Africa Day 2023

On Saturday 18 November, the annual Africa Day took place. For 25 years, this has been the largest event about Africa in the Netherlands. A day full of workshops, debates, lectures, literature, films, music, a fashion show, and much more!

The theme of this edition was climate justice. All over the world, people are struggling with climate change, the greatest challenge of our time. But nowhere is the challenge as great as in African countries, even though they are not big polluters. A broad movement, therefore, demands just global climate action. On Africa Day, this is what we talked about. With a discussion about oil pollution in the Niger Delta, an election debate between candidates for the upcoming Dutch elections, speeches from climate activists, conversations between Dutch and African trade unions, literature programs, and much more.
The Africa Day counted on the participation of:

• Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, Climate Activist, Fridays for Future Uganda
• Babah Tarawally, Writer and journalist
• Mohammed Chahim, Member of the European Parliament, S&D Group
• Jan Pronk, Former Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment of the Netherlands
• & many others…
  

For the first time, we could welcome the visitors to the Pakhuis de Zwijger building in Amsterdam, where a packed programme awaited the attendees. Spread out over five rooms, four different rounds provided twenty sessions in total. The programme consisted of fascinating discussions, informative lectures and even a spectacular fashion show.

In the main hall, the day was kicked off by an election debate ahead of this week’s national elections. Derk Boswijk (CDA), Joris Thijssen (GL-PvdA), Marieke Koekkoek (Volt) and Mpanzu Bamenga (D66) debated issues regarding the Dutch relationship with Africa.

In subsequent sessions, the state of democracy and security in the Sahel was discussed, as well as a new report by the Advisory Council on International Affairs on climate justice, which will be offered as advice to the Dutch government. Meanwhile, Jan Pronk gave a powerful speech on the main stage, writer Babah Tarawally held an inspiring interview with fellow author Afua Hirsch on identity, racism and the decolonisation of beauty standards, and Marlena Blaauw together with Stichting Kadowinja received a well deserverd applause during their fashion show!

At the closing ceremony, the day’s keynote speaker, Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, spoke one more time, where she was able to join Diederik Samsom, Afua Hirsch and Milka Yemane in bringing the day’s programme to a close.

As the icing on the cake, the day ended in the evening with the film screening of Women Hold Up The Sky and a fantastic music performance by Kay Slice, who convinced many a visitor to try out some new dance moves with his hip-hop, afrobeats and soul.

Pictures of the event can be found here. Check our Twitter thread with some of the highlights!

This event was co-organised by FEPS and Foundation Max van der Stoel (FMS). This conference was produced with the financial support of the European Parliament. It does not represent the views of the European Parliament. Find out more about the event’s programme.