Aminata Touré spoke powerfully at the annual forum of the United Nations Alliance for Civilizations in Portugal on Tuesday on issues crucial to humanity and the future of Africa.
She began her speech with an essential question: “What does civilization mean in 2024?” » According to her, civilization is a human social and cultural development considered advanced, but she then highlighted the absurdity of this definition in the face of the horrors experienced in Gaza. More than 42,000 victims, including thousands of children, raise the question: what type of civilization do we live in? How can we justify the suffering inflicted on innocent people under incessant bombs?
Aminata Touré then spoke about the painful history of Africa, highlighting the atrocities suffered by African people and the black diaspora throughout the centuries, including slavery and colonization. She recalled that 12.5 million Africans were enslaved and sent to the New World, and that Africa paid a heavy price with colonization, violence and the theft of its resources. For her, reparations for past crimes are an imperative, and she called on the United Nations and the Alliance of Civilizations to support efforts to achieve justice.
She also highlighted that Africa has immense potential, with a young and dynamic population, holding essential strategic resources. Aminata Touré concluded by emphasizing the importance of young people’s engagement in building a more civilized world, where restorative justice, and not revenge, could make it possible to right historical wrongs.
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