ACALAN, in collaboration with the Government of Mali, celebrates the Peace Day proclaimed by the African Union.

 On Friday, January 21, 2011, the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), a specialized institution of the African Union, mandated to empower African languages so that they are used in all domains of the society in partnership with English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, celebrated the year of peace, in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Mali. The celebration consisted of a roundtable on peace, at the Aliou Blondin Beye School of Peace Keeping in Bamako, Mali, followed by a football match between the former football stars of Mali and members of the diplomatic corps accredited in the Republic of Mali, and finally a cultural evening performed by Tumani Diabaté, l’Ensemble Instrumental du Mali - the Instrumental Group of Mali and young remarkable rapper, SuperNova.
At the opening ceremony, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Moctar Ouane, stressed the urgent need for African States, to accord high priority to conflict prevention through preventive diplomacy in particular. More explicitly, the Minister mentioned threats such as terrorism, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa, African participation in the United Nations’ peacekeeping operations through the sending of troops or police units.

The Executive Secretary of ACALAN, Professor Sozinho Francisco Matsinhe informed the gathering that “the Heads of State and Government of the member states of the African Union, convinced of the preponderant role of peace in the security and development of Africa, and that the present generation does not legate the burden of conflict to the future generation, the Heads of States and Government of the member states of the African Union, in an extraordinary session on the examination and management of conflict in Africa, in Tripoli, Libya, on August 31 2009, proclaimed 2010 as the Year of Peace in Africa.” To implement the Decision, the African Union Commission instructed all its regional offices and specialized institutions in collaboration with the governments of their host countries to celebrate September 21 as Day of Peace in Africa. Professor Sozinho Francisco Matsinhe further said that this date correspond to that decreed by the United Nations Organisation as the Day of Peace in the world in 1982. He underlined that the marking and promotion of peace and security is not limited to one day, it should be a continuous process. All interested parties should be mobilized to continuously engage in activities that would render peace and security possible and sustainable in Africa and beyond. ACALAN, in collaboration with the Government of Mali, agreed to mark the day today, January 21 2010, because September 21 coincided with the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of independence of Mali.  
He stressed that peace and security are normal expression in our lives that we use on daily basis. The Arabic word Asalam aleikun meaning peace onto you, that most Africans use every day when they see one another denotes this. Peace is the soul of our existence, as is oxygen to our organism. Serenity, which largely depends on peace and security, is inextricably connected to development. Without peace there cannot be any development and integration of Africa. He pointed out that conflict whether armed or not has been the main obstacle of development in Africa and the world at large, peace is therefore a prerequisite to stability and integration of Africa.
Professor Matsinhe also said that this was an exceptional occasion for him and his team at ACALAN. He thanked the Government of the Republic of Mali, particularly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the other ministerial departments, ECOBANK MALI, BICIM and all those who contributed to the event. He thanked the African diplomatic corps accredited to Mali who responded actively to the instructions of the African Union Commission and participated in the preparatory meetings in view of making this day remarkable, the UNDP office and all the parties that contributed to the occasion including the media and the people of Mali.
He ended his speech by symbolically thanking the gathering in African languages, French and English.
The programme was animated by the Network of traditional Communicators who recurrently advancing the value of African traditions in African integration and development.
The Resident Representative of United Nations Development Programme in Mali said that “peace is a common good that should be built every day and which we should continue to build”.

Five presentations were made during the Round Table as follows:

1. “ The Role of Peace and Security in the Development of Africa ", by Dr. Zéïny MOULAYE, Program Coordinator of Shared Governance, Security and Peace in Mali (PGPSP)
   
   
2. “ The Role of Women in Peace, Security and Development”, by Dr. Mariam Maiga, President of the National Movement of Women for the Preservation of Peace and National Unity;
   
   
3. "Action against Small Arms", by the Squadron Souleymane Dembele from the National Commission against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light weapons;
   
   
4. "The Participation of Mali in Peacekeeping Operations" by Colonel K. Keita and Captain Bougadary Singaré from the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, and the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs respectively;
   
5. "Cross-border Cooperation", presented by Mr. Cissoko, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Local Government

 The presentations underlined the acquisition of peace and security as pre-requisites for African integration and Development. This requires the need to fight against extreme poverty and better management of elections as a means of establishing justice in society. The presentations also indicated that conflict only brings about ruin and desolation by suppressing ongoing programs of socio-economic development in society.

The Round Table strongly recommended for:

• a fight against extreme poverty, exclusion and the reduction of disparities,
• funds to promote gender equality, peace and security,
• budget to finance and promote Cross-Border Cooperation,
• the establishment of strong democratic institutions by putting emphasis on African  culture especially languages,
• more involvement of women in social activities
• a recourse to African traditional values in designing mechanisms of conflict prevention and resolution.