Centre of Memory and Dialogue’s plans for 2010
February 2010 marks 20 years since the apartheid regime unbanned the African National Congress and other liberation movements, and then released Nelson Mandela from prison unconditionally.
Former President FW de Klerk announced these developments on February 2, 1990, and Mr Mandela walked out of prison on February 11.
The anniversary is an opportunity for South Africans to consider how far we have come since those days.
Then, in Mr Mandela’s words, our country was regarded as “one of the polecats of the world. Today we are a respected member of the international community of nations. Then we were on the brink of chaos. Today we have a growing democracy”.
Five years ago, on the 15th anniversary of his release from prison, Mr Mandela urged South Africans to keep building on their hard-won democracy. He called on us to never forget those generations before us who made our freedom possible through many years of struggle.
As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of his release, and congratulate Mr Mandela on reaching this milestone, let us do so with a renewed commitment to working hard for South Africa’s democratic future, and remembering where we come from.
This year the Foundation’s Centre of Memory and Dialogue will be involved in a number of projects.
- March to November: Social cohesion community conversations to promote peaceful co-existence between people of different nationalities living in the same community, using the Community Capacity Enhancement (CCE) methodology developed by the United Nations Development Programme.
- March to November: HIV/AIDS community conversations. Dialogues in communities aimed at helping to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS across South Africa, using the CCE methodology.
- July 18: Nelson Mandela Day.
- July 31: The Eighth Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture to be delivered by world-acclaimed Chilean-American author, human rights activist and distinguished professor of Literature and Latin-American Studies, Ariel Dorfman.
- August to September: Malibongwe Dialogues: Eight dialogues aimed at addressing women’s emancipation.
- October: Promise of Leadership. A gathering of leaders from across Africa to focus on the challenge of nurturing future leaders.
