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.
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News from the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation in English.
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.
FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY’S BIRTHDAY COMMEMORATIVE DAYS: Thanksgiving Mass – 18 10 2019
On October 18, 2019, there was a thanksgiving Mass in Saint Augustine Church in Yamoussoukro in memory of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. It was officiated by Monsignor Alexis Touably. The latter wished that “the founder of modern Côte d’Ivoire” and his “immense work” be permanently in the spirit of the people of Côte d’Ivoire to whom he always advised to make peace their second religion. “Let us not speak of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny in the past tense, for a man of such greatness of soul can neither be of the past nor outdated. It is up to us to walk together on the paths he has traced out for us as the founding father of our nation,” he advised. He also stressed that “it is true that peace is a gift from God, but peace will not come to us from Heaven as a finished product, for peace is like a loincloth that we must weave together”.
COMMEMORATIVE DAYS OF THE BIRTHDAY OF PRESIDENT FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY: Study day on Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Thursday, October 17, 2019 marked the beginning of the commemoration of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny’s birth day with a study day that was furnished by two panels on the themes: “Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the man of culture” and “Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the pan-Africanist”. This opportunity enabled many young students from the political and administrative capital, as well as the populations in their political and socio-professional diversity, to revisit the actions carried out by the “Apostle of Peace”.
The Secretary General of the FHB Foundation, in turn, said that in addition to the celebration of the 114th anniversary of the birth of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, his institution was celebrating two major events in 2019. Namely the thirtieth anniversaries of the Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men held in Yamoussoukro which gave birth to the concept of culture of peace and the creation of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Prize for Peace Research which this year distinguished the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy AHMED ALI before he received the Nobel Peace Prize 2019.
Ms Anne LEMAISTRE, representative of the UNESCO Office in Abidjan, for her part, wished that the year 2020 be proclaimed “the year of the culture of peace” in Côte d’Ivoire.
Professor Robert NIAMKEY KOFFI, President of the Scientific Committee of this day indicated that the exemplary life of Houphouët-Boigny appears as a symbol. For, the immense works of the “father of the Ivorian nation” are landmarks for Côte d’Ivoire. Addressing the themes of the day, the academic told his audience that Félix Houphouët-Boigny was both a man of culture but also a pan-Africanist, contrary to the image of Epinal that we wanted to stick to him, calling him a gravedigger of African unity, one of the artisans of the balkanization of African states. For him, this is essentially erroneous. He also pointed out the extent of the knowledge of the modern world, of the ancient history of this great statesman.
A total of eleven (11) communications were delivered during this scientific day by academics.
It should be noted that the Chief Executive Secretary of the PDCI-GDR, Professor Maurice KAKOU GUIKAHUÉ enhanced with his presence the opening of this study day.
Apollo 11: Message from President Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Message of good will from President Félix Houphouët-Boigny on the occasion of the first steps on the Moon of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969, 50 years ago.
In 2018, James R. Hansen recounts in the preface to a reissue of First Man – The First Man on the Moon, an interview he had in 2009 with Neil Armstrong, during which he was quoted the three messages that most impressed him:
- Félix Houphouët-Boigny for Côte d’Ivoire;
- Baudouin for Belgium;
- José Joaquín Trejos Fernández for Costa Rica.
Message:
I am very thankful for NASA’s kind attention in offering me the
services of the first human messenger to set foot on the Moon and
carry the words of the Ivory Coast.I would hope that when this passenger from the sky leaves
man’s imprint on lunar soil, he will feel how proud we are to
belong to the generation which has accomplished this feat.I hope also that he would tell the Moon how beautiful it is
when it illuminates the nights of the Ivory Coast.I especially wish that he would turn towards our planet
Earth and cry out how insignificant the problems which torture
men are, when viewed from up there.May his word, descending from the sky, find in the Cosmos
the force and light which will permit him to convince humanity
of the beauty of progress in brotherhood and peace.
Conference on the New Silk Roads
On Saturday, June 15, 2019, a conference was held at the headquarters of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research in Yamoussoukro on the theme: “The New Silk Roads, Opportunities for Africa: The Case of Côte d’Ivoire”. This conference, organized by the Association pour la Sauvegarde et la Promotion de la Pensée d’El Hadj-Boubacar Gamby Sakho (ASPP-BGS) in partnership with the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research, brought together about four hundred students, mainly from the Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët-Boigny de Yamoussoukro. The objectives were: to improve China’s knowledge and visibility in Côte d’Ivoire, to present the Chinese development model, with particular emphasis on the crucial role played by the “Silk Road”; to lay the foundations for the bilateral partnership between Côte d’Ivoire and China, between Chinese and Ivorian industrialists, between Chinese and Ivorian researchers and to raise the impact of Chinese culture on the harmonious development of Côte d’Ivoire.
The series of speeches began with that of Professor Jean-Noël LOUCOU, Secretary General of the FHB Foundation. He expressed his institution’s pleasure in hosting this meeting and the great personalities. He did not fail to greet the ASPP-BGS association by highlighting the qualities of the one whose name it bears, the Confucius Institute which helps to promote the Chinese language and culture and the eminent speakers.
As for Mr Boubacar FOFANA, President of the ASPP-BGS Association, he thanked the personalities present and all the audience before indicating the values embodied by the one whose name the association bears, namely the rapprochement between men, cultures and civilizations.
The series of speeches ended with that of Mr Liu YUNSHENG, Director of the Confucius Institute, whose speech focused on the theme: “Equity is a thought of sustainable development for the objective of living together”.
Two conferences were given on the following themes: “Presentation of the new Silk Roads: opportunities for Africa, the case of Côte d’Ivoire” and “Africa and the new Silk Roads: cultural and strategic approach”.
The first lecture was given by Mr. Sébastien PÉRIMONY of the Schiller Institute. The speaker first presented the purpose of the project, which is to put an end to centuries of conflict, war and colonialism. The aim is to put an end to a conception of the economy that favours the strongest and move on to a world of mutual development, co-development and dialogue between cultures. He then described the history of the New Silk Roads Project.
The second lecture was delivered by Mr Pierre FAYARD, Professor Emeritus at the University of Poitiers. The speaker developed the theme: “Africa and the new silk routes: a cultural and strategic approach” around culture, the economy and the strategy of conquest. He concluded by justifying the project for the new Silk Roads with the strategic argument that only those who see far can win.
After the series of questions to the speakers by the audience, the conference ended with a visit to an image exhibition presented by the Confucius Institute.
The New Jury of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize
According to Article 5 of the new Statutes of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize,