Africa Day in Jakarta brings honor and pride
Africa Day in Jakarta brings honor and pride
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In an effort to revive the spirit of Bandung and Afro-Asian
solidarity, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirayuda and two of his predecessors, Ali Alatas and Alwi Shihab,
attended on Wednesday a ceremony to mark the 41st anniversary of
Africa Day in Jakarta.
The ceremony -- which was hosted by the dean of African
diplomats Algerian Ambassador to Indonesia Soufiane Mimouni and
attended by African and Asian diplomats, high-ranking officials
and public figures -- conjured up memories of the Asian-African
Conference held in the West Java capital city, Bandung, in 1955.
Indonesia -- under the leadership of then president Sukarno
and with the cooperation of other Asian countries -- hosted the
Banding conference at that time to demonstrate solidarity with the African
people in their struggle for independence.
"The presence of so many dignitaries ... is a source of honor
and pride. It is a clear illustration of the longstanding
friendship existing between Africa and Indonesia," Ambassador
Mimouni said in his inaugural address.
African Union chairman Joaquim Albert Chissano's Africa Day
speech was read by Mozambique's Ambassador to Indonesia Geraldo
Antonio Chirinza at the ceremony. Chissano is also the president
of Mozambique.
Africa Day, according to Mimouni, enshrines the symbol of the
struggle waged by Africa to achieve independence, freedom and
emancipation of its peoples. It is also a testimony of a major
political achievement that was embodied in the adoption of the
May 25, 1963 of the charter of the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) that led to the creation of the pan-African organization.
This year's commemoration came when heads of African Union
officially launched on Tuesday its Peace and Security Council,
the cornerstone of the continental body's ambitions to be a
robust guarantor of stability in Africa.
Hassan said at the meeting that Indonesia would host the
Asian-African meeting in April 2005 in Jakarta and celebrate 50
years of the first Asian-African conference.