Ubuntu at the World Public Assembly: Dr. Gnaka Lagoke in Moscow

A dialogue on values that unite

The Assembly’s official report says that 5,528 people from 154 countries registered for the gathering, whose opening and plenary session carried the theme “New World: Values That Unite.” Participants examined the place of peace, dignity, dialogue, cultural diversity and responsibility in public life.

For the Ubuntu Philosophy Foundation, this setting matters because it places African philosophy within an international exchange without separating it from its ethical roots. Ubuntu begins with relationship: people become fully human through one another.

Ubuntu in a global conversation

According to the official account, Dr. Lagoke described human development as relational rather than isolated—shaped by family, society, culture and historical memory. He presented Ubuntu as an African philosophical language capable of responding to questions of dignity, cooperation and collective responsibility.

“I am because we are.”

Ubuntu maxim, cited in the official World Public Assembly report

The report also records Dr. Lagoke’s emphasis that related convictions can be recognized across different societies. That recognition does not erase the distinct histories of peoples; it creates a basis for listening, mutual respect and action together.

From values to shared responsibility

The Assembly’s survey of participants named peace and non-violence, dialogue and mutual understanding, respect and dignity, diversity, empathy, cooperation and responsibility to future generations among the values most often associated with humanity’s future. Its stated outcome is a Charter of Values of the New World.

Dr. Lagoke’s participation shows how Ubuntu can contribute to that work: not as a decorative slogan, but as a practical way of asking how public life can honor interdependence and protect the dignity of every person.