Prince Michael of Kent on 'grown-up' Hong Kong, the wonder of Africa and the mystery of Russia
Visiting British royal recalls military service in Hong Kong's New Territories, ponders language barrier that hinders understanding of Russia, and explains how easy it is to fall in love with Africa
CONFLICT RESOLUTION I’m visiting Hong Kong for The Brazzaville Foundation. Brazzaville is the capital of the Republic of the Congo and the foundation is an organisation dedicated to peace and conservation in the widest sense. The foundation follows on from the Brazzaville Accord in 1988, which brought about the peaceful settlement of conflict in Southern Africa and secured the independence of Namibia. The accord also paved the way for the release of Nelson Mandela from prison and the end of apartheid.
Our aim is to try to achieve peace by developing regional and cross-border initiatives. The man behind the foundation, and its chairman, is Jean-Yves Ollivier. In 1987, he was responsible for a prisoner swap in Africa of about 180 Namibians and Angolans. It was executed in the middle of the night under conditions of great danger and at great personal risk. The prisoner swap prepared the ground for the Brazzaville Accord.
Ollivier decided 25 years later (18 months ago) to reveal himself, having always been reluctant to attract publicity. Much of what the foundation does is confidential and conducted under conditions of extreme sensitivity and delicacy. At this moment, we are helping to defuse a serious political crisis in Africa. We’re not in a position to reveal any of the details yet.
INTO THE BLUE Recently, at the COP22 climate-change summit in Marrakesh, we helped to launch the Congo Basin Blue Fund. The Congo Basin holds about 8 per cent of the world’s forest-based carbon and covers 11 countries. The fund will help these countries shift from forest economies to river economies.
We aim to aid sustainable development and bring about peace through cooperation with all countries with environmental, wildlife conservation and water issues. There’s a link between peacekeeping and wildlife conservation. In a continent such as Africa, where there is a great deal of conflict and poverty, the habitats of animals suffer greatly. If we can bring peace, it also assures the continued well-being, not to say existence, of the wild animals.