MAHSRA at Confederation of UNESCO Associations

MAHSRA Contributes to the Stakes and Constitutive Goals of the African Confederation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations

Introduction

Held on the 15^th and 16^th of May 2015 in Yaounde – Cameroon, under theme: “Training of Teachers towards Sustainable Development and Quality Education, the 9^th pan-African congress of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations [Confédération Africaine des Associations, Centres et Clubs UNESCO (CACU)] hosted the presence of over 10 African national presidents, the pan-African president (Desire Aroga), the Chinese confederation president, the American national president (Guy Djokens) and president of World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations – WFUCA (Georgios Christofides).

During the two-day interactive working sessions, especially on day one, a series of workshops were held amongst different working-groups through which critical analyses on the difficulties that encounter UNESCO clubs and association members in different countries were addressed. As an onset observing participant, the CEO of MAHSRA Dr. Kelly NGYAH, paid close attention to the minutely detailed obstacles that faced and retarded the different country working objectives of UNESCO clubs, centres and associations.

Focus

The congress served as one of the most important general assembly meetings meant to institute a very firm futuristic operational platform for the African confederation thus; there was evident need for individual country to country suggestions on proposed ameliorative working agenda for the confederation’s adoption. Guided by the general theme of the congress, after enumerating and explaining past exemplary activity initiatives engaged by each member country’s president, there were some very remarkable inputs from Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and Senegal within the CEO’s working group. Majorly, the extended discussions focussed on:

• The need to ameliorate digital propagation problems amongst in-country UNESCO working teams and representative clubs and association members. This was raised to emphasize on effective and efficient communication strategies that has been a major set-back in their activities;
• Reminded that sustainable development measures are best harnessed through a green environment and peace, cumulated ideas on tree planting captions such as ‘tree of peace’, ‘one pupil – one tree’ and other desert reduction measures were raised and proposed for children follow-up guides towards building green and peaceful environments;
• The need for major sponsorships on huge agricultural projects was also presented through which the American national president Guy Djokens highlighted that member country representatives should make effective reflections on the recently released sustainable development goals (SDGs). On the part of Dr. Kelly NGYAH, CEO of MAHSRA which is a major group stakeholder and analyst in the development of the SDGs and in Consultative Status with UN Economic and Social Council, suggested that the confederation could build huge sponsorship demands under project or program themes that directly reflect one or more of the goals;
• The CEO of MAHSRA also proposed the need for effective advocacy strategies such that both national and local governments laws, decrees and circulars, and most essentially, traditional customs and rites be influenced to include the working objectives of UNESCO clubs, centres and associations for peace and development. The proposition was reanalysed as the need for a gradual but a total mentality change within communal set-ups and especially at the level of basic education thus – ‘restructuring future generations towards UNESCO’s model for Peace and Development’.

Side Development Prospects

Towards the final phases of the congress, some remarkable presentations were done:

• Led by the Dr. Bruno Tayim of the multi-sectorial regional bureau of central Africa in Yaounde, projections on peace education through habits change, dialogue and general education highlighted the pertinent need for the integration of learning efforts that eliminate contradictions of knowledge acquired through formal and informal milieus. Thus, the formal educational efforts of teachers and the informal leadership guidance roles and influence of parents and peer educators require further societal trainings or capacity building for ensuring and maintaining coherence;

  

• In order to encourage the African national presidents, the Chinese confederation projected model exemplary activities carried out by the UNESCO clubs, centers and associations of China within cultural and academic reach to several millions of Chinese citizens. This included images wherein the head of government and president of the Republic of China and the president of World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations participated. Some of the Chinese confederation’s major working goals mentioned include: promoting obligatory and quality education, collaborating and supporting other national and local Chinese NGOs working inline the objectives of UNESCO;
• With a goal to promote youth entrepreneurship, the American national president Guy Djokens, citing himself as an exemplary case study, he explained how feasible it is for a youth from a very common and poor background to grow from very little to global influence through a firm believe in self-abilities, goals and efforts. He projected images of his intimate interactions with major world leaders such as US president Barack Obama, US Secretary of State, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and many more and thus informed the audiences that everyone can become same and more if and only if they could be able to identify their life goals and hold steadfast on them. Mr Guy also then presented his huge one million student reached youth self-development and entrepreneurial project across developing countries sponsored by an Australian University through which his initial partnership expansion for Cameroon has been done with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea Dr. Navola Lyonga and the CEO of MAHSRA Dr. Kelly NGYAH.

Remarks

Still during the conclusive phases of the working sessions, the Chinese confederation representatives distributed invitation packages for the UNESCO world federation conference to be held in China from the 21^st to the 25^th of July 2015.

While specially customized fibre-made bags had been earlier distributed to the national presidents, the president of the World federation (WFUCA) was offered a special sword designed at one edge with a double headed snake from the Bamoun kingdom in the West region of Cameroon. The significance was explained as the wisdom used by the 11^th Bamoun king to maintained peace within the kingdom. As his first time for visiting Cameroon, the World president Georgios Christofides exclaimed much joy to the gesture and accepted the duo-sided sword wisdom gift of peace while promising that all resolutions and aspirations agreed during this pan-African congress, were going to be a priority for him to ascertain that global UNESCO clubs, centres and associations agendas take and make serious note and considerations over them.

Georgios Christofides also offered a special award kit package on Global Ethics to CACU president Aroga Desire, a constitutive global peace document that bears the signature of many global leaders to the national presidents, and participation certificates to all the registered participants.

Towards the closure of the official congress hours, while the general assembly elections for the new executive board members of CACU proceeded on the daily agenda, the CEO of MAHSRA took-his leave at the same minute with the world president through which he seized the occasion for one-on-one discussion with him and presented the objectives of MAHSRA as a whole and its strong upcoming leadership personality for global peace and development. [Further development prospects on this awaited]

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