Africa-Press – Angola. The deputy director general of UNESCO, Xing Qu, considered, this Wednesday, in Luanda, the joint holding of the Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace – Luanda Biennale as an act of reconciliation of Angola with its past and present.
The official was speaking at the opening ceremony of the III edition of the Luanda Biennale, which takes place under the motto “Education, culture of peace and African citizenship as tools for the sustainable development of the continent”.
Xing Qu stated that heritage, the memory of the past, is an indispensable tool for building peace in the future, highlighting UNESCO’s efforts to safeguard African cultural heritage during armed conflicts and prevent illicit trafficking in cultural goods.
“And, in our continuous efforts to build peace in Africa and beyond, Angola is a country that counts, given its history and experience” he highlighted.
He added that Angola, devastated by thirty years of civil war, can now tell us about the benefits of a return to peace.
He said that in doing so, it can be based on a strong tradition of openness to other cultures and religions, on the depth of its cultural heritage – such as Mbanza Kongo, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kongo, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017.
Xing Qu also said that by organizing this new edition of the Luanda Biennial, with the African Union and UNESCO, Angola is reconciling itself with its past and its present.
The official congratulated the Angolan president, João Lourenço, for pointing the way towards a culture of peace, and that “in this noble and necessary task, he can count on the full support of UNESCO”, he said.
“Our conviction is enshrined in our Constitution, which states: since wars begin in the minds of men and women, it is in the minds of men and women that the defenses of peace must be built,” he said.
Xing Qu clarified that UNESCO is committed to rebuilding peace on the African continent and gender equality, through education, carrying out programs to prevent violent extremism across Africa.
He mentioned, as an example, the “Young Weavers of Peace” project, launched in November 2021, which, as he said, has already trained more than 1,500 young people to combat discrimination and hate speech in the cross-border regions of Gabon, Cameroon and the Chad.
He also spoke about the implementation of media and information literacy projects in order to develop critical thinking among Internet users, where hate speech is increasing.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
