The greatest and the most enduring legacy is peace. Peace is the foundation of all development and progress. It is either there or not there. There is no substitute for peace and any sacrifice is worth making for peace. This message is the very essence of the International Year for the Culture of Peace for which the year 2000 was designated by the United Nations General Assembly and which will now be followed by the Decade of the Culture of Peace.
Dialogue is an imperative at both international and national levels.
It is thus noteworthy that earlier this year political leaders of Africa and Europe sat down in a dialogue to promote cooperation for the mutual benefit of Africans and Europeans. A little more than a century ago the continent of Africa was partitioned in Berlin among European Powers who proceeded to impose a regime of colonial administration on the continent, the negative consequences of which are still with us today. Africa's modern history has, since the 1884 Berlin Conference, been essentially the story of the European impact on Africa. It is also a story of many bloody revolts against colonial oppression and racism, a story of the emergence of modern African States and a story of how African countries in the contemporary period have embarked on the search for a more equitable form of partnership with European and other industrialized countries of the world. The dismemberment of Africa by Europe did not, of course, begin with the partition of 1884-1885.