The president speaking

The Union Royale Belgo-Africaine, abbreviated URBA, is a non-profit association dedicated to preserving the precious heritage that Belgians and Africans have left to history since 1885, thanks to their commitment to the development and prosperity of the continent, especially Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. It aims to be a meeting point and fraternity between Belgians and Africans, in order to develop and perpetuate their shared history, in a spirit of mutual respect and solidarity of destiny. Through its many activities, it aims to create dynamic relations between countries, to help bring their peoples closer together through effective action against all forms of misinformation, to encourage writing and promote research into the shared past, and to explore, study and propose strategies for mutually profitable cooperation. These are its aims and culture.

Having succeeded the Union Royale Belge pour les Pays d’Outremer (UROME), URBA continues to defend the work accomplished by the joint efforts of Belgians and Africans in the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, helping to document in total objectivity all that has been achieved, under the conditions of each era.

In line with the will of its founders in the distant past, URBA-KBAU continues its task as an umbrella organisation for all associations whose aim is to perpetuate and revive the links developed by its members on the ground. It also aims to support its members and be a conduit to the relevant authorities.

It escapes no one, least of all the press, that a counterculture has emerged in recent decades. The privileged links established in earlier years between Belgium and the African countries it governed have been subjected to severe shocks. In its efforts to foster cohesion and a fully shared common memory, the URBA-KBAU wants to play its role to the full and does not shy away from discussion. On the one hand, it brings the common points clearly to the fore, and on the other, it accepts reprimands for the shortcomings even more explicitly displayed by the historians.

Far from the prejudices and ” scientific truths ” of the 19th century, the URBA-KBAU rejoices in the breakthroughs in science and politics that have finally established that all human beings form one and the same race, one large family, in rich diversity, regardless of their origin or past. The United Nations fully endorsed this concept in the Durban Declaration of 8 September 2001.

Consequently, racism, wherever it comes from, should never have developed in our societies. Racism is only an attempt to dominate and reject the other, an attack on its dignity and a factor of division.

The URBA-KBAU stands for zero tolerance towards racism and wants to actively expose and combat it. New forms of racism, which have not yet all been exposed and are therefore not yet punishable under current legislation, should also be documented and denounced.

Belgium is a country that is completely open to the world. Despite all the colonisations it has endured itself for centuries, and those it temporarily imposed in Central Africa, it has managed to preserve its sense of hospitality and maintains the conviction that multicultural influences are an important asset for the community.

During all these centuries, Belgium has successfully nurtured diversity, which has always been, and remains, a source for greater prosperity, also with opportunities offered for all competences to flourish and be appreciated without discrimination.

An increasingly relevant diaspora of Congolese, Rwandans and Burundians in Belgium provides an opportunity for URBA-KBAU to inspire the emerging generations, both those from the North and the South, thus refining mutual understanding and a common outlook.

It is in this perspective that living together acquires its meaning and that URBA-KBAU wants to direct its action towards the future. Moreover, in this globalised world, everything calls for URBA-KBAU to also open up to the other African countries. Although less intensive, Belgium has been present there too, and remains known and recognised today. Taking into account a people-friendly globalisation, it pays to exploit this potential.

This ambitious program can only be achieved with everyone’s commitment. URBA-KBAU is counting on it.

Thank you for your support!