Africaday 2010

Half past nine in the morning: the doors of the Haagse Hogeschool in The Hague opened and hereby the Afrikadag 2010. With the sun shining brightly, it promised to become an interesting and challenging day in African style.

Max van den Berg, president of the EVS, started the day in the aula. During his speech he thanked former Parliamentary State Secretary of Economic Affairs Frank Heemskerk and almost former member of Parliament Kees Vendrik on behalf of Fair Politics, the EVS lobby programme. Both politicians were important partners of Minister Koenders in the government and the House of Commons (Tweede Kamer) during the government Balkenende IV. Bert Koenders, in his speech, made a strong plea for a strong global agenda, for the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) as well as the Dutch government.

After lunch, African soccer player of the Century George Weah was interviewed in the Aula about the binding force of soccer and the importance of the World Cup which takes place in South Africa this summer. Lovemore Matombo, leader of the labour union ZCTU and an important representative of informal opposition in Zimbabwe spoke about his vision on the merits of thirty years independence of Zimbabwe. With the entry of opposition party MDC to the government some years ago, the hope for positive change rose enormously. Unfortunately, the situation in Zimbabwe barely improved. President of FNV Agnes Jongerius who introduced Matombo: Even though the situation is miserable, people in Zimbabwe never lose hope and deserve our broad support.

Many people joined the diverse workshops in the morning and afternoon workshop sessions. As a real Afrikadag should be, many topics were debated and discussed thoroughly. Take for instance Tom de Man who debated the role of Heineken in Africa with the audience and Bert Koenders, Kees Vendrik, Doekle Terpstra and Frans Weisglas who discussed about international cooperation, elections and the new government. Topics like elections in several African countries, doing business in Africa, youthtrends, The WRR report and climate were not forgotten of course. Besides that, people were making delicious African meals or trying to come along with the rhythm of the djembé.

In the side programme people enjoyed African art and culture, strolled by the information market and enjoyed delicious Ethiopian coffee during the coffee ceremony.

The Daughters of Africa provided the end of a great day by their stunning performance.

With over 2000 attendants, a widely varied programme and many positive reactions, the EVS looks back to a highly successful Afrikadag 2010!

Click here for the summaries of all morning sessions and afternoon sessions.

Day programme