Video Message By H.E. Amb. Minata Samate Cessouma, Commissioner For Health, Humanitarian Affairs And Social Development On The Occasion Of 5^th Annual Aido & Aigc Convention, Mombasa, Kenya 25 – 28 May 2023

• Excellencies
• Members of the African Indigenous Governance Council (AIGC), Your Royal Highnesses; 
• Directors’ of the Ateker International Development Organization (AIDO);
• Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen 

It is a great honor and pleasure for me to address you on the occasion of this very important meeting of the African Indigenous Governance Council (AIGC) and the Ateker International Development Organization (AIDO). 

 This august gathering coincides with the celebration of the Sixtieth (60^th) Anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) now African Union (AU) which was established on 25^th May 1963.    I wish to congratulate us all for the achievements we can celebrate this day and for having embraced and moved forward the vision of our founding fathers and mothers to work towards having an integrate, prosperous and peaceful Africa driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena. 

 Even though there are some shortcomings and challenges, the vision of our founding fathers and mothers can be translated into many great achievements that the African continent has witnessed since the inception of the OAU/AU.  In this regard, I wish at this juncture, to salute and congratulate all of you, traditional leaders, Your Royal Highnesses, as custodians of our culture, for the role you have played and continue playing for the voice of our communities to be heard as well as for the economic empowerment of our people and continental integration.     

As clearly stipulated in the AU Agenda 2063 –The Africa We Want, Aspiration 5: ‘We aspire to have an Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics, where Pan-Africanism and the African history, destiny, identity, heritage, respect for religious diversity and consciousness of African people’s and her diaspora’s will be entrenched.’

We cannot achieve aspiration 05 without your leadership and critical work – Your Royal Highnesses.   Much that was achieved  by the African Union, our continental organization, in the arts, culture and heritage on the continent was inspired by the AU Agenda 2063 and your support to our programmes especially the drafting of the Common African Position on Restitution of Heritage Resources and promotion of the creative economy.   

As we celebrate the OAU/AU 60^th Anniversary today, I wish to strongly call upon all of us to strengthen this collaboration with our Traditional Leaders for enhanced well-being of our people and communities through the promotion of our African cultural renaissance, identity, history and shared values.

Allow me to conclude by wishing you a very fruitful meeting and I look forward to the meeting outcomes. 

HAPPY AFRICA DAY TO ALL!I THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION