Droits Humains, Valeurs et pratiques traditionnelles en Afrique. Contribution de l'Ambassadeur de Sierra Leone S E Madame Yvette Stevens.

S.E Madame Yvette Stevens, Ambassadeur Représentant Permanent de Sierra Leone auprès de l'ONU et des autres Organisations internationales basées à Genève et auprès de l'OMC nous a fait l'honneur de participer à la Table Ronde du 24 mars 2015 en qualité d'oratrice.

Tout en reconnaissant la richesse en valeurs séculaires observées à travers tout le continent africain, cette personnalité est engagée dans les initiatives visant la fin des pratiques incompatibles avec la protection et le respect des Droits Humains.
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H.E. Ms. Yvette Stevens took the floor. She said that it was “very valid” to discuss the traditional values. She acknowledged that some practices could be harmful or out of tune from the interlocutors outside of the Continent. She stated that the traditional practices should not be prematurely judged as “bad”, as some are “good” as well. She stressed that there is no unique solution  that can be applied in different countries and for different traditional  practices. There was a need to understand the practices, in order to be in the position to plan strategically to counter the bad ones: she believes that merely passing laws and imposing penalties to the breakers of the laws would not significantly contribute to change well-established practices, but could even result in the possibility of backfiring the mentalities in that regard.. She said that if “we have to change anything, it has to be from and within the societies. In this connection, she stressed Stressing the importance of family values in Africa.

A debate took place right after her intervention.

H.E. Ms. Stevens was congratulated for her engagement towards Human Rights, particulary towards persons living with albinism, who are often living in terrible situations, especially in Central and Eastern Africa, calling upon the international community to condemn violent acts committed against persons with albinism. Progress has been made in that regard. She was also congratulated for her efforts against early marriage. Participants asked her about the difficulties encountered during the negotiations in those regards since there is a feeling that some states were backtracking on the issue of persons with albinism. 

H.E. Ms. Yvette Stevens replied that the major problem is that those countries who had problems with the draft resolution were not the Member States which are the most affected on those issues, and that the problems faced were mainly procedural. She said that not having the total picture was also a problem. She reassured the participants that no Member State has resisted when they assessed the issue of persons with albinism.

On the question about some practices affecting women, a participant recommanded the need of “consciousness thinking” between the genders, with the need for everyone to develop their feminine side to maintain a “balance”.