The Universal Peace Federation and the President of the Constitutional Court of Benin presented awards to Her Excellency Mrs. Conceptia Denis Ouinsou in recognition for her ten years of service as head of the Constitutional Court of Benin. The audience at the June 6 event in Cotonou included a plethora of eminent national and international people, including the Presidents of the Constitutional Courts of Niger, Togo, and Burkina Faso as well as the President of the Supreme Court of Benin, six current Ministers of the Benin government, several former ministers, members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic corps, Ambassadors plenipotentiary, and many other civil servants. The Great Chancellor of the National Order of Benin presided over the ceremony.

In addition to H.E. Mrs. Ouinsou, the former Minister of Education and Scientific Research and two other advisers of the Constitutional Court, including the current President of the High Court of Justice, H.E. Mrs. Clotilde Medegan Nougboe, received the highest honors from the Benin government.

In a prelude to the official ceremony, UPF conferred upon H.E. Mrs. Ouinsou the Leadership and Good Governance Medal. This medal was presented jointly with H.E. Abba Moussa Issifou, President of the Constitutional Court of Niger and President of the UPF National Peace Council of Niger; he was one of the official guests at the government awards ceremony. H.E. Mrs. Ouinsou had previously received the Ambassador for Peace award at the International Leadership Conference held in Korea in February 2008.

UPF Sub-Regional Chairman for West Africa 1, Mr. Paterne Zinsou, conducted the ceremony. H.E Abba Moussa Issifou, President of the Constitutional Court of Niger and an Ambassador for Peace, joined Mr. Zinsou in conferring UPF’s Leadership and Good Governance Award. In addition, seven Advisers of the Constitutional Court received Ambassadors for Peace certificates.

In his message to the new Ambassadors for Peace and all those who were to be honored by the government, Mr. Zinsou emphasized the role of UPF and Ambassadors for Peace in working for a world of peace and one family under God. He concluded his speech by saying that the Leadership and Good Governance Medal, one of the highest distinctions of UPF, was being conferred up H.E. Mrs. Ouinsou in the names of the UPF Founders, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, and the International Chairman, Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak, and Co-Chairman, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, to encourage a greater contribution to the international network of Ambassadors for Peace.

People were deeply moved by the ceremony. It was covered by several television and radio stations as well as newspapers, including the official government media.

H.E. Mrs. Ouinsou had also received high honors from both the German government and her native country, Haiti. She was also honored as a Royal Princess of one of the principalities of Benin, the Kingdom of Allada, by its king. This was the native land of her ancestor Toussaint Louverture, a historical figure well known in Haiti, Dahomey (the former name of Benin), and the world for leading the 1797 revolution that liberated the slaves and gained Haiti's independence from France.