OPENING CEREMONY Monday 17 March 2003 at 9.15 a.m.

Welcoming Address
by
Professor G. T.G. MOHAMEDBHAI Vice-Chancellor Rt Hon Prime Minister of Mauritius

Your Excellency the Interim President of the Commission of the African Union Hon Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Tanzania Hon Ministers
Pro-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius The President and Vice-Presidents of the AAU Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Africa Secretary General of the AAU
Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic Corps Distinguished Conference Delegates, Distinguished Guests Ladies & Gentlemen

On behalf of the University of Mauritius and on my own behalf, I should like to extend a very warm welcome to all of you present today, for the Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of the Association of African Universities.

Prime Minister, please accept my special thanks for your presence among us today for the Opening Ceremony, and this in spite of your very busy schedule. We at the University have particularly appreciated the readiness with which you have always responded to. our call for support in all our endeavours. It is such an honour and privilege to have you on our side this morning and for this we are very grateful to you.

Votre Excellence M. Amara Essy, nous nous sentement honorees de vous avoir parmi nous. Nous savons très bien combien votre emploi du temps est charges bien combien votre emploi du temps est chargé, mais par votre presence aujourd'hui, et pour avoir accepté d'être le conférencier principal à cette conference, vous passez un message clair et net que les institutions d'enseignment superieur de l'Afrique ont un role preponderant àjouer dans la construction de l'Union Africaine, et cela nous réjouit.

Ladies and gentlemen, we consider it an honour and privilege for the University of Mauritius to have been chosen to host such an important meeting of the Association of African Universities, which has brought to our small island over 174 distinguished academics from universities all over Africa, as well as eminent partners of higher education from other countries. This COREVIP meeting coincides with the 35th anniversary of the Association of African Universities. What a coincidence that only last week Mauritius celebrated the 35th anniversary of its independence, and real academic activities at the University of Mauritius started 35 years ago.

It is a real pleasure and opportunity for Mauritius to host and to be a participant in so many events of crucial importance to the shaping of the destiny of Africa,at the dawn of this new century. As you all know, only recently, in January this year, we had the pleasure of welcoming a large number of eminent delegates from Africa and the United States, for the Africa Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) Conference, which we all hope will help to give a real boost to Africa's industries. We are proud of the fact that the venue for that Conference was the University of Mauritius.
Ladies and gentlemen, since its inception, the Association of African Universities has clearly demonstrated, through its various activities, its profound conviction that the path to progress is through higher education, and that in its turn, higher education cannot operate in a vacuum, divorced from the socio-economic realities of the environment. This year the Association's attention will be primarily focused upon the role of the African Higher education institutions in the building of the African Union, which we believe, imperatively needs to be redefined in the context of the changing socioeconomic conditions of Africa of the 21" Century. Indeed, unity in Africa has always been viewed as a core issue right from the first steps of African independence, some five decades ago. We academics have a duty to explore all possible avenues to consolidate that unity which is in danger of becoming a very fragile commodity, in the face of the many threats to it from a constantly changing and deteriorating environment.

Poverty, as we all know, is defying the efforts of so many African nations to have a grip on it, so much so that many in Africa and outside Africa, do not from time to time hesitate to give free expression to their pessimism, and dismiss Africa as a practically doomed continent. Poverty breeds underdevelopment, which in turn promotes poverty. We have in African universities the capacity to study and understand this vicious cycle, and to formulate appropriate policies for our governments to come to terms with this scourge.

Coupled with poverty we find the deadly presence of HIV/AIDS, which, more than poverty, is relentlessly eating its way into the very heart of the African societies, including its youth. The Universities have not been spared. As many as 30 to 40 % of students in some African universities are HIV positive. We dread the consequences of this state of affairs, for no country can afford to lose 30 to 40% of its brightest young citizens, trained at considerable expenses, especially when such countries are already reeling under the burden of so many other calamities.

But perhaps the worst problem of all, more alarming and backbreaking for our economies than starvation and HIV/AIDS, is the breakdown of the peace process, both internally and externally, within the continent. Such hostilities endanger our already scarce resources and are apt to nullify those poverty alleviation programmes that are set up, often with so many difficulties. The time has come for a holistic approach to peace, and Universities have a prime role to play in this. International agencies can do a lot through their interventions to help victims of conflicts, but Universities must supplement these efforts and go to the root cause of the conflicts. They can do so in many ways, for example through research, by creating an awareness of the tools used in conflict management and resolution, and through the promotion of peaceoriented education. Several African universities have already embarked on this venture, as we shall learn during this conference.

Dear Delegates, ladies and gentlemen, this coming week may well be decisive regarding our battle for a peaceful, poverty-free, HIV-free Africa for the coming generations. I have no doubt that at the end of the day, we will come up with some concrete and positive resolutions to win that battle.
Conference participants, the Local Organising Committee has gone to great pains to ensure the success of this Conference. I should like to take this opportunity to officially place on record my sincere thanks to the Chairman, Dr Andre Chan Chim Yuk, and members of the Local Organising Committee, as well as all my other colleagues at the University of Mauritius, for their hard and dedicated work in the planning of this Conference. They have also ensured that our delegates from overseas manage to have a taste of Mauritius: its history, its culture, its scenic beauty and its beaches. We hope you will make full use of these opportunities:

But all this would not have been possible without the collaboration and guidance of the Secretary General of the AAU and his staff, to whom we are very grateful. The University would also like to express its deep gratitude to all the local organizations which have generously sponsored this event