Burgemeester Emmily Talpe, de laureate Prinses Inyang, Destiny Philips, Augusto, mijn verloofde Xander en mijn schoonouders, geachte gasten, dames en heren, Bedankt dat jullie hier vanavond zijn.

Mijn naam is Sarah Adeyinka en ik heb Princess genomineerd voor de vredesprijs. Ik zal mijn speech verder in het Engels houden, omdat Princess geen Nederlands begrijpt. En ook wel een beetje omdat mijn Nederlands nog wat hulp kan gebruiken.

A Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says that power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person. She quotes the Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti who says that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do it is to tell their story, and to start with, "secondly." It is the danger of a single story. “The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. If I start the story of Ieper from 2023/today where we have these lovely buildings, restaurants and peace, we have a different story, a single story. One that excludes the past and the brave people who gave their lives so that the peace Ieper enjoys today is possible. That is the danger of a single story- het gevaar van een enkel verhaal Princess does fantastic work in Italy and Nigeria, but I must mention the pain and sorrows that birthed her work and comes with her work. I want to avoid sharing a single story of Princess. I nominated Princess for her tireless, selfless, and sometimes dangerous work in assisting victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Ze helpt slachtoffers van mensenhandel. Princess is From Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria. She is the mother of 4 kids and 100+ more. I mean this because so many young women refer to her as their mother. She was a cook and owned her own restaurant in Akwa-Ibom State. She was trafficked from Nigeria to Italy for sexual exploitation and fought her way out. She has now dedicated her life over the last 20+ years to assisting victims of human trafficking.

To create a clearer understanding of who Princess is, how important her work is, and how it is so deserving of the Flanders Peace Prize, let me start by briefly explaining what human trafficking is and sharing some statistics on that.
Human trafficking is a trade in human beings, people are the commodity that is being traded. It is one of the fastest growing forms of illegal trade in the world with over 50 million people enslaved globally. There are different forms of human trafficking including sexual exploitation, forced labour, debt bondage, domestic servitude, organ removal, forced begging, child soldiers, and forced marriage. People may be trafficked for any of these purposes or for a combination of them.

Princess is from Nigeria, and that is where majority of the victims of human trafficking that she works with originate from. Nigeria is a country with over 200 million people, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the seventh most populous country on earth. Regarding human trafficking, Nigeria is considered to be a country of origin- where victims are recruited from, a country of transit- where victims are taken to on their way to a destination, and a country of destination- where victims are brought to be exploited.

The women and girls that Princess work with are taken from different parts of Nigeria to the North, where they then cross the border into the Republic of Niger, go through the Sahara Desert, and then cross the border into Libya. From Libya, they are taken to the seaside and placed on boats and dinghies with the hope of making it to a European country. The ones who do make it, are rescued by Search And Rescue vessels and taken to Italy. Those who end up in Asti do so either because they were referred by friends, by the authorities or found PIAM (the organization Princess co-founded) on their own. They all know Princess and how tireless she works to assist them in the ways she can. Every time I visit her, I seize her phone at least two times, so that can eat her food in peace- people are always calling for assistance, even at night. She also receives threats from traffickers, but she remains unfazed by that. Dear Princess, I will now mention some of the things that you have done and still do, for the people that you support.

• You assisted the migrants you work with to earn their own income by making and selling wine and pasta
• You are great to partner with. You showed so much care and support for my team from Ghent University when we visited you and PIAM in Asti; and when you joined our program in Rome, and overfed us!
• You encourage the young women to own their stories, persevere and succeed. I remember the exhibition in Torino to honor the stories of these young women who expressed their journey and experiences through art. They were able to tell their own stories and not have someone else tell it on their behalf.
• You also have a project called Liberated women- a project that you started in Nigeria to help women and girls in situations of vulnerability, and to prevent their susceptibility to human trafficking.
• You advocate for these women and girls and bring people together to support them. Amidst all the chaos, you help them find peace and stability
• You are a wonderful colleague, a true friend and a very trustworthy person.

I am so honoured to be able to say these words about you and to you publicly in Belgium where I live. In closing, I want to end with a few quotes and a message which I find to be highly profound.

“Peace is not just the absence of conflict; peace is the creation of an environment where all can flourish regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, class, caste or any other social markers of difference.”
― Nelson Mandela

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little. bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
― Desmond Tutu.

I will close with the words of Professor Dr. Koen Koch, University of Leiden, which he wrote on behalf of the Selection Committee of the Ieper Peace Prize, 2002. “May the Ieper Peace Prize help to ensure that our children not only live in peace, but that they also live for peace”. Congratulations once again, Princess Inyang Okokon!

Hartelijk bedankt, Stad Ieper!