This month we see once again, as we have noted before, that Africa is at the forefront of the culture of peace.
African journalism serves as a model for the rest of the world in its promotion of culture of peace, so much so that one of the CPNN discussion questions is devoted to this theme. The latest example is media network sponsored by the Hirondelle Foundation, including Radio Okapi in Kinshasa, Radio Ndeke Luka in Bangui, the Tamani studios in Mali, Mozaïk in Ivory Coast, and Hirondelle in Guinea. This initiative was described recently by Patrick Busquet, national representative of the Hirondelle Foundation at the International Women's Congress for the Culture of Peace.
Of special importance, because it supports the economic development of Africa, is the continued advance of tourism for a culture of peace. As described in the CPNN interview with Lou D'Amore of the International Institute of Peace through Tourism, the major upcoming symposium in South Africa, addressing this subject, is the latest in a series of conferences and initiatives that have been taking place since 2001.
In education for culture of peace there are remarkable advances. The new reference Manual for Peace Education, Human Rights and Citizenship for all of the West African countries, sponsored by UNESCO, is available online in almost all of the indigenous languages of the region. Here we see that culture of peace transcends national boundaries and applies to the region as a whole, and all of its traditional ethnic groups.
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Increasingly, thanks to the renewed involvement of UNESCO, there are networks of civil society organizations dedicated to development of culture of peace in Africa. The latest is a Youth Network for a Culture of Peace in Africa, which is being launched at a Forum, jointly organized by the Omar Bongo Ondimba Foundation for Peace, Science, Culture and the Environment, the Gabonese National Commission for UNESCO with the support of UNESCO and the African Union. This network follows the establishment of a Network of Women for Culture of Peace in Arica, and a Network of Foundations and Research Institutions for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace in Africa.
Finally, the culture of peace is being applied to the democratic process in Africa to provide popular unity instead of the kind of divisions that result from the electoral process brought to Africa from Europe and North America. Last month, we reported on a political initiative by the churches in Zimbabwe to promote an enduring culture of peace in Zimbabwe and facilitate national healing, forgiveness and reconciliation. And as stated in the dialogues sponsored recently by Albert Tévoédjrè, the former ombudsman of Benin, "we must privilege social dialogue upstream rather than waiting to curb crises after they have arrived."
