, author of the book “Oedipal Psychodrama – Psychodynamic Stakes of the Football Game”. The following were also present: Professor Frédéric Grah Mel who presented “The Biography of Félix Houphouët-Boigny” (three volumes), Mrs Sophie Koné Boating with the comic strip “Félix Houphouët-Boigny”, Professor Thot’o Amani Sroboua for “The Akhan and Pharaonic Egypt”, Professor Ferdinand TIONA OUATTARA for “History of the Institute of African History, Art and Archaeology (IHAAA) of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University of Côte d’Ivoire (1969-2017)”, Mr. Jérôme Kouakou Ya for “Les hommages publics à Félix Houphouët-Boigny”, and Professor Jean-Noël Loucou with the six volumes of “Discours et Messages”.
In the presence of a very varied audience composed largely of academics, the Secretary General of the FHB Foundation announced the publication of five new books on “the Yamoussoukro Ram” in 2020, including the Proceedings of the international symposium on his peace work. He took the opportunity to invite Ivorians to buy the books on the life of the “Sage of Africa”, because so far, only three thousand copies of “Speeches and Messages” and only one thousand copies of the Proceedings of the symposium on the “Political Thought of Félix Houphouët-Boigny” have been sold.
After speaking successively to enlighten the audience present on the contents of their works, the authors proceeded to the actual dedication.