AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS, AT SIR DAWDA KAIRABA JAWARA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE ON 21$^{st}$ OCTOBER, 2022
Your Excellencies, Good morning
Your Excellency, Badara Alieu Joof, Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia
Professor Ismaila Madior Fall, Keeper of the Seals, Hon. Minister of Justice of the Republic of Senegal
Your Excellency, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Monique Nsazabaganwa
Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice represented by Mr. Hussein Thomasi
My Lord, Chief Justice of The Republic, Hon. Hassan B. Jallow;
Honourable Members of the National Assembly;
Honourable Ministers of the African Union States;
Honourable Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Members of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
Hon. Catherine Dupe Atoki, former Chair and Commissioner of ACHPR
Hon. Judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Hon. Chairperson and Members of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Your Excellency, Ambassador Salah Hammad, Head of AGA, Department for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union Commission;
Deputy Regional Representative of the UNOHCHR, East Africa Regional Office, Maymucha Lauriston, representing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Members of the United Nations Family present – UN OHCHR, UNOCI and UNOWAS;
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps;
The Chairperson and Executive Governing Council Members of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (GC/ACDHRS);
Distinguished State Representatives; Venerable Religious and Traditional Leaders; The Chairperson and Representatives of National Human Rights Institutions; Representatives of National and International NGOs; Representatives of the Press; Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen; All protocols respectfully observed
Thirty-five years is indeed a significant milestone! A historic time indeed! Whether it is in the life of any human being or any institution. It therefore offers an opportunity to contemplate over those remarkable moments that have brought success as well as those other moments we might have been challenged, changed our course and or even be given another chance to journey on.
In addition, 2022 is a year of milestones - 20 years of the African Union; 20 years of the World Day Against the Death Penalty; 10 years of the Addis Ababa Roadmap ; 10 years of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and 10 years of the Kampala Convention.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Time is indeed ripe for ACHPR to pause, to reflect and to get more prepared to take a more sombre posture towards the encounters of the future, having been armed with the wisdom and experience of the past.