President Umaro El Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, speaking at the opening assembly of the international meeting of the world religions "The Audacity of Peace, presented the experience of the African continent of a peaceful coexistence between peoples:
"The world of religions, represented here by high officials, and the world of international relations and politics must be allies. The decline of dialogue is often the product of the crisis of the dream of change and the rise of pessimism. This is a very bad school for young people. This pessimism about the inevitability of war and poverty is not ours.
As an African leader, I know the weight of this commitment: here in Berlin - a city that has been destroyed by war - I bring you a dream of Africa. I bring you the commitment to democracy that we undertook many years ago. I bring you the dream of coexistence between peoples and continents, this new humanism of which Africa has the secret."
Read the full text of his speech in French.
