CWPF Chairman Li Ruohong and Vice President of Kenya Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka

Li Ruohong Delivering a Speech on the Sino-African People to People Forum

The Sino African People to People Forum jointly sponsored by China Association for Promotion of China NGOs’International Exchanges, the Kenyan government and the NGO Coordination Committee was held in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi from August 29th to 30th. Representatives from NGOs of China and 19 African countries, as well as those from UN and the African Union Commission attended the forum. Hailing unity makes power, the representatives signed the Nairobi Declaration


Representatives signed up to support the Nairobi Declaration

CWPF Chairman Li Ruohong, as a specially invited representative to the forum, delivered a speech under the theme of NGO being the new highlight of Sino African Cooperation in the new stage. He stated that China’s development experience is now having an increasingly great impact in Africa and NGO is also playing a larger and larger role in the Sino African exchanges and cooperation, thus becoming an important bridge for Sino African cooperation in the new stage. He stressed that NGOs in both China and Africa have substantially participated in the development of the Sino African relationship, creating a big space for developing a mutually complementary and beneficial relationship. This has made it more and more urgent and important to develop both public diplomatic relationship and people to people exchanges between China and Africa.

The current world is an open world with all countries involved together, being cooperative and independent at the same time. It is impossible for any country to achieve a sustainable development all by itself and in a state of hostility. If the governments and the enterprises could be compared to incompatible plugs and outlets, the NGOs would be the proper device well connecting the two. A good NGO need both highlight and selling point to build up its soft power and credibility, with its initiatives adapted to both domestic and international situations.

Li Ruohong also introduced to the representatives about CWPF’s public interest module of Peace Plus One, namely peace and culture, peace and education, peace and sport, peace and health. The Peace Garden, supported by 178 state governments and leaders of international organizations, has become a platform for exchanges and cooperation between various countries and peoples. NGO Representatives from different countries discussed with Mr. Li about the theories of communication in the international community. After the meeting, representatives and relevant institutes of education asked for the book NGOs in China to use it as a textbook for their modes of operation.

Founder of CWPF, Mr. Li Ruohong expressed when receiving interview from Xinhua News Agency and African media agents, “this is a successful forum. It has got support from Chinese leaders, UN among other international organizations, and numerous NGOs in Africa. Li confirmed the forum’s role in boosting the Sino African cooperation in fields of politics, society, culture and economics. He added that a modern society needs well developed NGOs and both international community and the targeted groups of people hope they can get supply of both materials and spirit. We do expect that NGOs from different countries will, hand in hand, utter in one voice: Yes! We can!