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An article from UNESCO (translation by CPNN)
The donors’ round table on the National Program for the Culture of Peace in Mali was held on February 15, 2018 in Bamako. It was organized by the Ministry of National Reconciliation and Social Cohesion (MRNCS), in collaboration with UNESCO, under the chairmanship of Mr. Attaher AG Iknane, Secretary General of the MRNCS, and Mr. Hervé Huot-Marchand, UNESCO Representative in Mali.
This round table was a moment of dialogue and advocacy around the National Program for the Culture of Peace in Mali (PNCP), which is now a reference framework for the interventions of the Ministry. The presence of technical and financial partners (European Union, USAID, AfDB, UNDP, UNFEMMES), regional institutions (ECOWAS), international NGOs (Plan International), national financial institutions (BOA, BSIC, BIM , etc.) and civil society organizations, has made it possible to present the PNCP in its broad contribution to sustainably establishing a culture of peace in Mali and reconnecting with Malian socio-cultural values.
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Question related to this article.
Will UNESCO once again play a role in the culture of peace?
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Hervé Huot-Marchand congratulated the government of Mali for its efforts in promoting the culture of peace and in developing the PNCP. He then recalled that this program is consistent with the genesis of UNESCO’s Constitution which states: “Since war begins in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that we must erect the barriers of defense of peace. He continued his speech highlighting the impact of the program in achieving the objectives defined in the Strategic Framework for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Development (CREDD) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). In addition, the Representative welcomed the alignment of the program to the 2030 Agenda with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially the 16 th which recommends: “peace assurance, stability, human rights and effective governance based on the rule of law as important vectors for sustainable development “.
Mr. Huot-Marchand called on all partners to support the implementation of the activities of the action plan and informed the Ministry of the mobilization of 2,626,790 USD or more than 1,300,000,000 FCFA for the culture of peace, this by UNESCO, IOM and UNICEF through the Peace Building Fund (PBF). The project will be implemented for 18 months from March 2018.
On behalf of the Minister, Mr. Attaher Iknane, Secretary General of the MRNCS, welcomed everyone, while expressing thanks to participants, including UNESCO, for their technical and financial support in the implementation of this program. He also recalled the objectives of the PNCP as well as the participatory approach that underpinned its development and that will contribute to establishing peace and offering tools to prevent violent extremism. He ended his speech with words of thanks and renewed Mali’s recognition of donors: “Investing in the culture of peace is never too much”.
After the presentation of the project, the floor was given to the participants for reactions. These focused on questions of clarification on (the overall budget and the duration of the program), suggestions around an action plan of activities that could facilitate TFPs to better direct their investments according to the areas mentioned.
At the end of this round table, the Ministry commits itself to continue the steps for a concretization of the activities retained in the PNCP over the period 2017-2020.