Africa_Water_Sanitation_Hygiene_July_August Africa_Water_Sanitation_Hygiene_July_August | Page 42

Roundup
Migration crisis takes centre stage at Félix
Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize award ceremony
© UNESCO/C. Alyx
27 June 2017
Giuseppina Nicolini, former Mayor of Lampedusa, Italy,
and the French nongovernmental organization SOS
Méditerranée today received the Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Peace Prize in a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in
Paris, France.
Other distinguished participants at the ceremony included:
Abdou Diouf, former President of Senegal and Sponsor
of the Prize, Henri Konan Bédié, former President of
Côte d’Ivoire, Michaëlle Jean, Secretary General of the
International Organisation of La Francophonie, Maria
Böhmer, Germany’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Vincenza Lomonaco, Italy’s Ambassador and Permanent
Delegate to UNESCO and Joaquin Chissano, former
President of Mozambique and President of the Jury of
the Prize.
The Felix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize was created in
1989 to honour individuals and active public or private
bodies or institutions that have made a significant
contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or
maintaining peace.
Yemen faces worst cholera outbreak in the world,
health authorities say
The many personalities taking part in the ceremony spoke
of the challenge posed by the migration crisis affecting
countries around the Mediterranean. They also stressed
the need to welcome refugees with respect for their dignity
and humanity.
“The tragedy of migrants and refugees raises questions
about dignity and solidarity today, all our concepts of
mutual aid, public action and social justice and should
be seen through this lens,” said Irina Bokova, Director-
General of UNESCO, who praised the courage and
determination of the laureates.
The Director-General went on to thank them for
reminding the world that, “migrants are neither a burden
nor a threat. They are the mirror of the humanity we all
share in all its dignity and responsibility.”
“The commitment and determination of the two laureates
are models for us and for future generations,” declared
President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire. “In
awarding you this prestigious recognition, the Jury of the
Prize, calls on the international community to ensure that
the Mediterranean cease to be the stage of tragedy but
that it become a place of intercultural exchange, solidarity
and dialogue.”
“The migration crisis facing the countries of the
Mediterranean and all of Europe represents a historic
challenge due to its scope,” said Jean-Yves Le Drian,
France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. “It is
the biggest movement of population since the end of
the Second World War. In fighting to save the lives of
refugees and migrants and undertaking to welcome them
with dignity, the laureates have taken on board an ideal
of human fraternity to which I pay tribute today,” he
declared.
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • July - August 2017
Women-hospital-hodeidah-relatives-infected-yemen-cholera
Yemen, a country ravaged by war and on the brink of
famine, is now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the
world, according to international health authorities.
The outbreak has surpassed 200,000 cases, and that
number is growing by 5,000 a day, they say.
“In just two months, cholera has spread to almost every
(part) of this war-torn country,” said World Health
Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan
and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake in a joint
statement.
More than 1,300 people have already died — one quarter
of them children — and the death toll is expected to rise.
Cholera is caused by ingesting food or water contaminated
with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. If left untreated, it can
cause severe dehydration and eventual death. Rarely seen
in the U.S. and other industrialized nations, it primarily
affects developing areas that lack adequate water treatment
or sanitation, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and WHO.