Luc Ndeloua, president of the Abowani Association, and Timothée Emini, in charge of legal and political affairs of the Okani Association, will receive the award on February 1 at the XXXVII Africa Meeting, which will reflect on the theme “The first. Indigenous peoples of Africa today
The Abowani and Okani associations, which work with the Baka people in Cameroon, have been awarded the MUNDO NEGRO Award for Fraternity 2024. The award ceremony will take place on February 1 in Madrid. Two days before, the January 30the president of Abowani, Luc Ndeloua, and the person in charge of legal and political affairs of Okani, Timothée Emini, will maintain a meeting with the media at 11 a.m. in the exhibition hall of the Comboni Missionaries (Arturo Soria, 101, MADRID).
Abawoni and Okani
The Abowani Association was founded in 2007 in the town of Mintom, in the Southern province thanks to the program “Action for sustainable forest management integrating Baka pygmy populations (AGEFO-Baka)”, financed by the European Union. Okani was born a year earlier in Bertoua, Eastern province, promoted by five pygmy communities in the area – Andom, Loussou, Nkolbikon, Mayos and Bonando – and with the support of the “Association for the self-promotion of the populations of Eastern Cameroon” program ( APEC)”, promoted fundamentally by Catholic missionaries. In addition to contributing to the drafting of the statutes and achieving legalization by the State, the AGEFO-Baka and APEC programs, with the support of Inades-Formation Cameroun, organized workshops for Baka leaders from different communities to train in the management of this type of ethnic associationism. AGEFO-Baka and APEC came to an end, but Abawoni and Okani have continued with their activities thanks to the efforts of their leaders, although conditioned by external projects and financial support.
XXXVII Africa Meeting
Luc Ndeloua and Timothée Emini will close the XXXVII Africa Meeting, which will be held between the 1st and 2nd of next February. On this occasion, the reflection that will be proposed to attendees will be “The first. Indigenous peoples of Africa today.
The first day, on February 1, will take place in the Comboni Missionaries Exhibition Hall starting at 6 p.m. After the presentation of the Meeting, by the director of the magazine MUNDO NEGRO, Fr. Enrique Bayo Mata, a space for reflection will take place with the conference “Indigenous peoples and communities in Africa. Reality and future perspectives”, by Professor María de los Ángeles Iglesias Vázquez, principal researcher of the Research Group and Relevance of the Status and Condition of Indigenous People, of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR).
Next, Chema Caballero, collaborator of MUNDO NEGRO and author of the book Edjengui has fallen asleep: From victimhood to activism of the Baka pygmies, will maintain a dialogue with the two winners to learn about the reality of the Baka people and the work carried out by the Abowani and Okani associations. The provincial of the Comboni Missionaries in Spain, Fr. Miguel Ángel Llamazares, will present them with the News Now Nigeria Award for Fraternity 2024.
The meeting will be broadcast live through the MUNDO NEGRO channel on YouTube.
On Sunday, February 2, at 11:30 a.m. the closing of the Meeting will take place with the Eucharistic celebration in the parish of the Santísima Trinidad (Martínez Villergas, 8, MADRID), in which the Satri parish choir and the choir will participate. Karibu.
