Speech by H.E. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the AU Commission On the occasion of the 47th Africa Day Celebrations Sport and Cultural Event, Ekurhuleni , South Africa, 29 May 2010

Allow me to read the following statement on behalf of the Chairperson of the AU Commission who cannot be with us here today.

It is a great honour to be here in South Africa today on behalf of the African Union Commission to celebrate Africa Day. We await with excitement the opening, in a few days time, of the FIFA World Cup, which will take place in stadia around South Africa. The event will draw the attention of hundreds of thousands of international visitors, and millions of viewers, to this vibrant continent. The people of Africa are undoubtedly proud that they are the hosts of one of the greatest international sporting events in the world. South Africa, you have made Africa proud!

As you know, 2010 is the Year of Peace and Security in Africa, and was declared as such by Heads of State and Government of the African Union. Therefore, this year, while Africa makes history by staging the FIFA World Cup, Africa will be making another kind of history too. In recognition of all our efforts in peace making and conflict resolution, on 21 September, Africa will come together on Peace Day, to promote non-violence and humanitarian assistance across Africa. This moment of collective unity will bring together 1 billion people to work together to demonstrate that peace is possible in Africa. Peace Day will be a powerful moment of inspiration that the African people need in order to continue to strive for peace and stability as a way of life.

Hence the theme for this year’s Africa day celebrations: “Building and Maintaining Peace through Sport in Africa”.

By presenting sport as a powerful instrument for the promotion of peace and development, we would like to reassert our faith in the values inherent to sports which are consonant with universal values and our shared African values.  We would like to demonstrate our will to further centre our actions on improving humankind and its values, through activities which are fulfilling like sports, exchanges and competition, in a bid to effectively speed up peace in our societies, amongst our States and with the rest of the world.

Africa has walked a long and difficult road to political independence; but the fact that we have come so far as a continent to be staging the World Cup on African soil highlights how far we have come and the achievements we have made. It further confirms that the goal of the Year of Peace and Security, to Make Peace Happen in 2010 and beyond is possible.

The challenge of achieving peace, security and stability across the entire continent is clearly an undertaking of many years, but the Year of Peace and Security represents an unparalleled opportunity to enhance the efforts already being undertaken to bring peace to Africa. I hope that the Flame of Peace will serve as a reminder to all Africans of the commitments we have all made to make peace happen in 2010 and beyond.

I now invite H.E. Jacob Zuma to light the Flame of Peace on behalf of the people of South Africa.