ADDRESS BY MR. HENRY A. KISSINGER
President of the International Jury

at the award ceremony of the
1991 Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

UNESCO, 3 February 1992

President De Klerk,
President Mandela,
Mr. Director General,
President of Senegal,

The role of every great leader is to take his people from where it is to where it has never been. No two contemporary leaders symbolize this task more than our honorees today. Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for nearly three decades, has taken his people towards a negotiation on equality and participation in government without rancour and without bitterness, realizing the importance of shared values and common objectives. And President De Klerk has taken a people imprisoned -- not in the concrete, but by its own concepts and traditions of three hundred years -- onto the painful road of accepting the reality of the shared dignity of all the peoples of the great and beautiful country in which they live. And in going on this often lonely journey together, they are contributing not only to the salvation and the greatness of their country, but to the future of democracy, which has so far prospered in societies that were quite homogeneous but now has to be applied to an environment of many ethnic and linguistic differences. It is a journey of great significance to a continent that has suffered so enormously from foreign imposition, but where an example may now be set of how different peoples can live together. It is an experiment in peace and progress and it must be achieved among groups that, by all historic standards, should have been divided by an insurmountable gulf, but which have demonstrated their capacity for, not just reconciliation, but for goals that transcend anything either group has ever experienced.

I think that rather than having me describe our honorees' views, I might quote from what they have themselves stated. I first took notice of Nelson Mandela shortly after my initial visit to South Africa, nearly thirty years ago, when he was on trial. I remember reading with great interest the speech with which he addressed the court, and thinking it was one of the noble documents of our period. I would now like to quote a few sentences from it: "We want equal political rights, because without them, our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the Whites in this country, because the

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majority of voters will be Africans: this makes the white man fear democracy, but this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division based on colour is entirely artificial and when it disappears, so will the domination of one colour group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism; when it triumphs, it will not change that policy." And President De Klerk has said: "We want to make all South Africans proud; we want to build a South African nation in which, yes, all the various composite parts can feel safe, in which there will be acceptance of joined and common goals, in which there will be just class A citizenship, and not a class B and a class C citizenship. A new vision for our country is crystallizing, a vision of justice, fairness, equality and democracy."

No one who knows anything about South Africa would have thought it possible that these two prisoners of the past, one physically and one philosophically, could have transcended their histories, and met and defined a goal worthy of the suffering and worthy of the aspirations, not just of their country, but of their continent. Thereby they have inspired all of mankind, and, therefore as Chairman of the Committee of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny [Peace] Prize, I consider it a great privilege that this first award should be given to two remarkable men who have been such an inspiration to our time.

There was some discussion within our panel whether we should perhaps wait until they had succeeded in their task, but I think we all came unanimously, and enthusiastically, to the conclusion that our awardees have already made a tremendous contribution to mankind by the very effort they are undertaking.

All great achievements were dreams before they became reality. Cynics do not build great monuments. Our awardees have already contributed the dream; we are lucky that they are still with us to implement it; and, after the faith they have shown, it did not take very much for our Committee to honour them for what they have already achieved, and for what we know they will yet accomplish for their people, for their country, for their continent -- for mankind.

And now, if Mr. Mayor will join me, President De Klerk and President Mandela, please step forward to receive your award.

ADDRESS BY
MR FREDERIK W. DE KLERK

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA,
WINNER OF THE 1991 FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY PEACE PRIZE

Mr Director-General,

It is fitting that this first joint award of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize should acknowledge the signal efforts made by South Africans of all races and political convictions to bring about peaceful constitutional change in their country. Our aim is to eliminate discrimination in all its forms and to promote political and social justice, and economic prosperity to the fullest extent possible.

I should like, at the outset, to pay tribute to one of the great African statesmen of our time: President Félix Houphouët-Boigny after whom this award has been named. He has advocated, over many years, dialogue as an instrument of peace. At times he was a voice in the wilderness, but today we are encouraged by the extent to which his wise counsel has prevailed. We in South Africa are similarly dedicated to this approach of peaceful dialogue, discussion and negotiation and sincerely trust that we shall succeed in laying the foundations of a new nation of which all our citizens may be proud.

Conflicts, whether regional or global, have many origins and frequently reach so far into history that the antagonists have forgotten, or no longer care about the initial causes. In many countries and regions, conflict and strife seem to have become a way of life. We, in South Africa, have decided to break out of the web of conflict and strife and to reach out to reconciliation and restructuring, to a new and better way of life.

In this, we find ourselves in step with the international community and its awareness of the dangers of conflict and violence. The world of today, as we in South Africa, seems to stand on the threshold of a breakthrough to peace and reconciliation.

Recent events have again reminded us pertinently of the terrible danger of conflict, of the fact that the nuclear arsenals of the world are capable of destroying the greater part of life on this planet. This presents us with one of our greatest challenges: to ensure the survival, not only of mankind, but also of the whole environment.

Also in this wider context South Africa is prepared to play its part in ensuring peace and in warding off the threat of destruction and extortion. By

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signing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and a
Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, we have
demonstrated our determination in this regard. We look forward to the whole of
the southern African region being a zone free of nuclear weapons, as part of
interregional co-operation for the development of the entire subcontinent.

For South Africa, much more than for the two of us as individuals, today's
award is of great significance.

The international community, it is true, has a duty to encourage the peaceful
resolution of regional and national disputes. It has already conferred on the
United Nations a significant role in fostering world peace and is considering
adding to those responsibilities in the future.

However, while any moves to achieve these aims deserve encouragement, it
has to be remembered that it is, in the last resort, not the international
community, but the disputing parties themselves who have to resolve their
conflicts and live with the results of their decision. Accordingly, an important
limitation is enshrined in the United Nations Charter explicitly prohibiting any
positive encouragement from becoming interference.

Mr Director-General, South Africa has received a welter of negative publicity in the past for earlier attempts to come to terms with its widely varied ethnic composition. You know as well as I do, how strong the international criticism of these attempts has been, for UNESCO has been in the forefront of the campaign. In fact, South Africa's marked divergence from the direction taken by your Organization, led to its withdrawal in the mid-1950s.

It is, therefore, particularly symbolic that the first presentation of an award made to South Africa under the auspices of a member of the United Nations family, should be made through UNESCO. The fact that it is a shared award reflects the international recognition being accorded the new direction that most South Africans have embarked upon together. It will serve as profound encouragement to all of us who are navigating uncharted waters to the destination of a South Africa of which all the citizens are proud.

As is so often the case with reforms, obstacles of fear and suspicion have to be overcome to reach the democratic ideal. In this, South Africa is no exception.

Ideally, the ongoing process of constitutional adaptation should take place
in an atmosphere of peace, respect and trust. Nevertheless, there are always
those that do not wish to accept one another and that resort to violence to
achieve their ends. We dare not condone the methods of these groups. Anarchy
and chaos cannot be tolerated in any civilized country anywhere.

The vast majority of South Africans are in favour of a process of peaceful
and constructive negotiation leading to the adoption of a new, fair and just
constitution. This has been demonstrated clearly by the participation of most of

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the significant South African political leaders in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa which met for the first time last December.

The challenges facing the architects of the new South Africa are enormous. We have to reconcile the concept of democracy—within an undivided State— with the realities of diverse cultures, races, languages and history. For generations, many believed this was impossible. I am aware of the difficulties on the road ahead, but I am also convinced that the leaders of our country will overcome these difficulties in the unique process of peaceful negotiation that has begun in South Africa.

The irreversibility of the current initiatives is no longer in question. The good faith of the South African Government has been demonstrated beyond doubt. It has levelled the playing field for everybody and removed pillars of statutory discrimination that still inhibited the process of peaceful negotiation.

Much remains to be done, but we are undoubtedly and inexorably moving towards a new constitution which will include all South Africans in a just and equitable manner.

I should like to believe that our friends here today and all those who wish South Africa well, will allow South Africans to proceed with their negotiations unhindered in an atmosphere of reconciliation. The old stereotypes concerning South Africa no longer apply. What we need now is a positive attitude of general encouragement for the process on which we have embarked.

Notwithstanding the progress we have already made in the constitutional field, we face a tremendous challenge of socio-economic development and upliftment, aggravated by factors such as rapid population growth and urbanization. All this is placing enormous demands on our available resources.

While we have considerable technical and other resources needed to meet future challenges, the immediate need is quite clearly for economic involvement in South Africa, if we are to generate the required jobs, skills, education and services to build a prosperous future for all our people. We have noted with appreciation the interest expressed in this regard by many and give the assurance that we will continue to create a favourable climate for investment.

Mr Director-General, I am sharing this platform with my compatriot, Mr Nelson Mandela. We have arrived at this point along very different routes, but our presence here together does, in a very real sense, demonstrate our real desire and that of most other South Africans to overcome our differences and embrace the future together in a new, just, reconciled and fully democratic South Africa.

I stand here, not only as an individual, but also as a representative of many other courageous South African leaders—real democrats like Dr Buthelezi and many others—who have joined hands in their quest for peace and justice.

It is in this spirit and on behalf of all my countrymen who are working tirelessly towards this goal that I am, in all humility, honoured to accept this

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FOREWORD

By establishing the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize in 1989, the General Conference was responding to the international community's wishes for greater peace, justice and democracy. In an uncertain international context giving rise to both fears and hopes, it was forcefully reasserting one of the very reasons for UNESCO's existence—to construct the defences of peace in the minds of men. Finally, by naming this Prize after the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, it was paying tribute to a sage of Africa.

On the afternoon of 3 February 1992, Mr Frederik De Klerk and Mr Nelson Mandela received this Prize at the Organization's Headquarters before a packed audience of eminent political figures, diplomats, journalists, writers and artists from all parts of the world, yet united by a sense of occasion. That the Prize should have been awarded for the first time to these two men is evidence of the keen interest with which UNESCO is watching developments in South Africa. The stake that it placed in the future of this country—the triumph of equality and fraternity over apartheid and violence—is on the way to being won. With this, the ultimate winner is humanity.

Federico Mayor

5

The Director-General welcomes
His Excellency Mr Abdou Diouf,
President of the Republic of Senegal,
on his arrival at UNESCO Headquarters

11

The choir, 'Les Voix unies' and the orchestra,
directed by Mr Jorge Lozano Corres,
opened the ceremony with a performance
of the first movement of
*Regina Coeli*, K108, by Mozart

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[40]

ADDRESS BY MR FEDERICO MAYOR

DIRECTOR-GENERAL
OF THE UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL,
SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

Mr President of the Republic of Senegal,
Distinguished laureates,
Mr Chairman and members of the Jury,
Ms Chairperson of the Executive Board,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased and proud to welcome you to UNESCO for the ceremony at which the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize is to be awarded for the first time. It is most gratifying that this occasion should be honoured by the presence on this platform and in this hall of so many distinguished guests.

Nobel prize-winner Nadine Gordimer, speaking at Cape Town University in 1979, said of the prospects for cultural reconciliation in South Africa:

'Any optimism is realistic only if we, black and white, can justify our presence, talking here, by regarding ourselves as **apprentice(s) to freedom**. Only in that capacity may we perhaps look out for, coming over the Hex River Mountains or the Drakensberg, that "guest from the future", the artist as prophet of the resolution of divided cultures'.

Nadine Gordimer's observation seems to me applicable today to South African society as a whole. It is—I would venture to suggest—only through a collective **apprenticeship to freedom** that South Africa can move, with all the dangers that the exercise of freedom implies, towards a shared and interactive culture. Democracies are, of course, by their very nature in a permanent state of apprenticeship and learning. All are evolving; all face crises; all are at risk from the forces of poverty, ignorance, despair and fanaticism. If today in South Africa democracy is a real prospect and not a mere Utopia, it is in large measure due to the parallel endeavours of our distinguished guests, joint winners of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize.

The tides of freedom can rarely have flowed more strongly throughout the world than at present, accelerating it would seem the very pace of history. The events that have recently unfolded in such swift succession in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa underline how far the human spirit is indissociable

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from freedom. Ideologies and political systems that deny the primacy of
individual freedom have had their foundations shaken or shattered by a force
more elemental than themselves. We are living in an age that, in the scope of the
political and social changes it is witnessing, calls to mind some of the great
moments of liberation in human history—a springtime of peoples occurring this
time on a virtually planetary scale.

The opportunities opened up by this stirring of the human spirit are great,
but so too are the challenges it presents. The opportunities are those associated
with the development of democracy, conceived of as the sum and reconciliation
of individual freedoms; the fostering of human rights within an expanded
framework of democracy; and the promotion of international peace and security,
for which democracy offers surer guarantees than authoritarian regimes, whose
unresolved internal tensions too often spill over into external conflict and
aggression. The challenges are those presented precisely by the harmonization of
individual freedoms, by the forging of an active citizenry, by the fashioning of a
society based on the mutual recognition of freedoms. Learning to live together
and the assertion of individual rights are inseparable aspects of the
apprenticeship to freedom.

Few contemporary figures embody the struggle for freedom so powerfully
as Nelson Mandela, President of the African National Congress of South Africa
(ANC). The campaign he has waged for over 50 years in the name of equality,
justice and dignity, and his courage, serenity and intelligence in the face of
oppression and suffering, have made him the symbol of liberation not only in his
own country but throughout the world. Perhaps I may be allowed here to quote
from a poem I dedicated to Nelson Mandela on the occasion of his 70th birthday:

There you remain, fettered,
Giving us freedom
Generously.
Today we want you to know
That each feather
On our wings of liberty
Bears the imprint of your prison bars;
That we are determined travellers
Along the pathways
Your captivity inspires.

Ahí Estás, aherrojado,
dándonos libertad
a manos llenas.
Queremos hoy que sepas
que nuestras alas
tienen en cada pluma
la marca de tus rejas;
que somos tenaces arrieros
de las intransitadas sendas
que tu cautiverio inspira.

From your goal, Sir, you understood better than anybody that the cost of
true democracy is always high and that, as José Marti said, one must either
resign oneself to living without it or make up one's mind to pay the price. Nelson
Mandela—a source of hope for millions of Africans, the expression of their
struggle and aspirations—has by the force of his example given a universal
dimension to the fight against apartheid.

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If he has done so, it is because—in the tradition of a Simón Bolívar or a Martin Luther King—he exemplifies the commitment of the liberator who never loses sight of his ideals in the prosecution of his cause. As he wrote in 1980 in a speech accepting the Nehru Award for International Understanding: 'The knowledge of shared suffering [...] keeps alive in us our oneness with mankind and our own global responsibilities that accrue therefrom. It [...] helps to strengthen our faith and belief in the future'. Throughout the long years of struggle and imprisonment, in the face of cruel injustice to himself, his family and his people, he has remained faithful to his vision of a democratic and non-racial South Africa—one in which all citizens, without distinction or discrimination, will have their place and enjoy their political, economic and social rights within a united country. It is this wisdom and clear-sightedness, this constant search for the harmony and convergence on which social understanding and peace are built, this commitment to freedom in its broadest sense, that have enabled Nelson Mandela to play such a crucial role in laying down the bases for the construction of a new South Africa.

In the three years—almost to the day—since he assumed the leadership of the Nationalist Party and in the two and a half years of his presidency, President F.W. De Klerk has been instrumental in unlocking his country from an unjust and sterile past and opening it to a future, fraught with danger and difficulty certainly, but holding out the promise of reconciliation and renewal. Before coming to office, President De Klerk recognized that 'the security of the whites can never be built on injustice to the other peoples of South Africa' and announced his intention to construct 'a just constitutional, economic and social order'. At his swearing-in ceremony as President he declared: 'History, I believe, offers us a unique opportunity for peaceful solutions. I trust the people of South Africa will, in these times, show the courage and vision required to break the cycle of conflict, tension and isolation which has gripped us for so long—the courage and vision to work for a new, strong and just South Africa'. He himself has provided the example of such courage and vision.

Heeding the call of justice and the voice of the international community, he has initiated a series of actions that testify to the intention to break with the past: the ending of the state of emergency, the release of political prisoners, the unbanning of opposition parties, the repeal or amendment of many of the legal bases of apartheid, and—more recently—certain moves towards power sharing. The decisive step remains, of course, to be taken: the preparation and adoption of a constitution that will usher in a genuinely democratic and non-racial South Africa. However, it is to the very great credit of President De Klerk that he should have recognized that the freedom of the people of South Africa is ultimately indivisible and that he should have had the courage and will to act in accordance with this perception.

37

Thus Nelson Mandela and President De Klerk have arrived, by different paths and from different directions, at an area of common ground where dialogue—based on the mutual recognition of freedoms—can take place. They have set in motion a dynamic of democracy that, if it can be sustained, could ultimately derive enrichment from the very diversity of its sources. They have wagered on freedom when decades of history and ingrained habit could have condemned them to a continuum of violent conflict. History is not predictable precisely because people like Nelson Mandela and President De Klerk exercise their freedom to challenge the past in order to construct the future.

Their historic undertaking—as we all know—remains not without hazard. Both must contend with those on opposing sides who would deny to others what they claim for themselves. In this way, Nelson Mandela and President De Klerk are united both by their shared hops for the future and by their common rejection of the extremes that would preclude the realization of those hopes. The road ahead will inevitably be difficult, for as Nelson Mandela has emphasized, quoting Nehru, 'there is no easy walk to freedom'. But in this alliance, in this joint apprenticeship to freedom, lies the best—doubtless the only—prospect of a united and democratic South Africa.

No, the walk to freedom is never easy. And it is long, as long, in the words of the poet, as impatience is violent... In our haste to see desired and long-awaited changes become tangible realities, we often underestimate the importance of time. The apprenticeship to freedom, the apprenticeship to democracy, are processes and, as such, they are part and parcel of time—which Bergson, who so finely plotted its workings in our minds, described as 'process and indeed at the root of all process'. Things that depend on mental attitudes and on culture in general are slow to change.

Decision-makers, people of action and the young want to move fast. And often it is necessary to move fast. In politics, it is possible to act by decree. But if a decision concerns cultural phenomena it remains without immediate effect—since that to which it applies is embedded in time, and time will not be hurried along. Conversely, when the time is ripe for freedom, no barrier, no decree can resist it. An apparently unforeseen, sudden and even inexplicable change in the political sphere is often the culmination of slow processes, long making themselves felt beneath the surface in other areas. What occurred recently in the former Soviet Union is, it is true, the result of the vision and courage of one man, but it is also the culmination of many years of invisible maturation.

Now, as we come to the end of the twentieth century, the old order is being overturned, the blocs are breaking up, the aspiration to democracy is demonstrating its universality. Shall we remain spectators, placid travellers seated before recording machines, unruffled orchestrators of a calendar governed by routine? No, we cannot, nor do we want to, for we know how rare and

38

precious such a conjunction is. The 'old' democracies cannot be content to marvel
or to congratulate themselves: history is carrying them away from the beaten
track. Political and social reality is being expressed in new ways; the young
democracies whose foundations are still so fragile need help to survive,
inventive help; hatred and fanaticism, the eternal foes of democracy, are lying in
wait for the right moment to sprout. We must therefore be at once confident,
bold, generous, creative, watchful and ruthless. And to achieve all this
uncommon energy is needed. Peace, freedom and the building of democracy call
for at least as much energy as war, resistance and refusal.

What is more, no recipe or model is available here. Admittedly, democracy
is based on universal principles which should shape in every citizen attitudes
instinct with understanding, justice and equity. But the ways in which freedoms
interweave vary from one country to another, since they hinge on the history and
cultural essence of each nation. Each country must then find its own form of
democracy in accordance with its own particular features. It would no doubt be
easier to impose a universal pattern. It would also be terribly reductive—and
probably ineffective. We must on the contrary look in every case for the complex
solution that will reflect the complexity of reality, work out—if need be,
empirically—how to strike a balance between individual freedoms and collective
freedoms, and invent the means for this new democracy of constantly reshaping
in the crucible of the national community the individualism it begets, thereby
making it firm and durable. That UNESCO is interested in this quest and is
making every effort to contribute to it is because the extension and consolidation
of democracy throughout the world are linked to the realization of its
fundamental mission, namely the maintenance of peace and security. Of all the
forms of social organization, democracy alone, by virtue of its institutions
founded on equity and harmonious coexistence, creates the necessary conditions
for civil peace.

In establishing an international prize to promote the cause of peace in the
world, UNESCO's General Conference wished to reaffirm its attachment to the
principles that had guided the Organization's founders and to demonstrate once
again its awareness of their relevance to the world of today. In naming this prize
after Mr Félix Houphouët-Boigny it paid tribute to a distinguished son of Africa,
a champion of co-operation and dialogue between peoples and cultures. It
wished to honour one of the fathers of African independence. It wished to
honour a sage who has always worked for the peaceful settlement of conflicts in
Africa, including those in the southern part of the continent.

We were delighted at this decision. Today when the prize is being awarded
for the first time, we are doubly delighted, since the vision exemplified by the
joint laureates clearly coincides both with the objectives of the prize and with the
ideals of UNESCO. For this coincidence I wish to thank the eminent members of

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the international jury and its Chairman, Mr Henry A. Kissinger, whose fruitful
efforts on behalf of the maintenance or re-establishment of peace—I am thinking
in particular of Zimbabwe—are present in everyone's memories. I also thank the
jury for having united in honour two men who not long ago were still
adversaries. I thank it lastly for having done more than pay tribute, for having
indeed wished, through the award of the prize, to consolidate a hope, reinforce a
line of action and encourage these two leaders to continue together the dialogue
they have already initiated, so as to bring about in South Africa the changes so
fervently desired by the whole world.

I am happy to welcome here Mr Abdou Diouf, President of the Republic of Senegal, a leader whose opinions are always valued and who took the historic decision to inaugurate the march of the African States towards democracy by making his country a land of pluralism and tolerance. I have not forgotten that in 1987 he authorized the holding of a meeting in Dakar for South Africans of the interior and representatives of ANC, which was a major turning-point inasmuch as it triggered, so I believe, a salutary change in the collective consciousness. The speech he delivered on that occasion testifies to his clear-sightedness and to his courage.

UNESCO takes pride in the presence of these heads of State and eminent
personages who have striven unceasingly to advance the cause of peace, equality
of rights, justice, freedom and, in particular, the establishment in South Africa of
an apartheid-free society.

Through studies carried out under its social science research programme on the effects of apartheid, through meetings held on this subject for the purpose of generating public awareness, facilitating the flow of information and mobilizing the intellectual and academic community and the media, through technical and material assistance in developing educational structures and programmes for refugees and through assistance to liberation movements, UNESCO has for decades been striving to eliminate apartheid. And it still is. But the special project it launched in 1989 also has a broader objective, which is to facilitate, stimulate and promote the South African people's search to organize itself into an apartheid-free democratic society. Is there for UNESCO any task more exciting, more consonant with its intellectual and ethical mandate, more relevant and more necessary at the present time than that of associating itself to the best of its ability with the transition in progress in South Africa, in the hope that one day that country, cured of its stigma, justly proud and at peace, will rejoin the community of its Member States?

Let us be fully aware of the challenge facing the South Africa that is being
built. It has to realize the long-flouted hopes of an entire people, develop an
unprecedented form of community life and serve a collective apprenticeship to
freedom in its national institutions. It must also, while having regard to the equal

40

dignity of cultures, embody the universality of human rights as proclaimed by the international community in the Universal Declaration and the two international Covenants. What is at stake is the dignity of a whole continent, for it is being watched by the whole of Africa. Just as the 'Mandela effect' on urban youth in Africa was undoubtedly one of the causes of the democratic upsurge on the African scene during the 1980s, so the 'post-apartheid effect' will be decisive for the political coming-of-age, economic development and moral well-being of the whole of Africa. Both a driving force and a source of stability at the subregional and regional levels, a non-racial, democratic South Africa, at peace with itself, would be the finest proof that sometimes Utopias are realized, that the ideals constituting UNESCO's raison d'être, sometimes find tangible expression.

I am moreover convinced that in the new age which is approaching, the age of necessary cohabitation between peoples on an increasingly small, increasingly fragile and increasingly media-linked planet, UNESCO will be playing a role whose full importance has not yet been grasped. It is the only intergovernmental body where cultures, in other words the heart and the mind, find expression on an equal footing. Mutual understanding, respect for cultural differences, free expression of collective identities and individual talents—such are the foundations of our future. Not everyone has yet admitted this self-evident truth, but eventually everyone will, and will ultimately be gladdened by it, recognizing that 'the only taint that can afflict a human group and prevent it from fully realizing its nature is that of being alone.'¹

1. Claude Lévi-Strauss, *Anthropologie Structurale II*.

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ADDRESS BY MR ABDOU DIOUF,

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SENEGAL

Mr Director-General of UNESCO,

Madam Chairperson of the Executive Board of UNESCO,

Mr Henry Kissinger, Chairman of the Jury,

Members of the Jury,

Honourable prize-winners, Presidents De Klerk and Mandela,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a privilege, a great honour and a truly joyous moment for me to take part in this ceremony which is of such highly symbolic importance; indeed, to be able to bear witness here for the African continent.

Speaking for myself as well as for my wife and all Senegalese, I would like to express to the Director-General of UNESCO, my most heartfelt thanks for this invitation which he so kindly extended to me, and for his friendly remarks in our regard.

By giving the name of Félix Houphouët-Boigny to the most important prize for peace in the United Nations system, you have provided, Mr Director-General, resounding proof of your attachment to this part of Africanity which you have claimed since the day of your election by the General Conference.

The institution by UNESCO of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny award for the quest for peace is a homage rendered to all Africa through one of its most illustrious sons, whose action bears out the very philosophy of the founding fathers of this prestigious organization of the United Nations system. It also gives me great pleasure to congratulate the Member States of UNESCO for having understood, by making that decision, that one of the major problems of our time and of the peoples of Africa in particular, still remains peace and international understanding.

By honouring through this gesture the elder of the African heads of State, this sage of Africa, you are offering to the men and women of my generation, the opportunity to celebrate the thoughts and deeds of a great historical figure in the evening of his life.

Founder of the greatest emancipation party of African peoples, the RDA, history will remember among his many merits, the battle he led in the Bourban

45

Palace, where in his ardent, impassioned voice, harbouring neither hate nor bitterness, he clamoured, for the abolition of forced labour after denouncing that demoralizing practice.

Today, he has turned his beautiful, great country into a land of pluralistic democracy which cleaves its own way for the promotion of human rights and liberty.

Indeed, Félix Houphouët-Boigny has always believed in the virtues of dialogue to settle what appear to be the most irreconcilable conflicts. A master of the boldest analyses, he could have claimed as his own. Mr Director-General, this fragment of your poem, in which you write with such beauty and finesse:

'When I am asked
from whence I come,
I will say that my lineage
is the whole universe,
the endless flow,
the linkage
of units
joined in clusters,
the interwoven cloth,
grandiose, rich
and ever drifting'.

Félix Houphouët-Boigny is on a par with the giants in today's world, and General de Gaulle certainly knew the basis of his judgement when, in his work, Memoirs of Hope, he described the Ivorian statesman in these terms:

'A political mind of the first class, at ease with all matters concerning not only his own country but also those of Africa and the entire world...'

Numerous conflicts between African States have been settled in Yamoussoukro. Many social and political crises in West Africa have been resolved by virtue of his discreet intervention, strengthened by his broad experience.

While supporting ANC, the sage of Yamoussoukro has always maintained that only dialogue will enable South Africans, Whites, Blacks and Coloureds, to reconcile with each other in order to build a society of freedom, justice and solidarity.

To such a man, we can say without the least suggestion of flattery: you have been worthy of Africa. So many positive deeds have undeniably earned you, our eternal recognition and respect.

Mr Director-General of UNESCO, by awarding the Félix Houphouët-Boigny prize for the quest for peace to these two distinguished personalities from South Africa, that is, President Nelson Mandela and President Frederik De Klerk, the Jury has made an excellent choice which surely stems from fortuitous intuition.

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On this occasion, I would like to take the opportunity to salute and congratulate the members of this illustrious panel, and in particular its Chairman, Mr Henry A. Kissinger who, through the various offices he has exercised over many years, has contributed so much to keeping peace in the world.

Frederik De Klerk and Nelson Mandela symbolize, in the minds of their countrymen and before the world, intelligence, political courage, lucidity and love for one's country.

To see them together on this podium to receive a prize, which they so fully deserve and which should encourage them to persevere in their endeavours, stirs feelings of joy and pride for every African and every person who cherishes peace.

Mr Nelson Mandela, through the lucid and courageous positions you have maintained in face of the political realities of your country, and by virtue of the tests which have never weakened your determination, you have, for many long years symbolized unflagging commitment in the fight against apartheid. You have drawn public world attention to the injustice and anachronism of a political system which, reduced the greater majority of the population of South Africa to the status of second class citizens.

Mr Frederik De Klerk, throughout a political career which has led you to occupy offices as varied as they have been vital in your country's government, you have known how to assign the proper value to the historical stakes and the extent of reforms which have been imposed to pull South Africa out of a morally indefensible and practically inoperative system.

You have carved these reforms irreversibly into the institutions and history of your country.

By awarding the Félix Houphouët-Boigny prize to you, it is the Jury's intention, on behalf of the international community, to celebrate this foresightedness and courage which both of you have demonstrated, in the midst of considerable tribulation and sacrifice. We wish you resounding success, for your work must still be finished even if each of you personally are already registered in the annals of history, just like other great men who have had the privilege of unsettling their century.

Ladies and gentlemen, this Félix Houphouët-Boigny prize comes at the right time, in a highly animated international context which arouses hopes and fears.

Hope means the end of the Cold War and its resulting bipolarization which blanketed all international relations with its deadly, debilitating mantle; it means the crumbling of the last dictatorships in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Central and East Europe. Hope is also that rolling ball of peace which seeks to announce a new world for the twenty-first century. Initiatives are being taken to reconcile the peoples of the Middle East and establish a climate of peace in Central

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America, in Cambodia, in Angola, and especially in South Africa, that great
country where in the next few years, nothing—and this I hope with all my
heart—nothing can prevent it from taking its proper place among democratic
nations.

But above all, we must not hide the fact that along with these great currents
of generosity, tolerance, love, fraternity and the quest for peace, some
uncertainties persist.

Fear is born of the resurgence of old demons which the world knew at the
start of this century, the exacerbation of rivalry between nationalities and
conflicts of identity.

We witness a detachment of the spirit of human universality, a withdrawal
into oneself, a shrinking of the circles of solidarity in favour of the southern
nations.

Furthermore, we witness these spectacular upheavals unfolding right before
our eyes, whose true meaning we can only glimpse in bits, reducing many
countries and peoples to groping in the dark and to accepting new forms of
dependence.

For all these reasons, ladies and gentlemen, we must strive steadfastly for
the maintenance, the promotion and the quest for peace and international
solidarity, which are the very objectives pursued by the Félix Houphouët-Boigny
prize.

Given such a Jury composed of eminent personalities from the five
continents, each of whom has contributed in his country and around the world
to the cause of peace and international co-operation, given the first two laureats
who shall remain symbols of courage, lucidity, foresightedness and intelligence
for future generations, and given a patron who has devoted his entire life to
peace and reconciliation among men, the Félix Houphouët-Boigny prize will
make, if such is our common will, a highly positive contribution to the
promotion of peace in the world.

May this beginning and the example which Mr De Klerk and Mr Mandela
symbolize constantly remind us in our hearts and in our minds, the profound
necessity of UNESCO's role in the world today and the need to return to the
universal spirit of an organization which thrives on differences and plurality, but
whose essence and final objectives embody all that is universal.

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ADDRESS BY MR HENRY A. KISSINGER,

CHAIRMAN OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY

President De Klerk,
President Mandela,
Mr Director-General,
President of Senegal,

The role of every great leader is to take his people from where it is to where it has never been. No two contemporary leaders symbolize this task more than our honorees today. Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for nearly three decades, has taken his people towards a negotiation on equality and participation in government without rancour and without bitterness, realizing the importance of shared values and common objectives. And President De Klerk has taken a people imprisoned—not in the concrete, but by its own concepts and traditions of 300 years—on to the painful road of accepting the reality of the shared dignity of all the peoples of the great and beautiful country in which they live. And in going on this often lonely journey together, they are contributing not only to the salvation and the greatness of their country, but to the future of democracy, which has so far prospered in societies that were quite homogeneous but now has to be applied to an environment of many ethnic and linguistic differences. It is a journey of great significance to a continent that has suffered so enormously from foreign imposition, but where an example may now be set of how different peoples can live together. It is an experiment in peace and progress and it must be achieved among groups that, by all historic standards, should have been divided by an insurmountable gulf, but which have demonstrated their capacity for, not just reconciliation, but for goals that transcend anything either group has ever experienced.

I think that rather than having me describe our honorees' views, I might quote from what they have themselves stated. I first took notice of Nelson Mandela shortly after my initial visit to South Africa, nearly 30 years ago, when he was on trial. I remember reading with great interest the speech with which he addressed the court, and thinking it was one of the noble documents of our period. I would now like to quote a few sentences from it: 'We want equal political rights, because without them, our disabilities will be permanent. I know

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this sounds revolutionary to the Whites in this country, because the majority of
voters will be Africans: this makes the white man fear democracy, but this fear
cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee
racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all
will result in racial domination. Political division based on colour is entirely
artificial and when it disappears, so will the domination of one colour group by
another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism; when it
triumphs, it will not change that policy.' And President De Klerk has said: 'We
want to make all South Africans proud; we want to build a South African nation
in which, yes, all the various composite parts can feel safe, in which there will be
acceptance of joined and common goals, in which there will be just class A
citizenship, and not a class B and a class C citizenship. A new vision for our
country is crystallizing, a vision of justice, fairness, equality and democracy.'

All great achievements were dreams before they became reality. Cynics do
not build great monuments. Our awardees have already contributed the dream;
we are lucky that they are still with us to implement it; and, after the faith they
have shown, it did not take very much for our Committee to honour them for
what they have already achieved, and for what we know they will yet
accomplish for their people, for their country, for their continent—for mankind.

And now, if Mr Mayor will join me, President De Klerk and President
Mandela, please step forward to receive your award.

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(lc)

Mr Director-General,

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ADDRESS BY MR NELSON MANDELA

PRESIDENT OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS,
WINNER OF THE 1991 FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY PEACE PRIZE

Mr Master of Ceremonies,
Mr Director-General of UNESCO,
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Firstly, permit me to express my profound and heartfelt appreciation of this honour that the Jury of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research has deemed fit to bestow on me. I accept this esteemed prize in all humility and in full knowledge that it is not the individual, Nelson Mandela, who is being so honoured, but rather the struggle for freedom and democracy in South Africa, with which my life has been so intertwined.

It is a hopeful sign of the potential of my country that this year this prize is shared by two people who trace their respective political ideals to opposing poles on our national political spectrum. It is the hope of all South Africans that this joint award signifies the convergence of our aims and a growing consensus that has begun to emerge amongst the overwhelming majority of South Africans about the future direction of our country. That developing national mood finds expression in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa which has placed before all of us the imperative that collectively commence the task of building a non-racial democracy.

It has been no easy assignment to build that consensus. Our country has finally arrived at it by a route that was extremely painful and which entailed great costs amongst which we must count human lives lost and broken. Perhaps history will one day record and enumerate the many lost opportunities.

South Africa is distinguished as a country to which history bequeathed two divergent nationalisms. These two, African and Afrikaner nationalism, embody fundamentally different perspectives on the character and the future of our country. Because both nationalisms lay claim to the same piece of earth, our common home, South Africa, the contest between them was bound to be both heated and brutal. We are confident that the progress we are making in the CODESA talks will lay the basis for an end at least to the more violent aspects of that contest.

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The shared commitment to democracy of all the participants in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa is indicative of a considerable narrowing of the distance that formerly separated Black from White in our country. It requires courage and vision on the part of all our political leaders to grasp the challenge presented by this unique moment. Posterity will not forgive us if we let slip this opportunity to move as painlessly as possible towards the goal of a country that is free and at peace with itself and its neighbours.

Eighty years ago, when the founders of the African National Congress gathered in the city of Bloemfontein, our movement embraced certain universally accepted core principles that form the basis of modern human rights culture. We have waged struggle and nurses the tender shoots of this culture in our country against great odds.

Reduced to their essentials these principles are that:

- governments must derive their authority from the consent of the governed;

- no person or group of persons should be subjected to oppression, domination or discrimination by virtue of his/her race, gender, colour or religious belief;

- all persons should enjoy security in their persons and their goods against intrusions by secular or clerical authorities;

- all persons shall enjoy the right to life, unfettered by impositions from either the secular or clerical authorities;

- all persons should have the untrammelled right to hold and express whatever opinions they wish to subscribe to as long as the exercise of that right does not infringe on the rights of others.

In accepting this prize today we feel that the Jury is acknowledging the abiding value of these principles and endorses them as sound.

The past 12 months have witnessed many earth-shaking developments in various parts of the world. The march to greater democracy has not left the African continent behind. In every part of our continent the search for greater democracy and to inject real meaning into freedom and democracy is proceeding apace. We wish to associate ourselves and our movement with this great tide of freedom in the conviction that responsible government is a function not of wise rulers but rather of a people who are politically engaged.

The commitment of ANC to these values derives from our understanding of their essential purpose, that is the empowerment of the individual citizen, irrespective of his/her status, by equipping him/her to cope with the complexities of life. South Africa cries out for peace and for democracy. It is our considered judgement that we shall not have the one without the other. What we seek to build in South Africa is a society centred on human needs and aspirations. This requires that we eschew the misanthropic ideology of racism

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(LC)

and apartheid. We as South Africans must part company with policies that render human beings the objects of manipulation by political and economic powers for the benefit of a privileged few. Our country must develop a national commitment to create conditions that shall enhance the dignity of all those living within it.

The oppressed majority in South Africa have waged struggle to capture for themselves the right to determine their own destiny, including the right to determine for themselves what to do with their future. The indispensable condition for that is the achievement of democracy. We consider that a goal that is worthy of the support of the entire international community. This prize to us has meaning because it symbolizes that support.

Thank you.

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At the press conference immediately following the ceremony, the prize-winners answered a multitude of questions from members of the international press corps – over two hundred journalists, a score of news agencies, sixty newspapers, and thirty radio and television stations.

In its coverage of the event, the newspaper *Le Monde*, on 5 February 1992, reported: 'The ceremony began with Mozart and ended with Mory Kanté... A packed auditorium, enthusiastic applause a platform of outstanding speakers... Mr Frederik De Klerk and Mr Nelson Mandela, with all the splendour befitting the occasion, were awarded the first 'Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize' on Monday, 3 February, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris...'

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BACKGROUND

TO THE FÉLIX HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY
PEACE PRIZE

At its twenty-fifth session held in 1989, the UNESCO General Conference unanimously adopted a resolution, sponsored by one hundred and twenty countries, establishing a Prize to promote the cause of world peace.

This Prize, the most important awarded by the Organization in this field, is intended to honour individuals, bodies or institutions that have made a significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining peace in the world, in the spirit of the Constitution of UNESCO and of the Charter of the United Nations. It bears the name of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, doyen of African Heads of State.

It will be awarded each year by an international jury consisting of eleven
prominent individuals from the five continents.

By this decision, the General Conference has placed itself in the mainstream
of the philosophy of UNESCO's founding fathers, who, in the preamble to the
Organization's Constitution, solemnly declared:

'That since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.'

The wish of the General Conference, in instituting this Prize, was to demonstrate,
in a highly symbolic way, its attachment to peace, dialogue and universal values at a
time when the successive upheavals that are threatening the world political balance
make it all the more necessary for there to be a constant reminder of the need for those
values to be upheld.

By the international composition of its jury, as well as by the criteria for the
award of the Prize that are laid down in its Statutes, the Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Peace Prize is destined to become one of the foremost among distinctions of the
same kind awarded throughout the world.

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(LO)

INTERNATIONAL JURY

OF THE FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY
PEACE PRIZE

1. Henry Alfred KISSINGER (United States of America)
   Former Secretary of State.
   Nobel Peace Prize.

2. Mohammed BEDJAOUI (Algeria)
   Former Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Algeria
to the United Nations. Judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

3. Juan Antonio CARRILLO SALCEDO (Spain)
   Former Judge at the European Court of Human Rights.
   Professor of International Law at the University of Seville.

4. Mohammed Hassan EL-ZAYYAT (Egypt)
   Former Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Nasser.
   Former Special Adviser on Foreign Affairs to President Sadat.

5. Jean FOYER (France)
   Former Minister of Justice under General de Gaulle.
   Member of the Académie des Sciences morales et politiques
   (Institut de France).

6. Misael PASTRANA BORRERO (Colombia)
   Former President of the Republic of Colombia.

7. Adolfo PEREZ ESQUIVEL (Argentina)
   Nobel Peace Prize. Former President of the International League
   for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples.

8. Abdus SALAM (Pakistan)
   Nobel Prize for Physics.
   Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Trieste, Italy).

9. Iba Der THIAM (Senegal)
   Former Minister of Education of Senegal.
   Former member of the Executive Board of UNESCO. University Professor.

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Composed and printed
in the Workshops of UNESCO

Cover by Boisnard, printers, Paris
© UNESCO 1992

Printed in France

All photographs by Mamadou S. Koné,
except p. 3 (photo UNESCO/Michel Claude)

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