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The Peace Accord was signed by parties which had been locked in combat for a generation: the white majority government and National Party on the one side, and the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party, on the other. It engaged the entire country in the search for non violent conflict management in a process without any precedent on a national level and which can provide lessons for the rest of the world.
The following rules and institutions were established by the Accord:
• Code of conduct for political parties and organizations: This committed them to principles of democratic tolerance, open communication, co operation with law enforcement officers, and the refraining from violence or threats of violence.
• Code of conduct for South African police: This committed them to neutrality, non discrimination and minimum use of violence and provided procedures to investigate and adjudicate violations.
• Commission of Inquiry regarding the prevention of Violence. This Commission which became known by the name of its chairman, the respected judge Richard Goldstone, was empowered to investigate the causes of violence and propose steps to prevent further violence. Its impartiality and its effectiveness were essential to giving people the feeling that the peace process was accompanied by justice.
• The National Peace Committee. This committee, which was charged to supervise the implementation of the Accord, was composed of one representative and one alternate from each signatory to the Accord.
The Felix Houphou�t Boigny Peace Prize was set up in 1989 by the 29th session of the UNESCO General Conference to honour individuals, bodies or institutions that have made a significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining peace', in the spirit of UNESCO's Constitution and the UN Charter.
In addition to Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk, who were awarded the initial prize in 1991, the prize has gone to the Academy of International Law of The Hague in 1992 and to Shimon Peres, Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin for their role in the Middleast Peace Process in 1993.
The winners, selected by 11 eminent personalities, headed by Henry A. Kissinger, former US Secretary of State and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, receive a prize of 800,000 French Francs, a gold medal and a certificate signed by the Director General.
Felix Houphou�t Boigny, the late President of Cote d'Ivoire, for whom the prize is named, was a leader in the struggle for independence of the former French colonies of Africa. In the words of UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor, he was 'a distinguished son of Africa, a champion of co operation and dialogue between peoples and cultures ... one of the fathers of African independence ... a sage who has always worked for the peaceful settlement of conflicts in Africa.'
Having won their struggle against Apartheid, the people of South Africa established a Peace Accord mobilizing the entire country in the process of non violent conflict management on an unprecedented scale which provides lessons for the rest of the world.