Youth charged to fight discrimination

The Deputy Head of Mission of the German Embassy in Ghana, Mr. Hans-Helge Sander has charged the youth to stand up and resist any attempt likely to jeopardize the peace that “we continue to enjoy as citizens of any nation across the world”.

He cautioned against discrimination, hatred, atrocities and any form of action intended to trample on the rights of others likely to mar peace and bring about chaos including the recurrence of the deadly Holocaust experienced in the past.

“So whenever you see in your surrounding that people get harassed, molested and discriminated or you see people blaming others without any reason, I urge you to stand up and say no, “we want you to stop this right here now”.

Mr. Sander was speaking to students of the Morning Star School in Accra at an event to mark the 2018 Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, January 26.

The event was organized by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Accra on the theme: “Holocaust Remembrance and Education: Our Shared Responsibility “.

It witnessed students’ interaction session, artwork and an exhibition where students were briefed on the butterfly project in memory of children who perished during the Holocaust. They were also asked to write short stories, poems including an artwork expressing their understanding on the whole concept of lessons learnt about the Holocaust.

Addressing participants, Ms. Evelyn Sarpong, Reference Assistant of UNIC Accra said the purpose of the event was to create awareness, share knowledge about the Holocaust and imbibe in the students a sense of responsibility and the need to denounce any act of prejudice, hatred and discrimination as the theme suggests.

She reiterated the message of the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres meant to serve as a guide to the world in memory of the victims of the Holocaust which read partly: “We must stand together against normalization of hate”. “Whenever and wherever humanity values are abandoned, we are all at risk”. ” All of us have a responsibility to quickly, clearly and decisively resist racism and violence “.

The eight (8) paragraphed message concluded with a strong direction which reads: “Through education and understanding, we can build a future of dignity, human rights and peaceful coexistence for all”.

Interacting with students, Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Ami Mehl narrated the ordeals he went through growing up as a victim of the Holocaust. It was a heart-wrenching story depicting the realities of the Holocaust which sent shivers down the spine of the participants.

He told the students that although the horrors of the Holocaust was part of history, lessons ought to be learnt from it so as to forestall it recurrence in order “to build a better future of our children”.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an international memorial day celebrated annually which marks the tragedy of the Holocaust that occurred during the Second World War.

It commemorates the genocide that resulted in the death of an estimated 6 million Jewish people, 200,000 Romani people, 250,000 mentally and physically disabled people, and 9,000 homosexual men by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

This year’s day is marked with various events across the world with one aim of ensuring that we don’t repeat the horrific mistakes of its past by learning from the Holocaust.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of the event, Ms. Nana Abena Kwakyi, Managing Director of Morning Star School, described the event as a formalized session broadening the scope of knowledge about Holocaust.

She hinted that the mere sight of the two representatives from the Israeli and German Embassy is indeed worthy of commendation since “these are the two countries that played central role in the story of Holocaust therefore it is very nice to see both of them reinforcing the message that we must all take a stand and make sure that atrocities or trampling on the rights of others are is given a second and critical look and that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past”.

For her part, the National Information Officer of UNIC Accra, Ms. Cynthia Prah adding her voice to the call for action to prevent any form of violence in the future in a simple message said “We should instill and imbibe in the youth a sense of responsibility, a sense of unity and respect for one another”.