The collection of 370 volumes of lectures was received officially in a ceremony on June 9, 2015 in Yaounde.

The Minister of Higher Education and Chancellor of Academic Orders, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo, has urged students of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC) to make good use of the collection of 370 volumes of lectures and academic works donated by The Hague Academy of International Law.

He was speaking during the official handing over ceremony on June 9, 2015 at the IRIC campus in Yaounde. The event was attended by several members of the diplomatic corps, the Rector of the University of Yaounde II, Prof. Oumarou Bouba, the representative of External Relations Minister, Chantal Nama, students, intern diplomats as well as IRIC’s academic and administrative staff.

“The value of the collection is inestimable. Several generations will benefit from it,” Prof. Fame Ndongo acknowledged. Describing the nature of the gift, the Treasurer of The Hague Academy of International Law, Steven Van Hoogstraten, explained that the 370 volumes that make up the collection were lectures delivered since 1923 on a wide range of courses such as public and private international law, criminal law, environmental law, cultural heritage and disarmament law, amongst others.

“Together, the collection makes a large resource document for International Law,” he said. Speaking earlier, the Secretary General of The Hague Academy of International Law, Professor Yves Daudet, hailed Cameroon for respecting its commitments in International Law. He expressed satisfaction at the choice of IRIC to host the Academy’s External Programme in 2017, hoping that the collection will help Cameroonians prepare for the academic event.

IRIC was created in 1971 and has since trained hundreds of diplomats and functionaries in international organisations. International Law is taught in all its major courses.

Thus, to IRIC’s Director, Pierre Emmanuel Tabi, the gift by The Hague Academy estimated at over FCFA 32 million is welcome as the institution anxiously looks forward to hosting the 2017 External Programme. A visit to IRIC’s Documentation and Resource Centre ended the ceremony.