Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, said that it is a duty to believe, without hesitation, in youth, providing real opportunities for active participation in the construction of societies to solidify a lasting and resilient culture of peace.
The Angolan statesman was speaking this Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the III Edition of the Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace – Luanda Biennial, in the Angolan capital, with the participation of more than 850 guests, an event that will run until Friday (24).
According to João Lourenço, it is a duty to create spaces for dialogue in which young people must be listened to, their ideas understood and their contributions integrated to allow them to be actors of virtuous changes.
“I believe that if we manage, with some effort, to achieve this goal, we will certainly have also managed to prepare citizens capable of accepting the confrontation of ideas instead of starting the confrontation on the basis of divergent ideas”, he highlighted.
It is from this perspective that the President of the Republic attributes “central importance to intergenerational dialogue”, which, he added, has become a central reference of the biennial.
In his view, this intergenerational dialogue makes it possible to establish an exchange of ideas and a space for dialogue within which the combination of the wisdom and experience of the elderly and the creative energy of the young can help to make the smooth and peaceful passage of the testimony of a generation to another.
João Lourenço mentioned that the African continent is inhabited by a mostly young population who, naturally, have a set of aspirations and expectations, regarding their future, which must be sought to be met, always considering their role as a driving force of change, the evolution of progress, development, the construction of creative and innovative societies.
“The very nature of young people has its own dynamics and generates different approaches and visions depending on each generational group, a fact that must always be observed, with great attention, to understand the needs and demands of each time”, he said.
He highlighted the need to find solutions, as far as possible, “to avoid social tensions and attitudes that are often permeated by harmful ideas and socially and civically unacceptable behaviors”.
On the other hand, in the inclusion chapter, the Angolan Head of State stated that there is no longer room for reductive views on the place of women in our societies, in which they assume an increasingly active and recognized effective role in carrying out their professional responsibilities. .
João Lourenço considered that, in their condition as mothers, they (women) can become true architects of a world of harmony, peace, respect, tolerance, understanding and love.
The Luanda Biennial is attended by the Presidents of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, and Ethiopia, Sahle-WorkZewed, as well as the Vice-President of Namibia, Nangolo Mbumba, and the First -Minister of Equatorial Guinea, Manuela RokaBotey.
The Luanda Biennale serves as a platform for implementing the “Action Plan for a Culture of Peace in Africa – Let us act for peace”, adopted in March 2013, in the Angolan capital, at the Pan-African Forum “Sources and Resources for a Culture of Peace”.
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