The Seminar "Integral human development: path of peace, path for the future" (Développement humain intégral : chemin de paix, chemin d'avenir) was held in Abidjan, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ivory Coast, from 13 to 15 November 2019.
The event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire (which coordinated the participation of other departments of the Ivorian Government, religious leaders and those responsible for civil society in the country), the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Apostolic Nunciature in the country, in collaboration with the Episcopal Conference.
Among the speakers at the inaugural session were H.Exc. Marcel Amon-Tanoh, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; H.Em. Cardinal Jean-Pierre Kutwa, Archbishop of Abidjan; H.Exc. Ignace Bessi Dogbo, President of the Episcopal Conference; Cheick Ayman Boikary Fofana, President of the Superior Council of the Iman and Mosques of Côte d'Ivoire; msgr. Bruno-Marie Duffé, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Msgr. Duffè was accompanied by Rev. Luca Marabese,Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Nunciature, and Tebaldo Vinciguerra, Official of the Dicastery. The attendance at this event was also the occasion for privileged meetings with the Bishops of the country, with some professors from the Catholic University of West Africa, and with the Prime Minister, H.E. Amadou Gon Coulibaly, with the Minister of Health, H. E. Anne Désirée Ouloto, and with the already mentioned Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Seminar was attended by about one hundred people including officials, priests and religious, imams, students and university professors, representatives of civil society.
During the works, they addressed topics such as: encounter, reconciliation and listening; the strengthening of the social environment, the inclusion of young people in the world of work and social justice; the multiple vulnerabilities of the human person and its rights; inspiration that comes from the Faith to build peace; dialogue and coexistence between ethnic groups and religions; the desire for development that is not limited to material aspects of life; the responsibility of political leaders in the development of a country and the promotion of peace; the protection of the country's natural resources; access to social facilities.
Participants were able to visit some worthy initiatives in the cities of Abidjan and Grand-Bassam, including an integration and training project of Gruppo Abele and the Muslim association "Consolation" which accompanies the relatives of people in hospital or dying, in the Treichville Hospital Centre.
On the afternoon of November 15 (the date on which Côte d'Ivoire celebrates the National Day of Peace), at the Great Mosque of the Riviera Golf in Abidjan, an Ivorian Bishop read the Document on the Human Brotherhood (signed jointly by Pope Francis and Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb of the Al-Ahzar Mosque). On the morning of the same day, at the end of a mass presided over by the Cardinal Archbishop of Abidjan in the parish of Saint Jacques in the Deux-Plateaux district, the Document was also read by an Imam of the Superior Council of Mosques and Imams in Côte d'Ivoire.
