ADF AFRICA DAY STATEMENT
ADF AFRICA DAY STATEMENT
Africa Day Statement
The African Democracy Forum joins the rest of Africa and the Diasporas to celebrate Africa Day. It has been 55 years since the creation of the Organization of African Unity renamed the African Union in 2001. Our organization recognizes the hard work done to realize the aspirations of unity that were strongly advocated for by African leaders such as Kwame Nkruma, Julius Nyerere, Haile Selasse and William Tubman when they founded the Organization of African Union in 1963. They knew that Africa had to unite or it would perish. They acknowledged the fact that colonialism does not end with the attainment of national independence and that the latter is only the beginning to a new and more involved struggle for the right to conduct our own economic and social matters.
We take this opportunity to celebrate our successes but to also reflect on the challenges and look at the opportunities for transformation and stronger Pan-Africanism. We have faced challenges such as xenophobia, terrorism attacks, our African brothers and sisters claimed by the Mediterranean Seadying in oceans while travelling to other continents to look for better living conditions. Let us all contribute and participate in the spirit of UBUNTU (togetherness) so that these barriers that keep creating divisions within our and across our communities and societies can be removed in memory of those we lost along the way and in paving the way for future Africans.
On this day we also celebrate the effort and work being done to establish and maintain peace by local peacebuilders and mediators across the continent in countries such as the DRC, Burundi, South Africa, South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. We commend their resilience, fight and quest for transformation. We support action that aim to protect vulnerable communities against violence wherever there’s a need. We call upon Civil Society Organizations as well as government institutions to work harder towards a more prosperous future in which all citizens are healthy, well educated people living in strong, able to build sustainable and developed economies. This can be achieved if we put our efforts together and establish policies and frameworks as a unified continent in the face of conflict or disunity.
The ADF remains committed to working together with the people of Africa to achieve Agenda 2063 with the vision of building effective institutions, increase accountability, solidarity, promoting peace, security and gender equality. We want Africans to be empowered and to realize their full potential, be satisfied and proud of their continent. We know that that there is a need to consolidate and share experience, information and training across the continent on multiple levels. Let’s all acknowledge this and build stronger connections between communities, national, regional and continental decision-making bodies. We look forward to more African stories of hole, solidarity, progress, love and peace emerging from our continent. It’s with this spirit that we join hands in celebrating the 55th Anniversary of Africa Day.