Africa-Press – Botswana. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was today distinguished with the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in recognition of her efforts to welcome refugees, the entity said.
“All the members of the jury were touched by her courageous decision in 2015 to welcome more than 1.2 million refugees, namely from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. This is the legacy she leaves”, said the president of the jury and Nobel Peace Prize 2018, Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege quoted by Lusa.
“Suffering is universal, which is why solutions to suffering must also be universal. Peacebuilding is about opening doors to those who suffer. The jury’s decision reminded us that the way we treat migrants and refugees is a critical issue”, underlined, in turn, the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.
This year, an honorable mention was also given to human rights activist Julienne Lusenge, known for her work in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she denounced the use of rape as a “weapon of war” and fought for women’s rights.
Among the members of the jury for the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize are the former director general of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Michel Camdessus, the Colombian writer Santiago Gamboa Samper, the astronaut Thomas Pesquet, the American actor Forest Whitaker and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Hayat Sindhi.
Merkel, who was chancellor of Germany between 2005 and 2021, carried out policies that, in the 2015 migration crisis in Europe, facilitated the reception of several thousand refugees, 900,000 of whom settled in German territory.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
