The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference Report Contents

2 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report Contents

Foreword 7

Introduction Towards Unity and United Action 8

Summary of the Proceedings 14

Opening Statement Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Minister of Foreign Affairs, South Africa 34

Statement by Mr. K.D. Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica 40

Report Commissioned by Statement by The Department of Foreign Affairs Mr Patrick Mazimhaka, Deputy Chairperson, African Union 42 Tel: +27 12 351 1000 Website: http://www.dfa.gov.za Opening Address by Pictures: Department of Foreign Affairs and GCIS Mr P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica 45

Page 78: A child in traditional gear at a cultural event during the AU diaspora conference held in Keynote address by Senegal 2005. Dr Pallo Jordan, Minister of Arts and Culture, RSA 50 Inside front cover picture: A woman performing a dance at a cultural event during the AU diaspora conference held in Senegal 2005. Keynote Address by Dr. The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines 61 Report Prepared by The Africa Institute of South Africa Conference Statement and Plan of Action 70

PO Box 630, Arcadia, Pretoria, South Africa Closing Statement by Cnr Edmond St & Bailey Lane, Arcadia Tel: +27 12 304-9700 Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Minister of Foreign Affairs, RSA 76 Fax: + 27 12 323-8153 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.ai.org.za Foreword

The South African, African Union and Carib- and to initiate dialogue on common challenges; strengthen bean Diaspora Conference was held in Kingston, partnerships and co-operation between the peoples of the Jamaica from 16 – 18 March 2005. The theme of two regions; establish mechanisms for building stronger po- the Conference was “Towards Unity and United litical and economic relations between Africa and the Carib- Action by Africans and the African Diaspora in the bean; identify new opportunities for future collaboration that Caribbean for a Better World: The Case of South can be of mutual benefit in political, economic, social and Africa”. Over 250 delegates from Africa and the Af- cultural spheres; develop a common agenda for confronting rican Diaspora in the Caribbean participated in the common problems between Africa and the Caribbean and to Conference. The participants included Ministers support the implementation of AU decisions on the African and Parliamentarians, Diplomats, Business Peo- Diaspora. ple, Academics, Civil Society, Non-Governmental Organisations, the Media, Cultural Organisations, The Programme of Action adopted by the Conference will Rastafari and the Youth. undoubtedly enhance the quest for Afro-Caribbean Diaspora Solidarity and promote linkages between the two regions. The Conference, which formed part of South Africa’s 10 Years of Democracy celebrations, It is important that both the African Union and CARI- was the result of the initiative of the Government COM should continue to develop collaboration and concrete of South Africa to acknowledge the contribution of mechanisms for the institutionalisation of relations between the African Diaspora in the Caribbean in the anti- the two Bodies. Apartheid struggle. The Conference, which was co-hosted by South Africa, the African Union (AU) I believe the Conference contributed to reinforcing the and the Government of Jamaica, contributed to the reconciliation of hope and the spirit of renaissance between efforts of the AU to reach out to the Diaspora. the people of the Caribbean and their brothers and sisters on the African continent. This will, undoubtedly, lead to a The objectives of the Conference were to: re- political reaffirmation by the two regions of the intellectual affirm the historical and cultural bonds between contribution we can make together, underlined by the poten- Africa and the African Diaspora in the Caribbean; tial capacity of the skills banks we have brought about in our create linkages between Africa and the Diaspora individual countries since independence.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.

The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 7 Introduction Towards Unity and United Action of Africans and the African Diaspora in the Caribbean for a Better World: The Case of South Africa

The celebrations to commemorate South Africa’s celebrations took South Africa’s 10th anniversary of the place in the context of a 21st cen- defeat of apartheid, and the establishment tury that is underpinned by Af- of true democracy and social justice for its rican development imperatives. citizens, have continued unabatedly since In a speech at the University of 1994. The victory over apartheid was pri- the West Indies in June 2003, Mr marily defined by the outcome of the strug- “...the African Thabo Mbeki, President of South gle of those who were oppressed. At the Africa, made the following obser- same time, however, the contribution of the intelligentsia united vations: global anti-apartheid movement was also of great significance in this regard. in the search for Over the past few years, we have made bold to speak about an Af- In remembrance of this decade-long feat, ways and means by rican Renaissance. We have also the Government of South Africa planned a spoken of the need for us as Afri- series of activities in various parts of the which to confront cans to ensure that the 21st cen- world, with a view to thanking those who tury becomes an African century. supported the anti-apartheid struggle and this problem.” In reality, I stand here today to talk to engage them on the challenges of the about what we might do together post-apartheid transition to democratic rule. to accomplish these goals, under- These celebrations were organised under standing that when we speak of an the theme “A People United for a Better African Renaissance, we speak of South Africa and a Better World”. a rebirth that must encompass all Africans, both in Africa and the Af- One such activity was a conference involv- rican Diaspora. Delegates at the South African-African Union-Caribbian Diaspora Conference. ing the African continent and its Diaspora, which was duly held in the Caribbean between 16 and 18 The recent formation of the African Union and the March 2005, under the theme: “Towards Unity and United formulation, adoption and implementation of the Mbeki added that in response to this encumbrance, Diaspora Conference, therefore, was also a Action of Africans and the African Diaspora in the Caribbean New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) “...the African intelligentsia united in the search for contribution to the efforts by the African Un- for a Better World: The Case of South Africa”. This publica- agenda attest to the realisation of this quest for a ways and means by which to confront this prob- ion to reach out to the African Diaspora. tion is the Report of the latter Conference – the initiative of rebirth of the African continent and its peoples. lem.” the Government of South Africa –jointly organised with the Within this 21st century, deemed the ‘African cen- Historical Justification Government of Jamaica and the Commission of the African tury’, NEPAD has, amongst other developments, President Mbeki then made his own clarion call: Africa’s quest for unity and social and eco- Union (AU). committed itself to “determine what is wrong in our “Perhaps the time has come for the African intel- nomic recovery is a centuries-old endeavour. societies and what we want done to correct these ligentsia in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe The common historical experience of, first The contribution of the Caribbean region to the struggle wrongs and design any programme of action aris- and Africa to come together again, this time to slavery, and later colonialism, ensured that against apartheid in particular, and colonialism in general, ing out of this determination...”. make the statement – the problem of the Africans Africans developed a commonly shared con- has for decades been an inspiration to the masses on the in the 21st century is the problem of poverty, un- sciousness as one people with a common African continent. It is for this reason that South Africa’s Ten- In his address at the University of the West Indies, derdevelopment and marginalisation – and togeth- destiny. This consciousness converged into Year Anniversary celebrations would have been incomplete President Mbeki told participants that the aim of er search for ways and means by which to confront a Pan-African Movement that developed in- without touching base on the Caribbean islands. The com- the envisaged reforms was to change the condi- this problem.” stitutionally from the turn of the 19th century memoration of the ten-year anniversary, with the realisation tions that have, for many years, imposed the “sta- under the leadership of the Diaspora. Pan-Af- of a Diaspora Conference, not only provided a platform for tus of underlings” on Africans everywhere. He then The African Union, since its inception and espe- ricanism rests on four fundamental pillars: reflection on the historic solidarity between the peoples of reminded them of the first Pan-African Congress in cially in the aftermath of the Maputo Summit of July 1. A sense of common historical Africa and the Caribbean, but also strengthened the resolve London, where W.E.B. Du Bois made the prophet- 2003, has taken a number of decisions and meas- experience; and determination of all those of African descent to confront ic statement that the problem of the 20th century ures aimed at strengthening links between the 2. A sense of common descent, identity the plight and predicament of the African continent. would be the problem of the colour line. President African continent and its Diaspora. The Jamaica and destiny;

8 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 9 3. Opposition to racial discrimination and colonialism; as Clearly, the Pan-Africanism of the 19th and well as early 20th century was not confined to pam- 4. A determination to create a ‘new’ Africa. phlets, meetings, conferences, congresses, Pan-Africanism, a product of the negative encounter be- conventions and schemes for the return to tween African people and European imperialism, is principal- mother Africa. The role and contribution of ly manifested in the record of the struggle of Africans against ordinary masses of Africans, in their daily these foreign forces. Such struggles have taken place on the struggles against chattel slavery and coloni- levels of overt, armed and covert resistance to enslavement alism, was equally critical. and imperialism. The vital factor in the post-World War II Minister of Foreign The relationship between Africa and the African Diaspora phase of the Pan-African movement, with Affairs, Dr Nkosazana bears its roots in the slave trade of the 1500s through to the Dlamini Zuma Addressing its primary focus on colonialism, was the 1800s, which shipped millions of Africans across the Atlan- delegates at the South bringing together of the ongoing and distinct tic to the New World of Europe and the Americas. The so- African-African Union- struggles of the African masses, from peas- called slaves struggled for survival and freedom to preserve Caribbian Diaspora ants, workers, and the unemployed, to the their dignity and to assert their worth as human beings. They Conference. lumpen elements and the intelligentsia. succeeded in adapting themselves to their new environment but were never completely assimilated because they also the contribution of the retained various facets of their intrinsic African cultures. This Caribbean people bond of spiritual kinship that connected them to the mother In this phase of the movement, the contribu- continent was reflected in the lyrics and cultural resonance tion of the Caribbean people to Pan-African- that permeated the plantations and households in which the first Pan-African Conference in 1900); Marcus the Diaspora and the Independence Movement in ism was considerable and took many forms. they lived and worked amidst suffering, humiliation and dep- Garvey (Jamaica); George Padmore (Trinidad); Africa coincided with each other and became mutu- Frantz Fanon – from the French Caribbean ravation. Norman Cameron (British Guiana); and C.L.R. ally reinforcing. Continental Africans supported the – is one such example of direct Caribbean James (Trinidad). The fight against white suprem- African Diaspora quest for equality and civil rights, militant engagement in the African anti-co- The Caribbean region has made a crucial contribution to the acy and racism, the liberation of Africa from colo- while the latter campaigned strenuously for African lonial struggle. Fanon’s Black Skin, White ideal of Pan-Africanism at all levels. First, in the grand record nialism, and the unification of Africans throughout Independence. The Pan-Africanist philosophy of Mask and Walter Rodney’s How Europe Un- of anti-slavery struggles conducted on the plantations (slave the globe, constituted the principal focus of their the founders of the Organization of African Unity derdeveloped Africa, remain the must-read conspiracies and revolts against enslavement, with the Great actions. (OAU) drew inspiration from their predecessors in books for any person interested in the politi- Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 being its highest achieve- the Pan-Africanist Diaspora movement. The com- cal economy of the African predicament. ment) as well as resistance against the plantation establish- Indeed, the activities and challenges of both con- bined vision of continental Africans, on both sides ment (grand marronage and, later, in anti-slavery campaigns tinental Africans, and Africans in the Diaspora, of the Atlantic, created a vision for development Rastafarianism, the Jamaican-originated in the metropoles). Olaudah Equiano, once enslaved in the continued to impact upon each other, with history and self-actualisation, which gave impetus to the philosophy, was to have a pervasive influ- Caribbean, is one such pioneer, for his involvement in Brit- as a common reference point. Those transported struggle for independence in the 1960s and the ence at the more broadly cultural and psy- ish anti-slavery. Essentially, African Diasporan anti-slavery across the Atlantic began as second-class citizens formation of the OAU in 1963. chological levels of support for the liberation efforts were frequently guided by African cultural, as well as in their new abode, just as the establishment of the of continental Africa, and the freeing of the military practices, and by a deeper and abiding commitment colonial order on the African continent relegated a new breed of African leaders consciousness of Africans more generally. of a return to the African continent. their brothers and sisters to the same status on the During the period towards decolonisation in Africa, The names Bob Marley, Mutabaruka (for- continent. Hence, the quest for freedom and social there emerged a new breed of African leaders in merly Allan Hope), Tappa Zukie, Peter Tosh, the first Pan-African Conference emancipation became a shared concern. Africans the form of, notably, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Ny- and Tony Rebel represent a small element Numerous 19th and early 20th century Caribbean person- on both sides of the Atlantic divide felt the impact erere, Sékou Touré, Kenneth Kaunda, Aimé Cé- of a lengthy list of popular artists (griots) in alities contributed decisively to the development of the Pan- of vestigial discrimination in the aftermath of the saire, and Léopold Sédar Senghor. These promi- the reggae music genre, who amplified the African movement and its ideas. These personalities include abolition of the slave trade and the onset of the nent figures not only led their respective countries message of freedom for Africans in rhythm Edward Wilmot Blyden (Virgin Islands); T.E.S. Scholes (Ja- 20th century. to independence, but also pioneered new ideas for and song. maica); Henry Sylvester Williams (a Trinidadian who placed African unity, which resulted in the establishment the word ‘Pan-African’ on the political map and organised Thus, for example, the Civil Rights Movement in of the OAU. Some Caribbean governments also became

10 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 11 The banner depicted in this photo pays tribute to the united front presented by the African Diaspora The distinguished guest speakers and invited parties gather for a group photo during the apartheid regime in South Africa. during a recess period at the Jamaica Conference.

It is against this background that the historic Di- This Tenth Anniversary celebration confer- directly involved in the African anti-colonial struggles. The • Strengthen partnerships and co-operation aspora Conference was organised in March of ence is an historic and critical project. It best example is that of Cuba: this country’s role was not between the peoples of the two regions; 2005. The main objective of the Conference was to has successfully elevated the debates and limited to providing educational and health training, and provide an opportunity for, and initiate a dialogue projects of both South Africa and the African other civil support to African liberation movements, but also • Establish mechanisms for building stronger process, to pursue unity among Africans in Africa, Union to higher levels. It is important that included direct military engagement in Angola against the political and economic relations between Africa with those in the Diaspora, and to search for solu- this memorable occasion be understood as apartheid army. This latter role contributed directly to the ul- and the Caribbean; tions to the problems that confront its people. a preliminary investigation, whose outcomes timate victory of the liberation movement in Namibia. should lead to, and/or connect with other • Identify new opportunities for future The key objectives of the Conference were to: long-term projects on the Diaspora. Its suc- At the start of the 21st century, Pan-Africanism retained its collaboration that can be of mutual benefit in the cess is thus critical, not only for South Africa, relevance, because the historical dynamics, which produced • Reaffirm the historical and cultural bonds political, economic and socio-cultural spheres; but also for the agenda of Pan-Africanism. it, remain a factor to this day. The conditions of poverty, un- between Africa and the African Diaspora in the derdevelopment and marginalisation of Africans are but one Caribbean; • Develop a common agenda for confronting example of this legacy. The challenges facing Pan-African- common problems between Africa and the ism today include generating an understanding of the politi- • Create linkages between Africa and the Caribbean; and cal economy of the African predicament, and uniting Africans Diaspora and initiate dialogue on common on the continent and in the Diaspora. challenges; • Support the implementation of the African Union decisions on the African Diaspora.

12 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 13 Summary of the proceedings

Opening Statements and Keynote Addresses

The South Africa-African Union-Caribbean Diaspora tiative of the Government of South Africa, to ac- Conference was held in Kingston, Jamaica from 16 to 18 knowledge the contribution of the African Diaspo- March 2005. The theme of the Conference evoked a sense ra in the Caribbean throughout the anti-apartheid of unity and united action amongst Africans on the continent, struggle. The Conference, which was co-hosted and in the Caribbean Diaspora, as witnessed in the united by South Africa, the African Union (AU) and the front, which led to the victory over apartheid in South Africa. Government of Jamaica, contributed to the efforts Over 250 delegates from Africa and the African Diaspora in of the AU to reach out to the Diaspora. The theme the Caribbean participated in the event. Among the partici- of this prestigious event was summarised thus: pants were Ministers and Parliamentarians, diplomats, the “Towards Unity and United Action by Africans and business community, academics, civil society, non-govern- the African Diaspora in the Caribbean for a Better mental organisations, the media, cultural organisations, World: The Case of South Africa”. members of the Rastafari religion, and the youth. The Conference was structured into a number of opening statements, two keynote addresses, eight The Conference, which formed part of South Africa’s Ten working groups, a conference statement and plan Years of Democracy celebrations, was the result of the ini- of action, as well as closing statements.

The working groups focused on the following sub-themes of the Conference:

1. International affairs, peace and security; Music is one of the many unifying aspects of African people, on the continent and in the Diaspora 2. the Report of the UN High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges & Change;

3. democracy and good governance; The Conference was introduced with three open- wards an African Century: Closer collabora- ing statements by the Honourable Dr Nkosazana tion between Africa and the Caribbean in the 4. regional development and integration; Dlamini Zuma, Minister of Foreign Affairs of South conduct of international relations”. Africa; the Honourable Mr K.D. Knight, Minister of The opening statements and keynote addresses shared a number of common 5. economic co-operation and trade links; Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica; and the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Com- themes and focus areas. They constitute a mission, His Excellency Patrick Mazimhaka. The common framework and the foundation for a 6. historical, socio-cultural and religious commonalities; Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Most Honourable vision, which can be summarised in the fol- P.J. Patterson, then opened the Conference. Two lowing ideas: 7. South-South co-operation and solidarity; and keynote addresses were subsequently delivered. The Honourable Dr Pallo Jordan, the South African 8. Knowledge sharing. Minister of Arts and Culture addressed the topic: • Common Origin and Heritage “Pan-Africanism in the 21st century: Its relevance and responses to globalisation”. The Prime Minis- The Conference was a demonstration of ter of St. Vincent and Grenadines, the Honourable the common origins and common heritage Dr Ralph Gonsalves delivered his address on: “To- of the mother continent and its Diaspora. It

14 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 15 was also a moment to affirm all the participants’ identity as Pan-Africanism was characterised by internal ten- Since the independence of Ghana, Pan-African summarised in the following questions: one people with these common origins. Dr Pallo Jordan cap- sion between two schools of thought: on the one conferences were regularly held on the African tured the spirit of this point in his keynote address by stating hand, those who wished to return from the New continent. In 1963, the OAU articulated in the most 1. What is the current condition of the that the thrust of his paper was “a shared history over the World to Africa, and on the other hand, those who concrete form, the ideals of Pan-Africanism. At the political economy and society of Africa past five hundred years dictated that the fates of the African sought to recast relations between Whites and Af- same time, the unfolding independence of African and its Diaspora, which prompts the peoples who today live on either side of the Atlantic would ricans in the New World, win equality for Africans, states coincided with and also helped to stimulate necessity and desirability of an African be interwoven”. and gain independence in the territories where the struggle for human (or civil) rights in North rebirth? they constituted a majority. With the independence America. Since the late 1960s, the emphasis in Af- • Shared Struggle Against Slavery, of African states in the second half of the 20th cen- rica changed to that of the liberation of the south- 2. What, essentially, does an African tury, it rendered the one less relevant than before. ern African region. renaissance mean or entail? Colonialism and Apartheid Garveyism received special attention in the dis- • Purpose of the Conference 3. What role, if any, is there for A common thread in all the contributions cussions of the Pan-African collaborative efforts between Africa was the experience of slavery. The slave movement. According to Dr The Conference recalled a decision of the first and its Diaspora, especially in the revolts, and in particular, the movement “... and the triangular trade Jordan, it was probably the first Extra-Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads Caribbean, in the rebirth of Africa and in Haiti led by Toussaint L’Ouverture, has trans-Atlantic mass movement of States and Government of the African Union in the fashioning of an ‘African century’? been devotedly celebrated. The impact of cycle of which it was an among Africans in the Anglo- March 2003, which decided to integrate the Di- the Atlantic slave trade on the populations phone world. It served as a aspora into the policy framework of the AU. This 4. What are the forms and content of such of African states, the damage it caused indispensable link, were complement for similar move- was done by amending the Constitutive Act, to collaborative efforts in the conduct of African states on the Atlantic Ocean, the ments like the Négritude, Afro- provide a new Article that invites and provides full international relations, in the interest of stifling of creativity and production on the the material undergird Cubanismo, Modernismo Afro- participation of the African Diaspora as an impor- Africans’ humanisation? continent, and the resulting negative per- Brasileiro and the New African tant part of the African continent. The decisions ception of persons of African ancestry, of the White racism that Movement. Jamaica’s Prime of the Executive Council in Sun City in 2003, and Speakers emphasised the fact that this Con- were highlighted in the presentations. The Minister, Mr P.J. Patterson, re- the decisions of the AU’s First Conference of Intel- ference was required to reap tangible re- significance of the slave trade, according legitimised and sustained ferred to the contribution made lectuals from Africa in Dakar, Senegal, in October sults, and therefore argued for a Programme to Dr Jordan, “and the triangular trade cy- by Marcus Garvey, including 2004, were noted. (Some of the AU’s efforts to of Action, giving prominence to the forma- cle of which it was an indispensable link, it. The colonial conquest the promotion of the spirit of ra- reach out to, and expand/deepen contacts with the tion of a partnership, or a more structured were the material undergird of the White cial pride, fostering worldwide African Diaspora, in various regions of the world, approach to mutual interaction between the racism that legitimised and sustained it. of Africa during the latter unity among people of African involve encouraging and supporting the creation two regions, and addressing the most press- The colonial conquest of Africa during the descent, and establishing the of AU Diaspora Chapters; including the Diaspora ing socio-economic matters, by increased latter part of the 19th century cemented part of the 19th century greatness of African heritage. in the policy organs of the AU; making the African opportunities for socio-economic progress this relationship while widening the circle Diaspora the sixth region of the Continent). This in this regard. of stakeholders in racism and exponen- cemented this relationship A beacon in the history of the Conference was conceived within the context of tially increasing its victims.” Pan-African movement was the AU decisions. Minister Dlamini Zuma highlighted the fact while widening the the Atlantic Charter and the re- that the “skewed accumulation of wealth, The shared struggle against colonial- sponse it solicited in the Carib- The Diaspora Conference has been perceived as power, resources, and the unequal distri- ism and apartheid found its focus in the circle of stakeholders in bean, Africa and Asia. In 1943, part of the continuous dialogue between the Carib- bution of the benefits of globalisation have Pan-African movement. The consensus the ANC drafted the Africans’ bean and Africa. The wish has been expressed that entrenched gross inequalities”. For Minis- amongst the presenters was that this racism and exponentially Claims. Two years later, the 5th it be extended to the rest of the African Diaspora in ter Knight (Minister of Foreign Affairs and movement sought to unite African com- Pan-African Conference met other parts of the world, and that it also becomes Foreign Trade of Jamaica), the Conference munities on both sides of the Atlantic increasing its victims.” in Manchester, Britain. This integrated in the broader South-South dialogue. In was aimed at debating means of escaping Ocean. Primarily, its aim was to restore Conference linked the struggle this context, the Conference was seen as providing the paradigm of dependence. Prime Minister the human rights of peoples of Africa for African independence and a framework in which ideas could be transformed Gonsalves (St Vincent and the Grenadines) and those of African descent throughout freedom to that of other colo- into tangible outcomes. It is also an opportunity for called for an alternative political economy for the world. The Caribbean is well represented in this move- nised peoples, which later laid the foundation for the creation of new areas for partnership and co- Africa “which releases the people’s creative ment, in particular Marcus Garvey, George Padmore, C.L.R. the Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement and the Non- operation. Prime Minister Gonsalves condensed enterprise and spirit, which utilises Africa’s James, Aimé Césaire, Franz Fanon and Walter Rodney. Aligned Movement (NAM). these points in his keynote address, which can be abundant natural resources for the African

16 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 17 Working Group Deliberations

people themselves, which promotes an integrative economic by amending its Constitutive Act. The amendment framework regionally and continent-wide, and which evolved invites and encourages the full participation of the an appropriately-designed popular, participatory democratic African Diaspora as an important part of the conti- form of governance, indeed, the New Partnership for Africa’s nent. The reason for the mobilisation of the Diaspo- Development (NEPAD)”. ra is foremost historical, and in particular motivated by the Pan-African movement. This movement not Issues of particular concern were the fact that Africa has only sought human rights and independence, but grown poorer in the last 25 years, persistence of the colonial also a world in which Africans would be in control patterns of trade, poor and expensive transport across the of their own destiny, and would become significant continent, HIV/AIDS, and the uneven and skewed distribution actors in the global family. of economic income and growth across Africa. Prime Minister Gonsalves ascribed this characterisation to the nature and Incorporation of the Diaspora in the AU has socio- character of Africa’s political economy, the international eco- logical, political and economic implications. From a nomic system and its unfair trading regime, and the inefficacy socio-economic point of view, the AU encourages of African states’ political apparatuses. “It is surely generally Africans all over the world to work together and accepted that the failure in Africa to establish effective, demo- improve their common prospects through bilateral cratic nation-states has been not only a political question, but and multilateral trade. Africans should also unite also an economic one of the first order”. Concrete proposals and develop common, mutually reinforcing posi- raised in this respect were a permanent, inter-governmental tions in multilateral trade negotiations. African-Brazilian-Caribbean Commission to spearhead the collaborative efforts; to build close links with the emerging The AU Commission is actively engaged in integrat- economic power-houses (Brazil, Russia, India and China); ing the Diaspora into the continental activities. It and to strengthen relations with the USA, Canada, Europe, has implemented an outreach programme of AU Di- Latin America and the Middle East. aspora fora and regional chapters on a global scale. Its main purpose is to sensitise and enlist the sup- The Jamaican delegation represented the host country in full force. Socio-economic matters are directly affected by climate port of the African Diaspora. The first AU Diaspora change and natural disasters. In 2004, the Caribbean was Forum was held in Washington, D.C. in December struck by a devastating hurricane. The recent tsunamis have 2002. The regional chapters are intended to pro- • Working Group 1: International common values in the international domain. also taken their toll on the region. Minister Dlamini Zuma mote co-operation with the AU. They are also de- The rule of law in the international context was of the view that the ability of people to recover from such signed to further encourage consolidation with civil Affairs, Peace and Security is therefore emphasised. The Cuban per- disasters, was determined by their socio-economic strength. society groups, governments and regional organi- spective was that instead of a peaceful and “At a time when the harmony between us and nature is criti- sations. The first regional chapter is the Caribbean Presenters: prosperous world after the Cold War, it has cal, we need to look at those who are most vulnerable and Diaspora chapter, established in September 2004. 1. The Honourable Fred Mitchell (Minister of become characterised by unilateralism, in- discuss what can be done”. Foreign Affairs and Public Service, Bahamas) creasing globalisation and dismantling of the The AU has been associated with the Pan-Afri- international legal order as it emerged after A Programme of Action also needs to look at the question can Commission and numerous consultations with 2. The Honourable Emilio Caballo Rodriguez World War II. of women’s empowerment and their relation to social, eco- CARICOM, to strengthen and consolidate relations. (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cuba) nomic and cultural development. Both regions should en- The AU Commission’s Strategic Plan for 2003 to A recurrent subject, during the presentations, sure that women are represented in government, academia, 2007 is designed to strengthen these ties, particu- 3. Prof. Borg (Director of the Bureau of the was the desire for the international com- the judiciary and the mainstream economy. larly through its Bridge Atlantic Initiative. The Com- Chairperson of African Union Commission) munity to conform to a system of rules and mission also promotes a policy for the inclusion of practices agreed upon by all. Those should the Diaspora in AU policy organs, such as the Eco- A common theme in the discussions was the include peace and security for the state, and • The AU and the Diaspora nomic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC). prevalence of unilateralism in international rela- respect for its sovereignty and territoriality. tions and its justification for pre-emptive actions. Each nation should have the right to exist, In March 2003, the first Extraordinary Session of the Assem- In the remaining part of this résumé, the delibera- Most of the speakers articulated a commitment to live their way of life and be treated with bly of Heads of State and Government decided to formally tions of the eight Working Groups are summarised. towards multilateralism in the Caribbean region. human dignity. At present the international integrate the Diaspora into the policy framework of the AU They also expressed a search for consensus on community is too asymmetrical, and there-

18 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 19 fore the powerful and weak states should together work for Peace and Security Council, the Pan-African Parlia- weapons of mass destruction, while for the South, the protection of vulnerable peoples. At the the security of the world. It raises the question: when can ment and ECOSOCC. the main priorities are threats of poverty and dis- same time, it would also enhance South- the international community intervene in a sovereign state ease. The challenge for the panel was to strike a South co-operation. to correct its moral or legal order? Legitimate examples of • Working Group 2: The Report of the balance between the two concerns. Moreover, the intervention were apartheid South Africa or during the geno- speakers acknowledged the pivotal role of the Se- The main question for Ambassador Kumalo cide and official murders in Kosovo, Bosnia and Rwanda. UN High-Level Panel on Threats, curity Council in all multilateral, global affairs, and was how the Panel Report could be imple- Intervention should, however, not be in the form of pre-emp- therefore the question was how this Council should mented from an African and Caribbean per- tive strikes, but only in response to actual threats. The Cu- Challenges and Change be reconfigured to suit both concerns. For the de- spective. His response was that in addition ban view was that 11 September justified a new approach veloping world, the Security Council is considered to the direct, tangible advantages of such an by the USA: an ambience of terror used as a justification for Presenters: to be of paramount importance, and therefore the approach, a joint African-Caribbean effort unilateral action (against Iraq and others) and for threaten- intense debate about it. in the UN on this matter would strengthen ing to use military force. In this regard, new concepts are 1. Ambassador Raymond Wolf (Secretary their diplomatic bargaining power. In support now used, namely pre-emptive war, humanitarian interven- Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Jamaican assessment of the Panel Report is of South Africa’s strong advocacy of multi- tion and the responsibility to protect. and Trade, Jamaica) that it can be perceived as: lateralism, his point of departure was that it would be very difficult to achieve a bet- Multilateralism is discussed mainly in the context of the UN 2. Ambassador Sibi Diyara (Ambassador to the ter world without the UN. At the same time, Security Council actions, and collective measures are tar- UN, Somalia) • Laying the basis for effective meaningful the agendas of the North and the South are geted mainly at underdeveloped states. On the other hand, reform of the UN; substantially different in emphasis: the chal- the North is silent about human rights violations (like xen- 3. Ambassador D.S. Kumalo (Permanent lenge is therefore how to address security ophobia and racial discrimination) in their own countries. Representative to the UN, South Africa) • Promoting the interests and concerns of and development issues simultaneously in Hence it is necessary to change the correlation of forces smaller and vulnerable states in the context of a balanced manner. Given the mandatory in the Security Council and address its lack of democratic The panel that introduced this theme, comprised global economies and global security; and powers of the Security Council, security is- transparency. three ambassadors, with an intimate knowledge of sues enjoy an advantage, because they are the UN Report. They discussed the Report of the • Providing concrete support for improvement in almost always treated as mandatory mat- The Cuban presentation also emphasised the unsustainable High-Level Panel appointed by the UN Secretary- the efficiency of the UN on the basis of equity, ters. Therefore, the Security Council agenda character of the prevailing economic order and the increase General in 2003 with the task “to assess current accountability, transparency and inclusiveness has been mostly a security agenda, but this in the gap between the incomes of the richest and poorest threats to international peace and security; to eval- in decision-making. Report has created the opportunity to also countries. The alternative is arguably the Bolivarian (Simón uate how our existing policies and institutions have introduce a development agenda. The Re- Bolivar) approach for the Americas, implemented by Ven- done in addressing those threats; and to make Most of the Report’s chapters, according to this as- port, according to Ambassador Kumalo, cre- ezuelan President Hugo Chavez, which represents the aspi- recommendations for strengthening the United Na- sessment, are leaning towards the North’s security ated an important linkage between security rations for a fraternal and united American continent based tions so that it can provide collective security for all agenda (terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and development, but failed to address de- on social justice. in the twenty-first century” (United Nations General internal and inter-state conflicts). This agenda’s velopment in a comprehensive manner. Assembly, A/59/565, 2 December 2004). The Re- importance is not denied, but the South’s concerns The AU perspective acknowledges serious stumbling blocks port has been discussed at a UN Summit of Heads must not be overlooked in addressing the security Both the Jamaican and South African per- that prevent democratisation and economic development but of State and Government in September 2005. In concerns. The observation was made that the Re- spectives introduced another element into at the same time is optimistic about a future for the continent the meantime, the AU has already responded to port neither recommends strengthening the Gen- this debate, namely that the Report should of self-assertion in the international community. Nevertheless, the Report in the form of a position paper. Accord- eral Assembly’s, nor ECOSOCC’s institutional ca- be linked to the Jeffrey Sachs Report on Glo- the continent continues to experience the highest number of ing to Ambassador Kumalo, Africa is the only re- pacity. It also does not address a suitable measure bal Development Issues, which is directed at civil wars in the world. On the other hand, conflicts are com- gion in the UN system, which took this approach of to enhance international economic co-operation the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). ing to an end – notably in Angola, the Sudan, Somalia, Sierra responding collectively to the Report. and global development. In line with his point of departure, Ambassa- Leone, Burundi and already in apartheid South Africa. The The speakers agreed that the difference between The Somalian ambassador’s input concentrated dor Kumalo identified a number of common main crises are in respecting the rule of law and democracy, 1945 and 2005 is that in the past, the UN’s man- on the need for Africa and the Caribbean region to areas of possible co-operation that exist be- as well as the nett regression in the continent’s trade and eco- date was interpreted mainly in the context of peace conduct mutual consultations in order to highlight tween Africa and the Caribbean, namely: nomic growth in the past 25 years, as well as pandemics and and security, personified by the actions of the Se- the relevance of ‘soft threats’ (poverty, disease infectious diseases. Since the late 1990s, leaders decided to curity Council. In 2005, the other side of the coin and deterioration of the environment) for the UN • Environmental degradation, including define the future of Africa in the form of the AU, NEPAD, the is that of the needs for development. Presently, the agenda. Such co-operation is necessary for the national disasters such as the North is still mainly concerned with terrorism and promotion of humanitarian issues and to ensure hurricanes in the Caribbean;

20 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 21 The presenter from Jamaica (Dr Sims) concentrat- to the liberation movement. The 1980s were • WTO trade negotiations; ed on the relationship between gender, race and • Education to create awareness of this need; characterised by a notable withdrawal or lim- democracy in Africa. After identifying the achieve- ited participation by women in formal politics • Post-conflict reconstruction: what should be done when ments made in respect of gender equity, she also • Capacity-building; in Africa. The most likely explanation for this the peacekeepers have left and there are not sufficient identified the systemic barriers for women of the was the prevalence of patriarchic, military institutional and developmental resources to sustain the Diaspora. The main barrier is the pressure exerted • Training; and dominance of politics during this period, peace?; on them to be what they are not – to change their which alienated women even more. With the figure or the colour of their skin – the symptom of • Promotion of entrepreneurship: economic democratisation wave in the 2000s, women’s • Disarmament and non-proliferation of arms; and unacceptable social pressure. Instead, women initiatives by women can create jobs for participation in formal politics also increased. should ask themselves what they could extract themselves and for other women; they can • Terrorism. from their African roots and how they should reas- alleviate women’s unemployment and poverty, Feminism, as a global movement and po- sert themselves in society. A few suggestions were and can eliminate gender-determined values, litical idea, and its relationship with democ- raised in this respect, such as: the educational which limit women’s capacity to conduct racy, is a complex phenomenon. Western • Working Group 3: Democracy and Good system should be changed to promote a sense of successful business. feminists focus mainly on their personal bat- pride for those in the Diaspora about their African tles, especially equality with men. Feminists Governance connection; the concept of beauty should be rede- Gender equity depends on development, and the in Africa, on the other hand, focus on change fined to include Africans; the stereotypes of HIV/ partners of this development include: and fundamental transformation of their own Presenters: AIDS should be addressed to dispel the notion that lives, as well as society at large. 1. Dr Glenda Sims (Executive Director, Office of Women’s it is associated with young women in their most • Government: it is responsible for legislation to Affairs, Office of the Prime Minister, Jamaica) productive years, who increasingly become victims enhance people’s awareness of gender equity In respect of democracy in Africa in general, of the pandemic, due to being unable to govern and development; the discussion highlighted the fact that the 2. Dr Amami Aswur (President, Egyptian Businesswomen’s themselves. • Civil society: its responsibility in the public sector, in many states, does not have Assocation) partnership is to educate people about their the budget and organisational capacity to The presenter from Egypt (Dr Aswur) focused on rights; perform most of the basic functions expect- 3. Ms Nomboniso Gasa (Independent Consultant, South the impact of patriarchy on good governance and • Private sector: it can promote development by ed of it. The notion of good governance pre- Africa) democratisation. According to her, it is a father-cen- exercising its social corporate responsibility. sumes the presence of a professional and tred hierarchical order with fathers always being su- independent bureaucracy and presupposes This working group received three inputs from presenters, perior to their sons, and therefore, the competition The South African input was made under the ban- a sound tax base to finance their functions. emphasising the relevance of gender and race for democ- amongst sons for their fathers’ favour. Women are ner of ‘developmental democracy’. Persons with Hence, the importance of development can- racy in Africa. The group’s chairperson introduced the dis- purely defined from a male point of view, and the influence on the presenter Nomboniso Gasa’s di- not be over-emphasised. cussion by emphasising the symbiotic relationship between roles of males and females are rigidly designated rection of thinking include Guy Mahone, Adebayo democratic ideals and national liberation. It was stated that and restricted. Militarism is inseparably associated Olukoshi, Margaret Randall and Kwame Nkrumah. • Working Group 4: Regional the concepts of democracy and good governance should not with a patriarchal society and culture. Democracy, Their ideas raised questions about democracy’s be seen as imported ideals from outside the continent, but on the other hand, is defined by the presenter as sustainability, the relationship between democracy Development and Integration as an integral part of it. However, the disappointments in the “power of choice and voice”; in other words, and development, and Nkrumah’s notion that polit- the decades after independence, because of the autocratic the freedom to express and the freedom to speak. ical independence be the primary objective before Presenters: abuse of power, should be acknowledged. In the last two Democracy is therefore determined by power, and any other liberation goals. All of these are consid- 1. Mr Mathale (NEPAD) decades, according to the chairperson, major achievements the empowerment of women means discovering ered relevant for the gender struggle. 2. Mr Edwin Carrington (Secretary- on the way towards democracy and good governance were one’s own strength and teaching women how to General, CARICOM) recorded. The African Union’s commitment to a process of exert their influence. At the turn of the 20th century, the gender strug- 3. Prof. Dennis Michael Ben (University of promoting democratic electoral guidelines; the assertive gles in Western and Southern Africa (especially in the West Indies) responses to undemocratic practices in the Central African Gender equity is closely associated with democ- Nigeria and South Africa) had already taken sig- 4. Prof. Sale (no affiliation) Republic and Togo; as well as the Conference on Security, racy. It can be materialised in the form of: nificant strides towards their ultimate objectives. Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA) Frene Ginwala’s (former Speaker of the South Af- The discussion in this working group focused are all evidence of the progress made thus far. It is also im- • Democracy at home – removing any rican Parliament) research on the role of women in on NEPAD and CARICOM, comparisons, portant to note that the AU adheres to the premise that good distinctions between the gender roles in the the ANC before 1943 deserved special attention as and possible regional co-operation between governance is a precondition for development. domestic environment; an illustration of the contribution women had made the two.

22 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 23 Regional integration within the sub-regions of Africa, West Indies, and sport such as West Indies cricket. lack of intra-regional trade, and the structur- NEPAD: and co-operation between the regions of Africa and During this discussion, the emphasis was only on al imperative to produce for extra-regional the Caribbean, differ in nature from the integration CARICOM. markets. A changed pattern of integrated The rationale for the need to embark on regional formations processes in Europe and Asia. The main difference production and a common development in the South, and in Africa in particular, is that the majority of is that in the case of the former, this involves South- CARICOM’s origin can be traced to the free trade enterprise will improve integrated, regional African states are small in size, constituting a major obstacle South integration of developing states with econo- area (FTA) established in 1968. Its purpose was to trade. An important challenge is: how can for economic and social development. This diminutive stat- mies based mainly on agriculture. Intra-regional remove tariffs on intra-regional trade commodities, government structures be arranged to fa- ure is a structural explanation for their dependence on the trade in Africa is still at a negligible level. The pros- and to promote the movement of goods between cilitate such a process? Regional integra- outside world. Hence, the rationale for regional integration is pect of South-South integration can only improve if Caribbean countries without any duties or other re- tion, as an option, presumes a federation of to enhance the magnitude of markets. NEPAD’s underlying the best-performing African states and those in the strictions. The regional policy of a common import states, which is not always universally wel- philosophy underscores this reasoning. African Diaspora come together as the driving force tariff introduced in 1973, was not only aimed at co- comed. In order to counter a jealous protec- behind regional integration processes. The view of ordinating this tariff across the region, but also pro- tion of state sovereignty, states should be According to Mr Mathale, the NEPAD representative of the the presenter, Mr Mathale, was that these initiatives tecting local producers. A common tariff enabled lo- creative in identifying new possibilities for working group, the Partnership is a “strategic development would only be meaningful if there were a common cal producers in the region to compete with external regional political arrangements, including plan that addresses economic, social and political dimensions culture within the regions to serve as a binding force products subject to the same tariff throughout the exercising sovereignty in collective fashion. of Africa’s future development. It is a clear demonstration of to sustain them. region. The single market envisaged for 2008, will In some specific instances, sovereignty has the willingness of African leaders to take responsibility for ac- be characterised by the free movement of capital, to be re-arranged, such as the Caribbean tions needed to advance development. The vision, and way skilled labour, and the right to establish enterprises Court of Justice. forward, basically consist of creating a policy environment CARICOM: anywhere in the region. and institutions necessary to translate political commitment CARICOM is often criticised for being too into economic benefits”. Today the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) con- CARICOM is not designed as an economic and state-centred. In response to this cen- sists of 15 members. It is a relatively small commu- trade arrangement, but to integrate the region in a sure, a dialogue with civil society has been Improvement in economic growth since the 1990s has pro- nity in terms of population size. The total population holistic manner, focusing on three areas: launched recently. The same extension of vided an optimistic prognosis for the future. This is partly the numbers about 15 million, to which Haiti contributes engagements should apply to the Assembly result of a decline in conflict on the continent, and an increase 7 million. • Economics and trade; of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians. in macro-economic stability. Nevertheless, regional integra- Instead of including parliamentarians only, tion experienced constraints during this period and expecta- CARICOM’s history of development can be summa- • Foreign policy co-ordination; and civil society groups should also be included tions were also not met. The volume of intra-regional trade rised by the following key events: as observers. has declined or stagnated; integration has not led to a sig- • Functional co-operation in the areas of health, nificant structural change in African economies; and integra- 1968: establishment of the Caribbean Free Trade education, youth, sport, human resource Around the world, more than 40 organisations tion in the form of harmonisation of domestic policies has not Area; development, etc. are directly involved in regional integration. A made significant progress. CARICOM, on the other hand, has common problem by all is the demarcation achieved a great deal more in the area of harmonisation and 1973: agreement on common external tariffs – the Foreign policy co-ordination in the Caribbean is ex- of their functional niche; they often overstep co-ordination of policies. Caribbean Community and Common Market; ecuted in the form of trade (co-ordination regarding onto others’ areas of interest and expertise. A the World Trade Organization, in negotiations for general observation about regional organisa- A significant source of development in Africa is fund transfers 2005: formation of a single market; and economic partnership agreements, and in the free tions in Africa is that they are not always suc- to the continent by nationals working abroad. In 2003, about trade of the Americas), and in the establishment of cessful. This is illustrated by the fact that: US$12 billion of these transfers were directed towards Africa. 2008: prospective emergence of a single economy. a foreign policy position on the reform of the United Approximately 75% went to North Africa and about US$4 bil- Nations. Related to it, is the ideal to develop the • The composition of trade amongst lion to sub-Saharan countries. Another source of develop- Integration in the Caribbean should be understood notion of one nation; the most immediate sugges- African countries has not changed very ment is that of migration by the African Diaspora back to the in the context of globalisation. In Mr Carrington’s tion is in the form of a common economic passport much; continent. This has the possibility of addressing the structural view, the region is currently caught in a second for the region. shortage of qualified expertise in entire economic sectors. process of exploitation (after slavery) by the domi- • The structure of African economies has Returned Diasporians are normally better informed about lo- nant economies of the North. Integration is seen as A major component of the discussion concentrated also remained relatively unchanged; and cal conditions and more motivated than those with foreign a counter-measure to limit this exploitation. Three on African-Caribbean comparisons and possible technical knowledge. agents of integration were identified in the dis- areas of regional co-operation. Two distinguish- • Policies have not yet been harmonised cussion, namely CARICOM, the University of the able weaknesses identified in both regions is the and co-ordinated.

24 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 25 This raises the question of why integration has made little progress, and why relations between Africa and the Carib- • Working Group 5: Economic Co- • The economies are vulnerable, and prevents the utilisation of economies of bean have not developed according to expectations. The exports are dominated by only one or two scale. answer consists of four elements: firstly, the conflicts on the operation and Trade Links commodities, mainly primary products, continent have created insecurity, exploiting and depleting such as raw materials and agricultural • They are both constrained in their ability African countries’ resources. Secondly, conditions conducive Presenters: products. Because these products (especially to participate in the decision-making for integration have not received sufficient attention, and ac- agricultural) are plentiful and are produced process of the multilateral trade system, tors who could play a significant role in integration have thus 1. Ambassador Richard Benell (Director General of throughout the world, they are subject to especially in the WTO. They have a far been neglected. Thirdly, patronage has undermined the the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery) intense competition in international markets. limited capacity in human resources effective management of resources and has encouraged the and technical research to sustain such search for available clientele; in other words, structural mis- 2. Prof. Shadrack Gutto (University of South Africa) • The structure of the economies of the least negotiations on their own. management and corruption have undermined integration. developed countries in Africa is very similar Finally, government decisions have only favoured short-term 3. Mr Aisha Salimi-Belhaji (University of Algiers) to that of small economies, and therefore the • They have limited institutional capacity interests, undermining capacity-building for the purpose of regions’ problems of development are also for utilising the WTO’s dispute resolution development. Multilateral trade between African countries and very similar. Markets are limited; this places mechanisms, and cannot afford the the Caribbean received most attention during this restrictions on the type of production and required resources and legal expertise. The presenter, Mr Carrington, Secretary-General of CARI- working group. Trade, as a concept, has developed COM and Commissioner of the UN, responded to the same into a wide-ranging phenomenon, including trade in general question by looking at means of addressing this goods, services, investments, intellectual property rights, government procurement and competition deficit. He proposed three steps, namely that n r e s p e c t o f t h e l a s t p o i n t t h e f o l l o w i n g s u g g e s t i o n s w e r e c o n s i d e r e d policy. It is also related to issues such as external I , : • Parties should develop a shared mission and vision debt, the environment and labour. At the heart of and look for alternatives to the existing paradigm. international trade is the World Trade Organization 1. The African and Caribbean members of the WTO constitute more than a third of its total Governments should identify the means at their disposal (WTO), which is responsible for resolving trade dis- and develop strategies to optimise their use. putes and for monitoring, revising and formulating members. They should improve on the co-ordination of their efforts and exert their influence new rules for the multilateral trade system. • This requires integration of a common reality, on the discussions and negotiations. determining what type of integration is preferred, In respect of trade, there is a need for the two re- and what the relationship between integration and gions to enhance their level of collaboration and 2. The two regions should find a way to rationalise their representation, which will enable them to development should be. co-operation. Both are involved in economic partnership agreements, and are in the alliance of the share representation in the various structures of the WTO. It should also become possible for • Integration depends on a political will to implement African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group with the the relevant strategies. Such a will should include a European Union (EU). The ACP could play an in- them to share in technical knowledge and preparation for improved participation in the WTO. commitment to transfer state sovereignty to the regional fluential role in WTO negotiations, because with- entity. out its support, there would be no consensus and 3. The institutional capacity of individual states is currently limited. Therefore, it is necessary therefore no decision on a reformed global trade A prominent feature of the open discussion was the role of regime. to pool resources. An example of such an effort is the Caribbean Regional Negotiating the Rastafarian movement – also as a mechanism of integration. Speakers emphasised the fact that the focus should A number of similarities in the economies of the two Machinery, which executes the technical preparations and then makes recommendations to not only be on the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation, but regions were identified in the discussion. These on the spiritual movements in the Caribbean in general, as were as follows: individual Caribbean states. well as the cultural values they embody in respect of the arts, dance, drama and music. Concerns about their ultimate • Trade is of paramount importance in their 4. A concerted effort is necessary to democratise decision-making in the WTO, in order to ensure goal to be repatriated to Africa, and to receive reparations, economies. In fact, it plays a disproportionately were raised in respect of the absence of mechanisms to ac- important role in their economies, and increased sensitivity for the needs of the South. commodate the Rastafari and respect their right to return to economic growth is therefore primarily Africa, not as migrants, but as returning Africans. dependent on external factors.

26 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 27 The working group also looked at a comparison of the eco- ment is that trade policy is divorced from develop- is of neither entirely European, nor African nomic structures of the two regions. The most prevalent ment. The Doha round of WTO negotiations has • Working Group 6: Historical, culture. One cannot separate these into the phenomenon is that both are very similar in terms of the been described as a ‘development round’. It is seen discreet entities that constitute the Créole commodity composition of their trade. This lack of diversifi- as an attempt by states from the South to restore the Socio-Cultural and Religious process. Examples of the Créole culture are cation has resulted in what is known as vertical integration. relationship between trade and development. found in language, music and religion (like Commonalities the voodoo in Haiti, which has African roots Vertical integration means incorporation with the previous co- Apart from the need to embrace the common wis- but is typically Haitian, or Rastafarianism). lonial power, and therefore trade continues to follow historically dom shared by the African continent and the Carib- Presenters: established patterns. Horizontal integration between two neigh- bean region, to build their capacity to negotiate more This theme was further discussed with the bouring countries is in many instances almost absent. Africa’s effectively in the WTO, a number of suggestions 1. Prof. Vinish Hukun Singh (University of influence of the African continent on Car- vertical integration into global trade is one of its most prominent were also considered as a redefinition of the trade Mauritius) ibbean religion, food, clothes, methods of features and the single most important factor militating against environment. savings and folklore. The speakers on the developing domestic and regional trade capacities. 2. Ms Christine Qunta (Attorney, South Africa) panel used different approaches to explain These include, the similarities of cultural expressions within A second important mitigating factor is the kind of macro-eco- 3. Prof. Wande Lewis (no affiliation) the two regions, one arguing that cultural nomic policies followed by African states over the past two dec- • The need for economic policy heterogeneity assimilation was a direct result of the slave ades. In general terms, they were characterised by economic or pluralism of economic policy frames. Only The topic was introduced under the rubric of ‘Global trade, while the other argued that African in- structural adjustment. Their objective was to be deflationary South Africa has managed to develop a Africa’, referring to three types of African contexts. fluences could be detected in the period be- and therefore incapable of promoting growth and trade. Only degree of pluralist policy by making ‘shadow The first stereotypical typology is ‘Black Africa’ or fore Columbus (1492). The latter argument an innovative macro-economic approach will unleash new adjustments’ to maintain the confidence of the ‘Black Continent’. This refers to sub-Saharan was supported by etymological research – economic energy, and therefore the focus should be on new the markets. In most other instances, national Africa or, from a Diasporan perspective, Ancient for example, that ‘jazz’ was originally a Sen- fiscal policies. currencies are still declining, and the argument Africa or Mother Africa. Black Africa essentially egalese term for ‘dance’, and that ‘reggae’ is used that currencies have not yet reached served as the primary source of slave labour for was a word meaning the dance of God’. Inter- and intra-regional trade is suppressed by the prolifera- appropriate exchange rates. The argument the Americas, and is still a source of natural re- tion of bureaucratic barriers confronting investors from within appears dubious, because the American dollar sources to this day. Within this typology, this is the Religion is considered a significant area of the region. The perception exists that foreign investments are is also in crisis (perhaps this is because of the real or imagined homeland of the people outside cross-pollination. The notion that ancestors better received than investments from within the region. An invasion of Iraq). of Mother Africa. From an African perspective, the have the ability to control lives, is reminis- area in need of improvement is inter-regional travelling. Flights concept looks at the continent as fragmented into cent of the Caribbean notion of dreams in- between states in the same region, or between Africa and the • The need to link trade to development, as well artificial states, dominated by the neo-colonial her- volving family members. Other religious ex- Caribbean, are cumbersome and time-consuming. The intro- as trade to industrial policy. itage of political, administrative, judicial and edu- pressions in the Caribbean have honoured duction of direct flights will create new opportunities for eco- cational institutions. ancestors by leaving food for them, dancing, nomic interaction. They will have a direct impact on the flow of • The centrality of industrial policy to most of the playing drums and singing with them. This is goods, capital, investments and human resources. issues discussed here. The second stereotype is ‘Black and White Africa’. illustrated by a Caribbean chant based on a Southern Africa, in particular, represents strong Yoruba practice. The construction of religion A major structural impediment to regional economic develop- • The requirement of a conscious policy to elements of this phenomenon. South Africa has in a monotheist manner, with a supreme be- ment is that trade policies are dictated by external demands. create trade. One example of creating trade been described as “a living laboratory of inter-cul- ing as the highest spiritual being, is common An illustration of this point is that the current negotiations is by means of shorter and more convenient tural experimentation, in which Whites, Blacks, in both regions. Indeed, according to one of around the Economic Partnership Agreement are essentially trade routes, such as direct flights between the Coloureds and Indians are slowly trying to invent the contributions from the floor, this could a refinement of externally determined requirements. The EU point of origin and the final destination. new inter-cultural modes of identity formation”. be traced to the pre-Columbus period in the conducts separate negotiations with the different economic Caribbean region. communities within the ACP group: with ECOWAS and SADC; • The demand for a more sophisticated The third type is ‘Créole or New World Africa’, which South Africa; and CARICOM. According to the presenter, Ai- approach to regional and sub-regional can be sub-divided into the ‘Afro-American World’, Similarities in foods, and especially in the sha Salimi-Belhaji, this amounts to a ‘global economic com- economic co-operation. There is a need for the ‘Caribbean New World’ and the ‘Afro-Cuban names and preparation of foods, were dis- mercial partitioning of the world’. strategic ideas on how to use institutions of World’. The New World Diaspora has witnessed cussed in the working group. economic co-operation as instruments for the creation of a new culture – the Créole culture. Another significant characteristic of the global trade environ- creating trade. ‘Créolisation’ is understood to be the mixing of dif- Methods of saving money in one region are ferent cultures, in such a way that the outcome

28 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 29 “How did it happen

also influenced by the other. The concept of a group of peo- that Africa is the ple accumulating its saved monies, which is then paid to the Working Group 7: South-South Co- • The development agenda • Decentralised healthcare members of the group on a rotational basis, is also practised for the continent includes most degraded and facilities also improved the in the Caribbean. The stokvel is a well-known practice of the operation and Solidarity the Millennium Development efficiency of the programme. same principle in South Africa. Goals, and these should poorest [continent] Presenters: include a plan of action for • Different religious The impact of the slave trade on cultural, historical and reli- families. in the world, whilst institutions were involved, gious notions is of such importance for the Caribbean, that 1. Ms Allison Anderson (CEO of Child recognising the importance it necessitated a special focus. Unlike the Jewish Holocaust, Development Agency, Jamaica) • Integration of reproductive it has so many of the spiritual dimension in the African slave trade is not assessed in terms of its social health and HIV/AIDS peoples’ lives. impact, but has become a bone of contention regarding its 2. Prof. Bernard Magubane (Director, Democracy programmes is required. resources?” magnitude. By now however, most researchers agree that at Education Trust, South Africa) Prof. Magubane also warned least 10 million Africans were displaced in the four hundred • The best way for the Diaspora that while a great deal had al- years spanning the trade since 1445. 3. Mr James St. Catharine (Carrycot) to establish itself in Africa’s ready been said about Africa development is through and the Diaspora, this body The slave trade’s demographic impact on Africa is often for- The discussion concentrated on a number of as- active engagement in the of information lacked a his- gotten. The magnitude of its slavery can be explained by the pects, including the central role of the family in preservation of the African torical knowledge. He posed fact that able-bodied persons were removed from their com- African issues; the family unit and HIV/AIDS; the family. the following question, “How did it happen munities, effectively wiping out younger generations, leav- lack of historical knowledge in understanding the that Africa is the most degraded and poor- ing behind older generations. Today, many African states are present situation; and South-South co-operation in • For those concerned with strengthening the est [continent] in the world, whilst it has so still under-populated as a result of this occurrence. the context of crime and security, the environment, African family, the primary objective should be many resources?” He opined that an under- education, and health. the fostering of political commitment and support standing of tragedies, such as HIV/AIDS, Furthermore, technological under-development and cultural for South-South co-operation in areas of training, should be located in history. Magubane dysfunctionality are two obvious effects of the slave trade. Ms Anderson made the following propositions as advocacy and networking. added that history was located in the politi- One of the presenters used Amilcar Cabral’s definition of the basis of her presentation: cal economy, which led to the Atlantic slave culture to explain how the slave trade destroyed African cul- • In respect of training, advocacy and networking, practice. Adam Smith (The Wealth of Na- ture in the Diaspora. Culture includes attitudes about life, • The family unit is Africa’s greatest asset. special attention should be given to the needs of tions) was used a reference point to explain the nature of the universe, religious beliefs and forms of art. the youth and adolescents. the origin of underdevelopment. Colonialism Culture is therefore immensely powerful because, according • The human dimension has to be the core of was a world capitalist system, which linked to Cabral, when conquered people realise that they should the response to crises like HIV/AIDS. the states in the White world to one anoth- stand up to protect their culture, this constitutes the begin- In the general discussion, the specific relevance of the er, so that they could share the benefits of ning of resistance. • The development of human capability rests family for South-South co-operation was questioned. this emerging economy. This practice also mainly on the ability of families to ensure that The point was not pursued in view of the increased meant increasing misfortune for the victims In view of the above observations, the working group consid- children are free from deprivation; focus on HIV/AIDS and education in general. of this situation, mainly Africans. HIV/AIDS, ered three suggestions to respond to the need for increased as a symptom of underdevelopment, was cultural interaction between the two regions. Firstly, formal • The relationship between kinship, politics Prof. Magubane paid special attention to the Ugan- one such misfortune. and informal cultural, social and political links between the and civil order in Africa and the Diaspora dan experience and identified the following as criti- Diaspora and the continent should be promoted. Music, like is critical for understanding major social cal factors in the HIV/AIDS campaign: In the general discussion, the contribution of reggae, is a powerful tool in this regard. Secondly, the skills problems in Africa. This includes male-female Cuba to South-South solidarity and co-op- shortage in Africa can be addressed by making use of skills relationships, child-bearing and child-rearing • President Museveni’s leadership role. He eration was highlighted. Based on Cuba’s from within the Diaspora. Cuban medical doctors, for exam- practices, and the absence of parental role- ensured government departments’ and NGOs’ principles of internationalism and solidarity ple, already make an important contribution in South Africa. models because of AIDS fatalities. co-operation in the campaign. with Africa and other underdeveloped coun- Thirdly, educational institutions should be reformed to make tries, the main sectors of co-operation in- them authentically African. Related to this, is that indigenous • HIV/AIDS, conflict, crime and poverty have • HIV/AIDS was treated as a holistic problem clude education, sport and health care. The languages and filmmaking in Africa should be promoted. undermined the cohesion of the family unit in and not only as a health issue. Poverty comprehensive health programmes in South Africa. eradication was seen as an integral part of it. Africa and Nigeria are two examples of such co-operation.

30 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 31 Dignitaries enjoy a moment of rest between conference sessions.

Globalisation of communication defines the Working Group 8: Knowledge Sharing environment within which Africans share knowledge amongst themselves and with oth- Presenters: ers. Currently, one of the most serious challenges is how to enter into global connectivity. 1. Dr Abiod Global communication is not necessarily global but concentrated in urban centres. Rural 2. Dr Hopon Done (CEO, Creative Production and Training areas and inner-city centres of poverty should, Centre, and President, Jamaican – SA Association) therefore, be integrated into this communication network. 3. Ms Baleka Mbete (Speaker of Parliament, South Africa) gain and less to lose in the process (Abiod). • Development of the private sector, which is perceived by many as the driving force in most Conclusion The frame of reference for this working group was the follow- The question rightly posed, is what the prerequisites societies, and therefore governments should ing: for knowledge sharing are. The following three were share knowledge on its promotion; The Conference concluded with the adoption identified: of the Conference Declaration (see its text 1. The nature of the challenges caused by the production, • A special emphasis on mathematics as an area later) and closing remarks by the host coun- distribution and the utilisation of information pertaining to: 1. There has to be an official commitment in each of education, and as a key element in a culture tries’ Ministers of Foreign Affairs, South Africa country to generate knowledge and to effectively of science and technology; and Jamaica, and the AU representative. The • Indigenous knowledge; use this knowledge in the development process. Declaration’s Plan of Action recommends the • Major trade exhibitions; and following as a way forward: • Academic and scientific knowledge; 2. Countries must formulate rational policies that can translate the generated knowledge into • Networks of people-to-people contact in social, • The AU and CARICOM should continue • Technical knowledge; practical, realistic and affordable long-term professional, cultural, academic, business and to develop a concrete mechanism for the national programmes. spiritual areas. institutionalization of the relations between • Innovations with the aim of enhancing productivity, the two bodies. competitiveness, equitable growth and development, in 3. Countries should cultivate a culture of knowledge The South African Speaker of Parliament, Baleka light of the global order and the opportunity and constraints sharing. Mbete, referred to the period of constitution-mak- • The African and Caribbean governments it poses. ing in South Africa, in the mid-1990s, as a success- should explore and develop concrete Areas in which knowledge sharing is plausible, were ful public participation project, and as an example of measures for promoting linkages between 2. The challenges caused by the monopolisation of mentioned as follows: knowledge sharing between citizens and negotiators. the two regions in the following priority processes of global and cultural exchanges, on the According to her, it emphasised the importance of areas: trade and investment; science and intellectual property of the African and Caribbean peoples. • Technology used in outer space, including co- ordinary persons, as opposed to political elites. The technology; education; culture; travel/ operation on the joint usage of satellites; new political culture that emerged was one involving transportation and youth exchanges. The working group’s deliberations did not address all these communication and dialogue, despite vastly different points. The discussions concentrated on means of knowledge • Communication technology; political backgrounds. Another element of this cul- • African and Caribbean organs of civil sharing, the importance of communication, and other informa- ture was gender representation, and especially the society should explore and develop tion technology manifestations as a means of knowledge shar- • Nuclear non-proliferation, including participation unique experience of women. Even the parliamen- concrete measures for promoting linkages ing. The role of parliament, as a facilitator of knowledge shar- in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; tary culture, she added, had adopted many of these and collaboration between the two regions. ing, was also discussed. elements. The Pan-African Parliament is still a new • Environmental matters, including the Kyoto and institution and its relationship with the Diaspora has • Africa and the Caribbean, through their A working definition of knowledge sharing used in the discus- Montreal Protocols; not yet been clarified. Parliament-to-parliament con- regional organizations, should explore ways sion was as follows: tact was, however, encouraged by the Speaker. of harmonizing international diplomacy • Scientific research and technology development; in particular by utilizing the forthcoming It is the coming together of people, institutions or nations with The participants emphasised the fact that knowledge United Nations Millennium Review Summit common concerns, needs determined to involve and a concept • Agriculture and food processing; sharing was essentially dependent on communication. and the World Trade Organization Doha or idea they can use to address their needs, it is normally un- Africans, therefore, should find the tools, institutions and Development Round, to advance the dertaken with the conviction that the participants have much to • Health concerns, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc.; structures to improve their communication and dialogue. agenda set out by this Conference.

32 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 33 Opening Statement Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Minister of Foreign Affairs, South Africa, for the South Africa-Africa Union-Caribbean Diaspora Conference Kingston, Jamaica, 16 March 2005

Your Excellency, Most Honourable P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica;

Your Excellency, Honourable K.D. Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jamaica;

Honourable Senator Delano Franklyn, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica;

Your Excellencies, Ministers, and Deputy Minister from Africa and the Caribbean;

Your Excellency, Mr Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM and Commissioner of the UN;

Your Excellency, Mr Patrick Mazimhaka, Deputy Chairperson of the AU;

Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners;

Caribbean and African scholars and intelligentsia;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Comrades and Friends:

We are pleased to be among comrades and friends here in King- common origin, but also widely regarded as the ‘Cradle It was in 1994 that we gathered in Pretoria/Tshwane you from our cause for freedom. Instead, the ston at this historic conference, which marks yet another important of Humankind’, today we can all say with conviction as friends and witnessed the inauguration of the interconnectedness grew. milestone in the history of the African and Caribbean peoples. that African blood flows through our veins. first democratically elected President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. Some of us shed a tear You stood shoulder to shoulder with us and Accordingly, may I extend our gratitude to the people and govern- Some of us have come from the long African coast- or two on this occasion, because humanity had formed a mammoth movement because you ment of Jamaica for the hospitality extended to us, and the excel- line from where our people were captured forcefully, won against apartheid – a crime against humanity saw an affront to our dignity and humanity as lent arrangements made for this conference. shipped off in chains to the Caribbean islands. We are – and the Caribbean and the African continent had an affront to your own dignity and humanity. gathered here to pay homage to the multitudes who played an important role in this regard. We gath- The solidarity with the people of South Africa We are gathered here today as friends who have taken some fought for freedom – the heroes and heroines, who ered there to share a common victory. became a great global movement against moments away from their busy day-to-day lives to reflect on our with determination, tenacity and unwavering courage black oppression and racism in the world. common origins and heritage, our shared struggles against slav- cast this inhumane system of slavery into the dustbins Accordingly, we have also gathered here in King- ery, colonialism and apartheid and also our common victories. of history. ston for the South African people to give thanks to Our presence in the Caribbean also gives you, for the victory in South Africa was as much a us an opportunity to make our acquaintance We are gathered here today also as a continuous quest for uni- We are also gathered here as combatants in the victory for the South African people as it was for with and salute such great heroes as Nanny ty in action, a process started by our forbearers many decades titanic struggle for peace, security and democracy the Caribbean people. of the Maroons, Tacky, Sam Sharpe, Paul ago. and against underdevelopment and poverty. Bogle and of course Norman Manley. Accord- Vast oceans and great distances did not stop you ingly, we remember all those gallant fighters We have come together to affirm our identity as one people, be- We are also gathered here as friends who have from showing solidarity with us. The divisions that from the Caribbean, who stood up against cause of our common origins. With Africa not only as our place of shared challenges and a common destiny. geography imposes upon people did not separate slavery, racism and oppression, among

34 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 35 them the great Toussaint L’Ouverture, Marcus Garvey, Alex- that a new Africa could cles of drought and flood. ander Bustamante, as well as José Marti, Simon Bolivar and • That first victory of our brothers and sisters arise, and that a new world “our common African Natural disasters also Harriet Tubman. Yet they knew full well that theirs was only in Haiti – by 1804, the victory of the San could emerge free of racial continue to wreak havoc. a humble contribution in making the world a better place for Domingo Revolution was complete, with the discrimination, oppression, history is replete with The hurricane last year in Africans to live. They laid the foundations for all of us. Now defeat of the Spanish, British and the French, conflict and poverty. this region took its toll on it is our task to follow their lead. and the establishment of the state of Haiti. great feats of courage, the people and on eco- Chairperson and distinguished nomic life – in fact, this The valiant history of these Africans stolen from their homes • The Battle of Isandlwana of 1879, which saw delegates: demonstrated by the conference would have continued to be a guiding light to those Africans still on the the military brilliance in the great defeat of the been held in October, continent dispossessed of their land. Thus, on both sides most advanced army in the world at the time This Conference owes its being heroes and heroines were it not for the after- of the Atlantic, we wrestled hard to break the backbone of – the British army – at the hands of the Zulu firstly a joint South African-Carib- effects of this disaster. colonialism. people. bean Diaspora one, with a view and heroic peoples, to celebrating the historic feat of The recent tsunamis As the late President of the ANC, Oliver Tambo observed • The Battle of Adowa is another milestone the defeat of that crime against without whose loyal have also caused the im- during his visit to Jamaica for the People’s National Party because the Ethiopians, under Emperor Menelik humanity, and to consolidate the mense loss of lives and Founders Day Banquet in July 1987: II were victorious over the Italians in 1896. The already excellent and warm re- attachment to hope and livelihoods. We need to world saw it as a victory of Africa over Europe, lations between our peoples. acknowledge that the which a historian describes as “a victory of the vision of a bright ability of people to re- We make this tribute to your heroes, not to satisfy any freedom for Africans and other freedom-loving The objective, however, grew in cover is determined by formal requirements of protocol, but because we people in the rest of the world”. The victory in stature with the adoption of the future for Africa, her their wealth. The rich can truly feel that these outstanding fighters belong Adowa inspired anti-colonialist movements, idea by the African Union Heads mitigate the effects of a to us as well. They are of that detachment of the formation of early African nationalism, of State and Government, to people would long have disaster, but this is not men and women whose example reaches beyond especially in Sierra Leone, Liberia and the strengthen links with the Di- the case with the poor. At national boundaries and crosses the vast oceans Cape, in America, as well as in the Caribbean, aspora, as part of the renewal of perished”. a time when the harmony to inspire all who are oppressed, to give hope and through Garveyism and through the Pan-African the mother continent, Africa. We between nature and us is encouragement to those who are struggling. movement inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois. are grateful to our continental critical, we need to look organisation, the AU, and glad at those who are most And what is it that specifically ties them to us? It is the • The movement towards African unity, with that our African brothers and vulnerable and discuss vision that instructed their lives, that the voiceless the independence firstly of Ghana and the sisters are here. what can be done. can and must have a voice; that the downtrodden formation of the Organization of African and the despised should have an unfettered right to Unity (OAU), was another such defining Our humble view of this Conference is that this is Let us also use this opportunity to discuss shape their lives; that none has a prerogative to set moment where Africans on the continent part of the continuous dialogue that is an impera- matters arising out of the World Conference himself up as God presiding over the destinies of and the Diaspora sought to free themselves tive between our two regions, and should extend to Against Racism and how, as people of the others. These National Heroes of Jamaica and the as a continent, knowing full well, as Kwame the rest of the African Diaspora, and as part of the Caribbean and Africa, we should continue to Caribbean are tied to us because from these shores Nkrumah had pointed out, that each one’s broader South-South dialogue. fight racism in the world. thousands of miles from our own, they stood up and freedom depended on those of the others. even perished, to assert our own entitlement to a We are gathered here as friends to share our We are gathered here as friends, also to de- democratic future. • For us, the final defining moment that has thoughts on a whole range of issues, in a world termine how we can ensure that the youth brought us together is the victory of the where the power balance has reached explosive of Africa and the Caribbean can constantly Of critical importance is, as President Thabo Mbeki ob- African people, the Caribbean peoples and the disequilibria. The skewed accumulation of wealth, share ideas, their dreams and vision for their served, “our common African history is replete with great progressive forces of the world over apartheid. power, resources, and the unequal distribution future. Most of them do not know each oth- feats of courage, demonstrated by the heroes and heroines It was the culmination of this struggle for of the benefits of globalisation, have entrenched er’s countries – at the moment, what con- and heroic peoples, without whose loyal attachment to hope national liberation that inspired all of Africa gross inequalities. nects them is the music on both sides of and the vision of a bright future for Africa, her people would and the world and it helped to open the road the Atlantic. The sounds of the African drum long have perished”. for the second wave of the struggle for peace, We are also gathered here at a time when climate have remained unchanged across the Carib- democracy and sustained development to change is real and its effects are felt across the bean, Brazil and the African continent. Since Indeed among these great feats of courage are: sweep the African continent. We all believe globe resulting in devastating hurricanes and cy-

36 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 37 An aerial view of the Jamaica Diaspora Conference venue and the podium.

the youth possess the future, we must strengthen these ties and create eradicate poverty, how to use our collective strengths to opportunities for genuine social interaction. make social and economic progress in the world economy and to confront the international financial, investment Chairperson: and trade regimes that favour developed economies, and As the Guianese British poet, Grace Nichols has written in her poem as well as the UN reform and issues of integration etc. “Epilogue” (from her poetry collection, I is a Long-Memoried Woman): All of these subjects will be discussed at length at this conference. The real challenge is what do we do in terms I have crossed an ocean. of concrete actions and follow-ups and how to give practi- I have lost my tongue. cal content to our thoughts so that we advance our agen- From the roots of the old one, da of prosperity and development in practical ways. a new one has sprung. Our unity is essential because alone we are weak, but In this poem, Nichols refers to the struggles of an African woman who has together we are a united force; we can speak and act with been enslaved and forced to cross the Middle Passage. In her newfound the strength of one powerful voice. alienation, this black woman has to re-invent herself. Her voice is one of defiance. Yet, it is also her strength that comes across – the capacity to The great leaders of Africa and the Caribbean tried to build survive, to speak and to dream and rebuild a future. a new world and it is precisely this task that we are grap- pling with in the present, which brings us here – to forge Gathered here at a time when the entire world is reflecting on the imple- a new road ahead, because only when we recognise the mentation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Develop- journey that we travelled in the past and the milestones in ment Goals, we cannot help but play our part in this regard and pay trib- the present, shall we arrive at a new consciousness and ute to the strength and resilience of women in Africa and the Caribbean. know with certainty what needs to be done.

In our history, women slaves had to try by all means to survive and to Let us proceed on this journey with the hope that we shall ensure that their children also survived. Women in Africa have, for centu- succeed in our endeavours. I would like to conclude with ries, been the main tillers of the land, producing all the necessary food for the words of a Senegalese poet, Paulin Joachim, in the entire communities and have thus been responsible for food security. It is lines he wrote to a fellow poet, David Diop: the women, who often, against all odds, have been the bearers of culture and the nurturers of nature. It is the women who have been the mainstay And it is true we are wounded at the lowest point of the informal economy and have turned market places into vibrant sites of hope for community, culture and people. But hope in us has never beaten its wing It rises on our human horizons We know that 70% of the world’s poor are women and therefore the fight Like a fresh unfolding bud against poverty must take into account the feminisation of this poverty. There lives in us unconquerable hope There cannot be sustained development without the emancipation and Snapping at the wheels of freedom participation of women and the empowerment of the girl child in particu- In due course it hunts down with huge supplies lar. of stones Against the wall that will crack in the end We also need to ensure that the agenda for co-operation between the For we will not leave the smallest scrap to the Caribbean and Africa has also at its centre the question of women’s em- demons of despair. powerment and their relation to social, economic and cultural development. We need to play our part as the Caribbean and Africa to ensure that On that note, I thank you for making time to be here and the women of our regions are represented in government, in academia, in wish you well in your deliberations. the judiciary and in the mainstream economy. I thank you. Among the issues that this conference will address is also how to assist to

38 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 39 Statement

By Mr KD Knight, Minister Of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica At the Opening Ceremony of The South Africa-African Union-Caribbean Diaspora Conference 16 March 2005 The theme of the Conference “Towards Unity and tinent but have actively sought to explore ar- United Action of South Africans and the African Di- eas for co-operation and collaboration. aspora in the Caribbean for a Better World: the. Case of South Africa” is an appropriate one, as it This Conference, the first of its kind, will speaks to the need for a concerted effort – a join- further improve on these relationships. We ing of purposes – to achieve sustainable economic applaud the objectives of the Conference, and social development, in order to enhance the which should result in a more structured quality of life of our peoples. approach to our interaction and lead to increased opportunities for socio-economic To escape the paradigm of dependence, which we progress for our peoples. have inherited, it is mandatory that we now chan- Since the end of apartheid, South Africa nel our energies to develop a programme of action has asserted itself as an increasingly influ- tailored to our needs and circumstance, as well ential player in international relations and as create and build on partnerships both amongst has experienced impressive growth in its ourselves and with the rest of the world. economy over the recent years. Recover- ing from a repressive system of apartheid, This Conference will not only provide a platform the renaissance of this nation attests to for reflection on the historic solidarity between the the indomitable spirit of its people, and we peoples of Africa and the Caribbean, but will also share its commitment to the improvement strengthen the resolve and determination of Afri- of the social condition of our brothers and cans everywhere to confront their problems, and sisters throughout Africa and the Diaspora: decisively so, the plight and predicament of the “at home and abroad”, as the great Marcus continent and the circumstance of the Diaspora. Garvey would have put it.

As part of the Diaspora, Jamaica and the wider We have long suffered the ill effects of pov- Caribbean was always conscious of the role it had erty, underdevelopment and marginalisation to play in the struggle against apartheid. We con- and it is indeed now time for us to band to- tinue in our commitment to fight against racism and gether and search for ways to confront these oppression, as well as to empower and advance challenges. the black race. We not only considered it an honour to join in the fight against apartheid but saw I am confident that this Conference will pro- it as our duty to rid the world of this scourge. So, vide a framework in which we can transform today, we celebrate with South Africa and Africans our ideas into tangible outcomes and create everywhere the liberation of our ancestral home the basis for the enhancement of economic – a liberty that was paid for in the blood, sweat and and trade links between both regions. This The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Mr K.D. Knight tears of our brothers and sisters. is also an opportunity for the creation of new areas for partnership and co-operation. The countries of the Caribbean and Africa have had close and friendly relations within international Again, let me extend a warm welcome to all dialogue towards the development of mechanisms Salutations! fora such as the UN, the Commonwealth, ACP, our visitors and assure you that the govern- to unite Africans in Africa, and those in the Di- NAM and the G77. Our commitment to strengthen- ment and people of Jamaica are committed aspora, as well as to identify solutions to mutual Jamaica is indeed honoured to host this event, the South ing our relations with countries in Africa is rooted to this consultative process and will continue challenges. It comes at a time when as people of Africa-African Union-Caribbean Diaspora Conference, and in the common historical connections, which we to play a role in ensuring, not only the suc- African descent, it is imperative that we reinvent we welcome all participants from South Africa, the nations of share. Over time, we have sought to not only for- cess of this event, but also the continuance and reassert ourselves in order to ensure our ef- the African Union as well as our Caribbean neighbours. malise diplomatic relations with both English and of dialogue and co-operation to achieve our fective survival in the rapidly changing global en- non-English speaking countries of the African con- objectives. vironment. This Conference seeks to provide opportunities to initiate

40 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 41 Statement By Mr Patrick Mazimhaka, Deputy Chairperson, African Union 16 March 2005

the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s The Most Honourable P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister of development, creates relative advantages. Jamaica; Honourable Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Min- Intra-African and South-South partnerships ister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa; are vital aspects of this approach. Honourable K.D. Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs As part of this strategy, the African Un- of Jamaica; His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secre- ion Commission has worked assiduously tary-General of CARICOM; Honourable Ministers; their to realise these goals. Its first priority is to colleague commissioners; Honourable Members of expand and deepen contacts with the Afri- Parliament; distinguished participants; ladies and gen- can Diaspora in the various regions of the tlemen. world. It began with an outreach process designed to sensitise and enlist the support of Let me start by expressing my gratitude for the hospitality the African Diaspora for this process. This of the Government and people of Jamaica and the warm consultation process that began with the first welcome to our land as ably put by the Honourable K.D. AU-Diaspora Forum in Washington D.C. in Knight. December 2002, must, of necessity, remain a continuous enterprise, but is nonetheless Excellencies, an essential foundation for expanding on the bonds of mutuality and a prerequisite for the Distinguished Guests and Participants, successful mobilisation of Africans on the continent and across the Atlantic. It is an honour and privilege for me and my delegation to be here in this beautiful city and country, and amongst such The experience has been very rewarding. a distinguished leadership of Jamaica and Caribbean as a The incorporation of the African Diaspora in the It reflected many of the Pan-Africanist beliefs and For a large part, elements of the African Di- whole. The presence of such a strong delegation from the African Union has sociological, political and ecowas critical to the political liberation of our conti- aspora have been eager partners in this en- Republic of South Africa, led by its illustrious Foreign Minis- nomic dimensions. In the first place, Africans hold nent. The Diaspora agenda renews and reaffirms terprise. They have organised roundtables, ter, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, lends further credence to the strong belief that collectively, Africans on the this historical responsibility. The African Union has seminars and workshops alone and in con- the commitment of Africa to develop meaningful relations for continent and in the Diaspora, are the common ar- embraced the duty to live the Pan-African dreams cert with the African Union to promote and the sake of our pledges on both sides of the Atlantic. chitects of their own future, and that this future is of our forebearers and expand on its themes and further disseminate the objectives in vari- linked. processes. ous regions of the world –Europe, Asia and The Commission of the African Union is happy to be a partner the Americas. There are also lessons to be in this enterprise. The African Union is constructed on a plat- The Africa Diaspora in Europe and the Americas However, the project of change and renewal is not learnt from this journey so far. Some Africans form of unity and solidarity among Africans on the continent can become vital players, provided they are pur- confined to the political and spiritual dimension. It on this side of the Atlantic are discouraged and in the Diaspora. This vision implies a commonwealth posefully mobilised. The reasons for such mobili- has critical socio-economic aspects. If Africa is to by the current conditions of the continent. of democratic states that must rely on total and active mo- sation are not hard to find. First, there are histori- assume its rightful place in the world and become The outreach process underlined the need bilisation of all segments of society in order to flourish. The cal reasons: it is hardly necessary in this regard to an arbitrator of its own destiny, it must become to emphasise commitment in the definition outreach to the Diaspora comes in recognition of the fact recall the history of the Pan-Africanism Movement an essential actor in economic development and of the African Diaspora and to work hard to that significant aspect of this community resides outside the and its founding fathers: William Du Bois (USA), overcome its chronic disabilities, such as the debt build a modern, progressive and united Afri- African shores and that the contribution of this community to Marcus Garvey, George Padmore and Kwame Nk- trap or peonage, ever deterioration economies, the ca that would win the loyalties of Africans all the building of the Union is as legitimate and as valuable as rumah (Ghana in UK). ravages of the HIV-AIDS pandemic etc. In order to over the world. Building on this framework, those residing within the continent. Thus, the first Extra-or- do this effectively, Africans all over the world must the Commission has also encouraged and dinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Gov- They did not simply seek human rights and inde- come together and improve their common pros- supported the creation of regional structures ernment meeting in Addis Ababa in March 2003 decided to pendent states; they sought a world in which Afri- pects through bilateral and multilateral trade and by that would promote the objectives of co-op- formally integrate the Diaspora into the policy framework of cans would be masters of their own destinies and forging common, mutually reinforcing, and benefi- eration. The AU-Diaspora chapters and for- the Union by amending the Constitutive Act to provide for significant actors in the larger global family. The cial positions in multilateral negotiations, and in the mation have been developed and are being a new Article 3(q) that invites and encourages the full par- establishment of the Organization of African Unity wider global arena. Building strong partnerships, developed in various countries and regions ticipation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our (OAU) in 1963 was but one step on the right path. and meaningful dialogue, in the sprit of NEPAD, of the world, to work actively with the Union continent, in the building of the African Union.

42 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 43 Opening Address By MR PJ Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica 16 March 2005

in the implementation of the Diaspora agenda. I should like gramme that could be highlighted but our gather- First, let me add my own commendation to to recognise that elements of the Caribbean Diaspora chap- ing here today emphasises the role that various the Government of South Africa on conceiv- ter, which was inaugurated in September last year, are here segments of the African society must play in this ing this Conference as an essential element present with us today. This has proved to be one of the most enterprise. The challenge is not just for the African in marking its 10th anniversary of democ- active and committed chapters and its sincerity and dedica- Union Commission and other organs of the Un- racy. tion underlines the unique nature of the Caribbean region in ion. It is one that must spread and be equally em- this regard, as a place where relations can be developed in braced by all segments of African society, includ- Jamaica is privileged to welcome all the par- three contexts – with civil society, government and regional ing governments, regional economic communities ticipants to our national soil and to be co- organisations such as CARICOM. and civil society alike. The South African initiative, host. that we are celebrating here today, is an indication Inevitably, the creation of regional structures has helped of what should and could be done to facilitate the The postponement from the original sched- to promote consolidation of relations with both civil society success of the Diaspora agenda. We are proud to ule served as a stark reminder that it was groups, governments and regional organisations. In the Car- be associated with this enterprise and would wish the same deadly winds – originating from ibbean, for instance, the AU has developed closer relations that other member states were challenged by it, the shores of Africa – that blew the slave with the government of Trinidad and Tobago and was ef- especially in the sphere of intergovernmental rela- ships, which carried our ancestors across fectively represented at the Emancipation Day ceremonies tions. the Middle Passage, in the most cruel and there in August last year. The AU has also been associated inhumane abduction. with the Pan-African Commission, that until recently was led In the course of the coming three days, we shall by David Comissiong, a leading member of the Caribbean be exchanging experiences on many issues rang- In the history of the universe, the slave trade chapter and through it, the Government of Barbados. Rela- ing from challenges of building peace and security, will always remain the nadir of human bru- tions with CARICOM are also developing apace and consul- governance based on the rule of law, challenges tality. tations are underway to further strengthen and consolidate of globalisation and the preservation of core val- these relations. The trend in the Caribbean is not isolated. ues; challenges of building economic and cultural We gather at a most auspicious time, in the It is simply a general indication of what is happening else- bridges across the south-south and building a com- wake of the launch, a few days ago, in Lon- where. mon vision. The quality of the participants and the don, Addis Ababa and New York, of the Afri- overwhelming turnout makes for a very successful can Commission Report. The Strategic Plan of the Commission for 2003-2007 is de- Conference. signed to consolidate and strengthen these relations par- The Report confirms much of what has been ticularly through its ‘Bridge Atlantic Initiative’. We are also This Conference, spearheaded by the South Af- envisaged by African leaders themselves, cooperating to ensure that global observance days, as the rican and Jamaican governments is, therefore, a which is so well articulated in the New Part- Africa Day and Emancipation Day celebrations, are com- good opportunity to go one step further than we nership for African Development (NEPAD). memorated jointly as a mark of common African destiny, have done so far to build deeper south-south co- As President Thabo Mbeki has said: “This mutual effort and aspiration. Similarly, the Commission has operation, unity and solidarity, to generate a dia- initiative was not conceived in Paris, Wash- pursued a vigorous policy of providing for the inclusion of the logue on our rich and diverse, yet common history, ington or Westminster, but by Africans them- Diaspora in the policy organs of the AU. Thus, twenty seats and to mobilise support within our institutions and selves”. are reserved for the Diaspora in the Economic, Social and beyond for stronger economic, social, cultural and Cultural Council that will be inaugurated at the end of this political linkages. Its importance cannot be over- It is our earnest hope that the African Com- month. Diaspora delegates are included as a matter of rou- stressed. mission Report will not suffer the same fate tine in AU-civil society summits and as invited guests at the as other expert reports and firm promises, deliberation of the various policy organs. The various policy Thank you for your kind attention. which have since been confined to the scrap organs of the Union endorse this position and there is now heap of history. It deserves positive and im- apparently a conscious policy of deepening the processes of mediate action. Diaspora participation in policy formulation and implementation, in order to make it the sixth region of the continent. Both Africa and the Diaspora must insist that The Most Honourable Prime Minister of Jamaica, the questions of poverty, disease and illitera- There are other elements of the African Union Diaspora pro- Mr P.J. Patterson cy, which are common to all of us in degree,

44 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 45 if not in kind, must be resolutely addressed at long last. tional Congress (ANC), in its fledgling years, was exposed to the Negro World, the work of Marcus Action, not talk, is imperative in order to fulfil the hopes, as- Garvey, the great Jamaican of African ancestry. pirations and vision of African leaders and their people. The The Congress found inspiration in his exhortation proposals must become operational for the benefit of the to fight for rights and justice for Africans at home millions of those who seek the restoration of peace, security and abroad. and the prevention and management of conflict. This holds the key to the pursuit of good governance, as well as the This occasion calls for us to celebrate our strong eradication of widespread poverty and the reduction of the historical bonds, to build on the existing frame- acute disparity of income between the rich and poor. work, to enhance current relations, and seek out new partnerships between Africa and the Diaspora. We are all in pursuit of accelerated growth and sustainable This Conference provides us with an opportunity development to finally bring an end to the marginalisation of to reaffirm our commitment to strengthening bilat- Africa and her Diaspora here in the Caribbean, and in the eral relationships between African countries and rest of the Americas. those of the Diaspora. This event also highlights the need for continued pursuit of a unified posi- The Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable Mr P.J. Patterson addresses fellow speakers and other I have used every opportunity, when speaking in interna- tion for the social and economic empowerment of dignitaries at the Diaspora Conference. tional fora, as I did in my last address to the General As- Africa and the Diaspora, a position that converged sembly, to stress the need for international action to remove into the Pan-African movement, which held its first the remaining obstacles, for the elimination of poverty and Congress in 1900. disease, by providing the necessary material support. I am convinced that Africa has the indigenous resources, the hu- The roots of this relationship have evolved from Caribbean also suffer from this legacy. reference to one of the greatest sons of South man potential, and the leadership to prevail over adversity. the shared historical experience of slavery and Africa and a towering spirit of our times. I re- colonial exploitation, the consequences of which When slavery was eventually abolished, authoritar- fer to Nelson Mandela, who for decades was To further this agenda, I remain firmly of the view that there we encounter today in both African societies and ian regimes were structured to keep us in bondage engaged in resistance to the evil system of is a compelling need to reform, rebuild and improve the those of the Diaspora. Our common history and and subservience, so as to maintain and increase apartheid. Like Mahatma Gandhi, his unwa- work of the United Nations in such areas as development experience form the basis for the spiritual affinity wealth for the colonial and imperial masters. The vering resolve made it possible for a nation co-operation, humanitarian affairs and disarmament. There that exists between Africans and people of African shift in Europe towards industry during the late to throw off the shackles of oppression. He remains an urgent need to alter the design and function of ancestry. 18th century heralded new and increasing chal- is a living legend for human compassion and the Security Council to fulfil its mandate in the realities of lenges for continent and Diaspora alike. the capacity to forgive. He reminds us of an- the world today. The case for the African continent to have a For almost 500 years, the Atlantic slave trade for- other truly great African who lived many cen- permanent voice in the deliberations of the Security Council cibly removed over 10 million Africans to destina- Movements such as Pan-Africanism grew out of turies ago – St Augustine. is compelling and irrefutable. tions in the Americas. This mass relocation has our need to overcome these obstacles. wreaked permanent and enormous damage to our I, for one, am proud of the contribution of I am well enough acquainted with all the leaders responsible ancestors and their descendants on every conti- We cannot overlook the seminal contribution of Jamaica and the Caribbean region to the for the African initiative to know that they are serious about nent bordering the Atlantic. It led to the depopula- Marcus Garvey, whose concern for the problem of struggle against colonialism and apartheid taking their continent forward. In the several fora where we tion and stifling of African creativity and production, blacks led him to found the Universal Negro Im- in Africa, through the works of our writers, meet, they have shared with leaders of the North and South and was the genesis of a dependency relationship provement Association (UNIA) in 1914. Its main musicians, orators, politicians and artists. their vision as to the global response that both Africa and we with Europe. objectives were to promote the sprit of racial pride, The music of Bob Marley, of Peter Tosh in the Diaspora must promote. In this way, we will find place, to foster worldwide unity among people of African and Jimmy Cliff, has inspired Africans and purpose and zones of operational comfort, in a world which The resulting negative perception of persons of Af- descent and to establish the greatness of the Af- non-Africans alike to not only recognise the is still configured in the interest of others rather than people rican ancestry is one we are still struggling to over- rican heritage. The inspirational teachings of this continuation of the struggle for liberation of our kith and kin. come. Undeniably, the slave trade was the first influential black leader in the 1920s were a spring- and social justice, but to champion the inter- step towards modern Africa’s current status as a board for the success in securing civil liberties for national movement against colonialism and This Conference is timely for us in Jamaica and indeed region, where development has lagged far behind blacks worldwide. neo-colonialism. Songs such as “War” and for the African Union and South Africa, whose African Na- that of the more industrialised nations. We in the “Zimbabwe” inspired freedom fighters and We cannot speak about African liberation without became anthems for change.

46 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 47 Nor should we overlook the refusal of our outstanding crick- and political challenges. eters, Lloyd, Richards, Holding and their colleagues, who refused the lure of money to play in racist South Africa. It is imperative that Pan-Africanism, in this millennium, defines itself in terms of its so- The year 1994 represented the culmination of the movement cial and political vision, bringing together the towards the liberation in Africa. The victory over apartheid collective perspectives of the people of Af- was the outcome of the activist struggle of those who were rican descent in our struggle to assert and oppressed. The contribution of the global anti-apartheid affirm our humanity. movement was critical to this outcome. Jamaica is proud of having sustained its commitment to the struggle against Perhaps it is appropriate that we recall that apartheid. Under Norman Manley, we were second only to modern civilization has its roots in ancient India in declaring sanctions against South African products. Africa both ancient Egypt and Nubia. The Jamaicans of my generation could not bring themselves Egyptians, lest we forget, were pioneers to consume any product from a package marked ‘Made in of human civilization in the areas of math- South Africa’. Successive Jamaican administrations, from ematics, geometry, architecture, engineer- both sides of the political fence, have continued the strug- ing, writing, agriculture, mining, astronomy, gle. music and art. Scientific evidence supports the claim that Africa is the ‘Cradle of Human- The hegemony of Western nations has, however, over the kind’. years, sparked conflicts in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Within the Caribbean We have inherited a great legacy. It now context, Haiti, the first independent black nation, has expe- rests with our generation to validate our rienced 200 years of under-development. Small wonder that claim to this heritage for the betterment of the message of peace, solidarity and redemption is of as present and future generations and of all of Nor will it result in the reduction of poverty, igno- now our solemn duty as government and peoples, much significance today, in this, the 21st century, as in any humankind. rance and disease. both of African countries and of the Diaspora, to other period in recent history. follow through on his vision. This can be achieved, Africans cannot be ‘in decline’ – nor can its The view is now gaining wider acceptance that in undoubtedly, by building on the strong bonds of In addition to the adverse effects of globalisation, with its Diaspora. For history, ancient and modern, our world, no matter our military might, we best fraternity and friendship that we share. It involves trade constraints and rapidly changing information and com- has demonstrated among our people the protect ourselves through collective security. This encouraging racial pride, self-confidence and self- munication technology, the survival of our countries is fur- invincibility of the human spirit against all means the fight against terrorism, internal conflicts, respect. ther threatened by the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. odds. HIV/AIDS, poverty, illiteracy, environmental degra- Notably, sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected with dation, must be waged simultaneously across na- People like us are most certainly fit to rule and fit the disease, followed by the Caribbean. Our womenfolk are How could we then not wish for this Confer- tional frontiers. It is indeed one and indivisible. to govern and are able to ‘run things’, contrary to at great risk and our orphanages threaten to multiply. This ence, the sort of success that our ancestral Poverty reduction is therefore an overriding priority what some of us continue to mistakenly believe and epidemic acts as a significant brake on economic growth bonds and the enduring presence of Africa for governments on the African continent and in the declare. Our challenge, then, involves celebrating and development. Its social and economic consequences among us demand? Diaspora. Poverty is a major cause of the environ- past achievements while charting a new course for are also already being widely felt in education, industry, ag- mental degradation and resource depletion, which further social, political and economic gains. riculture, transport and human resources. There are those of Once again I say, “Welcome,” on behalf of threaten present and future economic growth. us in our political lives, who have never concealed our un- the government and people of Jamaica and These are only some of the issues with which we Pan-Africanism remains a relevant strategy for ad- wavering commitment to equity and social justice, between the Caribbean. I wish your deliberations to will grapple during this Conference. dressing the problems of Africa. Increasing pres- nations and within our domestic borders. For this, we were sure of economic competition from international be fruitful and serve to strengthen the sin- once branded ideological heretics. ews, which must sustain unity of action and Our common experience dictates that we form a trade blocs in North America, Europe and Asia, en- purpose, as long as time shall last. closer bond as a people. We alone know the chal- sures that the achievement of visible economic and Today, it is conceded that the force of globalisation and the I thank you. lenges and struggles we have encountered. political unity on the African continent remains an building of a market economy will not by themselves bridge urgent quest. People of the Diaspora are no less the disparities between the developed and developing world. Marcus Garvey advocated Negro self-reliance. It is affected, as we too face similar socio-economic

48 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 49 Keynote Address By Dr Pallo Jordan, Minister of Arts and Culture, South Africa, at the South Africa-AU-Caribbean Diaspora Conference 16 March 2005

aimed at bringing together the peoples of Africa, The Shawnee themselves, despite deter- on the continent and those of the Diaspora, was mined resistance, in their turn, lost their land originally planned to coincide with the bicentennial and their lives. of the Haitian revolution and the first decade of democracy in South Africa. Slaves from Africa replaced the indigenes as the labour force on all the islands of the Car- For most people, black and white, the name of Haiti ibbean and in many parts of the mainland of evokes images of Voodoo, the syncretic Afro-Car- North and South America. By the mid-18th ibbean religion practised on that island, or worse century, with the exception of Cuba and one yet, memories of ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier, the malevo- or two other islands, the demographic pro- lent US-backed dictator who misruled Haiti until his file of the Caribbean had been completely death in 1971.Yet there was a time when the name transformed. African slavery had made it of Haiti had a very different meaning. overwhelmingly African. On the North Ameri- can mainland, African slavery sustained the The arrival of the Europeans in the Americas let plantation economies of the South. South the genie of upheaval and rapid change out of America also acquired huge concentrations the bottle. It stimulated massive population move- of Africans in Brazil and in the other territo- ments of willing and unwilling immigrants. Their dif- ries along its Atlantic coast ferences notwithstanding, the Europeans shared a common goal: the conquest and exploitation of the The creation of African communities on the Americas. Within the first century of contact with American side of the Atlantic was a harrow- the Europeans, the peoples of the islands of the ing process involving the horrors of the Mid- Caribbean had virtually been exterminated by the dle Passage, the humiliations of the auction new arrivals. Along with foreign domination, forced block and the brutalities of the plantation. labour, the gun and the whip, the Europeans had Close to 10 million Africans perished during brought strange diseases against which the local transportation to feed the insatiable appetite populations had no immunity. Entire villages per- for labour power of the plantation and min- ished in the ensuing epidemics. ing economies, which the Europeans established in the New World. African slaves The holocaust of the indigenous peoples of the played a pivotal role in the triangular trade Americas and the Caribbean is spoken of only in spanning the Atlantic, producing the raw ma- whispers, but it is the inescapable truth that this terials that were exported to Europe for man- Minister of Arts and Culture Dr Pallo Jordan introducing a delegate to Minister of Freign Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. was the price exacted for ‘taming the wilderness’. ufacture. Finished goods were in turn sold Merciless policies of defoulement, which in mod- along the Atlantic coast of Africa in return for ern times has been dubbed ‘ethnic cleansing’, un- human cargo bound for the Americas. derpinned Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee’s bitter Pan-Africanism in the 21st Century: Its Rele- of Africa and those of African descent throughout reflection on the fate of the first nations of North “The whole history of the slave trade and vance and Responses to Globalisation the world. In conception and in historical fact the America: slavery is a sequence of revolts,” Professor pan-African movement sought to unite in action the Oruno D. Lara told a UNESCO meeting of I have been asked to speak on the “Contemporary Relevance African communities on either side of the Atlantic experts in 1978. Every part of the New World of Pan-Africanism”, a topic that is so wide-ranging that I ap- Ocean in order to address their shared condition Where today are the Pequot? Where are the where slavery was practised, experienced proached it with a degree of trepidation. Pan-Africanism has as a colonised and oppressed people. Narragansett? The Mohican, the Pokanoket, its share of slave revolts, large and small. All had many different meanings over the ages, but the sense and many other once powerful tribes of were crushed with terrifying brutality. All, ex- in which I shall be employing the term refers to the political The term pan-African is usually attributed to Ed- our people? They have vanished before the cept for the revolution of the African slaves project inaugurated by a group of African-descended intel- ward Wilmot Blyden, but the spiritual father of the avarice of the oppression of the White Man, in the French colony of San Domingo. On lectuals and activists at the beginning of the 20th century, movement that took that name was Henry Sylvest- as snow before a summer sun. 22 August 1791, two years and one month with the aim of restoring the human rights of the peoples er Williams from Trinidad. Today’s Conference,

50 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 51 Dignitaries at the Diaspora Conference applaud the efforts of the Jamaican government, its people and the Diaspora at large, in the successful execution of the event.

after the Storming of the Bastille, the slaves of San Domin- go rose, and in 12 years of war, inscribed one of the most inspiring chapters in the annals of humanity’s struggle for liberation. In January 1804, after the French expeditionary force of Napoleon, which was dispatched to the island, was defeated, Dessalines briefly halted the Independence Day proceedings, in order to rip out a band of white bunting from the new national flag. “We want nothing white in our flag!” he declared. So embittered towards their former white masters had the ex-slaves become. The liberators renamed their island Haiti and proclaimed it the first Negro Republic in the New World.

Haiti, an African nation in the Caribbean, lit the torch of Af- rican freedom two centuries ago. That torch was passed on from Toussaint L’Ouverture to Henry Sylvester Williams ninety-six years later; it was carried across the finishing line by Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ninety-four years later. When Nelson R. Mandela was sworn in as South Africa’s first democratically elected head of state in 1994, in every part of the world his inauguration was hailed as marking the official end of the system of institutionalised racism, which had assailed Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional, ending land, in order to create a workforce to serve the change the condition of Africans on the con- the dignity and human worth of every person of African de- the promise that the reconstruction of the South colonial government, administrators and white set- tinent and those in the African Diaspora. Its scent for the previous five hundred years of interaction be- once held. Two years later, the same Supreme tlers. history dates from 1787 when Prince Hall, tween Europeans and Africans. The Atlantic slave trade and Court made its notorious Plessy vs Ferguson rul- an African-American clergyman in Massa- the triangular trade cycle, of which it was an indispensable ing, sanctifying the doctrine of “separate but equal”, As colonised people, Africans could claim no chusetts, campaigned unsuccessfully to re- link, were the material undergird of the white racism that le- thus setting the stage for constitutionally enforced rights. They were not citizens, but subjects gov- turn impoverished African freed persons to gitimised and sustained it. The colonial conquest of Africa, racial discrimination in the provision of public serv- erned in terms of the colonial administration’s con- the continent. The Quaker shipbuilder Paul during the latter part of the 19th century, cemented this rela- ices. strual of ‘customary laws’. Even in countries, as Cuffe, anticipated Marcus Garvey’s Black tionship while widening the circle of stakeholders in racism in the US, where the constitution guaranteed citi- Star Line, by setting sail in one of the ships and exponentially increasing its victims. After successive slave rebellions, all of which had zenship rights to people of African descent, these he had built with 40 other black Americans, been suppressed with sadistic brutality, in 1885, protections were ignored and they were treated subsequently founding a settlement in Sierra A conference of the leading European powers meeting in slavery was abolished in Brazil. Formal freedom no differently from their kith and kin in Africa and Leone in 1815. Berlin in 1884-1885 carved out the African continent and did not necessarily come with rights. Brazil’s former the Caribbean. The colonial authorities exercised shared the pieces out among themselves as colonies and slaves occupied the lowest rung on the social lad- a host of arbitrary powers, which they wielded at Like other movements of the oppressed and dependencies. By the end of that exercise, with the excep- der and were subjected to every form of legal and their discretion or, worse yet, at the instance of set- colonised of the time, the Pan-African Con- tions of Ethiopia and Liberia, every other part of the conti- non-legal discrimination. tlers or metropolitan vested interests. ference was the brainchild of an educated nent was under foreign rule. Apart from these two countries, elite. The founders were drawn from the Haiti was the only other territory occupied by Africans and For those at its receiving end, colonialism was not In 1900, a group of Africans from the USA, the Caribbean and North America. This Pan- their descendants in the New World that was self-govern- the benign, civilizing mission as dictated from the Caribbean and the African continent gathered for African political leadership, like its counter- ing. As a race, virtually all Africans had been reduced to a literature of imperial nostalgia. In Africa, it invari- the first Pan-African Conference. The struggle to parts elsewhere in the world, was very con- subject people, ruled and governed by others, usually whites ably entailed regimes of forced labour – enforced restore African sovereignty was indeed among the scious of the precarious perch it occupied from Europe or their descendants. with the whip, imprisonment and the gun – for the leit motifs of the 20th century history. in a world dominated by the imperial pow- benefit of public works, as well as for private pur- ers of Europe. The US and Japan had only During the course of that same year, 1884, the Supreme poses. Taxes, and other impositions, were another The Birth of a Movement recently staked their claims at the table of Court of the United States of America, ruled that the Civil favourite device for separating tillers from their Pan-Africanism was and remains a movement imperial powers. Both had their eyes firmly born in struggle; a struggle waged to radically

52 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 53 fixed on the Pacific region, where their rival interests would Crafted in the cautious language of petitioners, ap- of the movement, as the names Williams, Marcus chosen to tone down on agitation during the inevitably collide. pealing to the presumed sense of justice of their Garvey, George Padmore (Malcolm Nurse), C.L.R. course of the World War, in the hope that colonial overlords, the address that Du Bois pro- James, Aimé Césaire, Franz Fanon, and Walter a demonstration of loyalty would rebound The first stirrings of solidarity across the Atlantic came from duced in 1900 may, with hindsight, strike one as Rodney testify. The Caribbean was notably fecund to the benefit of their cause. Even in South the US, where African-American activists attempted to extremely naive. Yet, it focused on virtually all the in breeding the organisers, theorists and tacticians Africa, where an Afrikaner (Boer) national- arouse their own community to the threats of African sover- issues that would be at the core of the struggle for of a movement that helped shape the trans-Atlan- ist rebellion in 1914 could be unfavourably eignty posed by the expansionist policies of the European African freedom in the 20th century. tic African movement at key moments, helping to contrasted with the co-operation which the powers. The first recorded meeting took place in Chicago Six years later, addressing an audience at Colum- give it focus, thereby stimulating novel ideas that government received from African national- in 1893, where resolutions were adopted in opposition to bia University in New York, a South African under- kept it relevant to this African community for over ists, General Hertzog, founder and leader of France’s unwelcome attentions to Ethiopia. Trans-Atlantic graduate, Pixley Kalsaka Seme, could more opti- a century. the Afrikaner Nationalist Party, was able to African opposition to European colonial adventures received mistically pronounce: travel to London and Versailles, was accord- a welcome boost in 1895 when the Ethiopian armies repulsed From its birth, Pan-Africanism in the New World ed a hearing, and was able to return to home an Italian expeditionary force intent on invading their home- The regeneration of Africa means that a was characterised by an internal tension between with solid undertakings of greater autonomy land at Adowa. In virtually every part of the African world, on new and unique civilization is soon to be those who sought a solution in abandoning the for the white Union of South Africa. either side of the Atlantic, the name Ethiopia took on a new added to the world. The African is not a New World and resettling in Africa, vs those who meaning and acquired a mystique that continues to resonate proletarian in the world of science and art. sought to recast relations between whites and Af- Fifty-seven delegates, representing 15 to the present date, as is evidenced by the convergence of He has precious creations of his own, of ricans in the New World, and win equality for Af- countries, attended the Conference, which thousands on Ethiopian soil, to mark the Bob Marley anni- ivory, of copper and of gold, fine, plated ricans and independence in the territories where met in Paris, to give it easy access to the al- versary in recent months. willow-ware and weapons of superior they constituted the majority. These two schools lied powers. Though concerned with the po- workmanship. Civilization resembles an co-existed, often extremely uncomfortably, into the sition of all Africans, the second Pan-African An African Association was formed in 1897 with Henry Syl- organic being in its development – it is second half of the 20th century, when the arrival of Conference focused especially on the fate of vester Williams amongst its leaders. This London-educated born, it perishes, and it can propagate African independence rendered the one less rel- Germany’s African colonies. barrister from Trinidad convened the first Pan-African Con- itself. More particularly, it resembles a evant than in the past. ference in London in 1900. plant, it takes root in the teeming earth, It placed two principal demands before the and when the seeds fall in other soils new Though the strategies implicit in these two diver- Versailles Peace Conference: “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the varieties sprout up. The most essential gent approaches appear mutually exclusive, role colour-line,” declared the delegates at the first Pan-African departure of this new civilization is players regularly discovered issues that made co- • That the allies administer the Conference, that it shall be thoroughly spiritual and operation possible. The place the communities of former German colonies in Africa humanistic – indeed a regeneration moral the Diaspora occupied within the movement, the as a condominium on behalf of their and eternal! O Africa! resources these communities commanded, as well indigenous peoples. the question as to how far differences of race-which Like some great century plant that shall as the international profiles its leading figures en- show themselves chiefly in the colour of the skin bloom In ages hence, we watch thee; In joyed, lent the strategists and tacticians from the • That Africans be allowed greater and the texture of the hair-will hereafter be made the our dream See in thy swamps the Prospero Diaspora a weight disproportionate to the numbers participation in the governing of their basis of denying to over half the world the right of of our stream; Thy doors unlocked, they commanded. Thus, we find that though the countries “as fast as their development sharing to their utmost ability the opportunities and where knowledge in her tomb Hath lain North American African community was a strate- permits”, with a view to self-government. privileges of modern civilization. innumerable years in gloom. Then shalt gic minority in political terms, the tactics its political thou, walking with that morning gleam, leadership devised, to take account of that reality, The language was still that of the loyal During the 20th century, the most consistent inspiration of Shine as thy sister lands with equal beam. were often applied in imitation, even in environ- subject petitioning his rulers, whom it was the Pan-African movement was Dr W.E.B. Du Bois, the first ments where Africans were an outright majority. assumed would respond to a tone of ‘rea- African-American to earn a PhD from Harvard University. Du As African voices became more assertive, so too This was particularly true before1900, when the sonableness’. But the war, the experiences Bois chaired the committee that drafted “The Address to the the continental dimension of the African freedom ideas of Booker T. Washington were dominant. of African soldiers during the war, including Nations of the World”, adopted at the 1900 Pan-African Con- movement assumed a higher profile. What is strik- racist attacks by white American and British ference as its declaration. He convened every subsequent ing about the international movement for African Reform or Revolution? troops, had a radical impact on the politi- Pan-African Conference held outside the African continent. freedom is the central role specific personalities, When the second Conference was held in 1919, cal leadership. The victorious allied powers Du Bois remained deeply involved in the movement even bodies and initiatives emanating from the African Williams was no longer in the picture and Dr chose to ignore the petitions and pleas of the after he had passed the baton to younger leaders from the Diaspora, occupied within it. The Caribbean is par- W.E.B. Du Bois assumed leadership. African lead- Pan-African Conference as they did those of mother continent. ticularly well represented in virtually every phase ers on both sides of the Atlantic had deliberately Chinese, Indian and Arab nationalists, who

54 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 55 had hoped that the contribution their people had made with legitimacy in the eyes of their rulers. When the to the allied victory, would at least earn them a token of US-trained Dr A.B. Xuma, President of the ANC in or economic. The peoples of the gratitude. South Africa, commissioned a response to that colonies must have the right to elect document in 1943, he penned a preface, which their own government, a government The ‘Regeneration of Africa’ invoked by Seme in his read in part: without restrictions from a foreign speech at Columbia has been the lodestar of the Pan-Af- power. We say to the peoples of rican movement since its inception. The movement was As African leaders we are not so foolish as to the colonies that they must strive premised on the inseparability of the condition of Africans believe that because we have made these for these ends by all means at their on the mother continent from that of Africans within the declarations that our government will disposal. The object of imperialist Diaspora, hence the integral involvement of the diasporic grant us our claims for the mere asking. powers is to exploit. By granting community and its leaders in its conception and in the We realize that for the African this is only the right to the colonial peoples prosecution of its project. It required the political inter- a beginning of a long struggle entailing to govern themselves, they are vention of the masses, through powerful movements on great sacrifices of time, means and defeating that objective. Therefore, both sides of the Atlantic during the inter-war years, for a even life itself. To the African people the the struggle for political power by leadership that placed its reliance on the power of mass declaration is a challenge to organize and colonial and subject peoples is the action to emerge. unite themselves under the mass liberation first step towards, and the necessary movement… pre-requisite to, complete social, economic and political emancipation. Garveyism and its Trans-Atlantic Impact Xuma’s preface was prescient. Churchill virtually re- The Garveyist movement was probably the first trans- pudiated the Atlantic Charter once it was clear that It ended its declaration with a call to all the Atlantic mass movement among the Africans of the Eng- the axis powers had lost the strategic initiative. The colonial peoples of the world: lish-speaking world. Its impact was felt in Garvey’s Carib- principles of the Atlantic Charter, Churchill said, ap- bean home, the US as well as in Anglophone Africa and plied only to the whites in Europe, and not to the The Fifth Pan-African Congress, Britain. Garvey catalysed yet another movement, Rasta- colonial peoples of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. therefore, calls on the workers and farianism, by linking the deliverance of the African world farmers of the colonies to organize from bondage to the coronation of an African emperor. But the struggle for African rights had taken on a effectively. Colonial workers must be When the Ethiopian nobleman, Ras Tafari was crowned new character, as expressed in the Declaration of in the front lines of the battle against Emperor Haile Selassie, the Lion of Judah in 1930, his the 5th Pan-African Conference, which met in Man- imperialism. name was adopted by a pan- African mystical sect with chester, Britain, in 1945. Though the participants growing numbers of adherents in every part of the Afri- from the mother continent were still a minority, This Fifth Pan-African Congress calls can world. those who were present became names to conjure on the intellectuals and professional in the following two decades – Kwame Nkrumah classes of the colonies to awaken Garveyism, in the British empire, found an echo in neg- from Ghana; Jomo Kenyatta from Kenya; Obafemi to their responsibilities. The long, ritude, in France’s Atlantic empire, Afro-Cubanismo in Awolowo from Nigeria; Hastings Banda from Ma- long night is over. By fighting for Cuba, Modernismo Afro-Brasileiro in Brazil, and the New lawi. The indomitable Du Bois was there, as were trade union rights, the right to form African Movement in among African intellectuals in South George Padmore and Mrs Amy Garvey, the widow co-operatives, freedom of the press, Africa. In each of these regions, the movements among of Marcus Garvey. assembly, demonstration and strike; intellectuals were accompanied by mass protest move- freedom to print and read the literature ments, such as the United Negro Improvement Associa- The accent of the moderate colonial subject was which is necessary for the education tion in the US and the Caribbean, and the Industrial and a thing of the past, as declared during the Confer- of the masses, you will be using the Commercial Workers Union (ICU) in Southern Africa. ence: only means by which your liberties It was only in the aftermath of the Second World War that will be won and maintained. Today this new mood of assertiveness became evident among We believe in the rights of all peoples to there is only one road to effective the leaders of African opinion in the Atlantic littoral coun- govern themselves. We affirm the right of action-the organization of the masses, tries. The Atlantic Charter, adopted by Roosevelt and all colonial peoples to control their own “COLONIAL AND SUBJECT PEOPLES Churchill in 1941 seemed to endow the demands that the destiny. All colonies must be free from OF THE WORLD – UNITE!” Pan-African movement had been making for forty years foreign imperialist control, whether political

56 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 57 That battle cry was taken up in every part of the colonised in South Africa; Adams College; Roma College in bean and Asian states were able to muster world during the next two decades. What was notable about Lesotho; as well as at Makerere in Uganda for lat- favourable balance for the US.... In addition the isolation of Margaret Thatcher’s govern- the 1945 document was that it linked the struggle for African er generations, resulted in a remarkable ésprit de the US has indirect economic interest in ment, which could barely conceal its support independence and freedom to that of other colonised peo- corps that united these leaders around a common the key role which South Africa plays in the for the apartheid regime. In the US, trans-Af- ples, thus anticipating the themes of Afro-Asian solidarity, vision. UK balance of payments, UK investment rica, a highly effective lobby group working the Non-Aligned movement and those of the Tri-Continental in South Africa is currently estimated at in close co-operation with the Congressional movement of our day. The unfolding of African independence coincides US$3billion, and the British have made it Black Caucus and the African-American with and helped stimulate the struggle for human clear that they will take no action which community groups, was able to pilot sanc- In 1958, the first Pan-African Conference to be held on rights in North America. The African community in would jeopardize their economic interests. tions legislation through Congress in 1987. African soil began its deliberations in Accra, Ghana. The the US had historically made a consistent contribu- veterans of the Pan-African freedom movement, Du Bois, tion to the liberation struggle on the mother con- That is how the “National Security Study Memo- The mass struggles that swept through Padmore and James graced the occasion. But the leaders tinent in a number of ways. Its most high profile randum 39: Southern Africa”, inspired by Henry South Africa during that same period con- were now visibly taking the lead from the mother continent, leaders and public figures invariably were held Kissinger, stated the matter in 1969. These were verged with these external pressures pre- culminating in the high tide of independence in Africa and up as role models amongst Africans, especially in the considerations that determined the options the cipitating an insurmountable crisis in the the Caribbean during the 1960s. the Anglophone countries. Numerous future lead- US, Britain and France chose in Southern Africa apartheid regime. By the end of 1988, it was ers of the African liberation movements studied in during the 1970s. clear that it was just a matter of time before The founding of the Organization of African Unity in 1963, US tertiary institutions, many in historically black all political prisoners would be released, and and the establishment of its Liberation Committee in 1965, colleges, where they came under the influence of When the apartheid regime, having received as- negotiations to end apartheid subsequently was an affirmation of the mission adopted in 1945 but it was Booker T. Washington, later of Du Bois, and some surances of support from the US, attempted to ex- commenced in earnest. also a recognition that the tide of liberation had come up under the influence of Marcus Garvey. When Italy port a counter-revolution to Angola in 1975, it was against the immovable object of the white colonial in South- attempted its second invasion of Ethiopia in 1936, the small Caribbean nation of Cuba, with a popula- ern Africa. In 1965, Ian Smith led the racist white Rhodesia Paul Robeson, the most famous African-American tion smaller than that of New York city, that commit- African Freedom and the Chal- Front in its Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) performer of stage and screen at the time, helped ted its armed forces, materials and its international lenges of the Present from Britain in the full knowledge that Britain would neither found the Council on African Affairs, which mobi- reputation to the defence of the project of African use armed force to suppress them, nor impede white-ruled lised support within the African-American commu- liberation. The thrust of my argument in this paper has South Africa from assisting them. The stubborn resistance of nity and the wider US society for African liberation. been that a shared history over the past five the white settler regime in Zimbabwe, the apartheid regime The Council was eventually ‘red-baited’ out of exist- Over the following fifteen years, Cuban troops de- hundred years dictated that the fates of the of South Africa, and of fascist-ruled Portugal, compelled the ence during the McCarthy era. Robeson, Alpheus stroyed the myth of white South Africa’s invincibil- African peoples, who today live on either side liberation movements to match the words of the 1945 Dec- Hunton, Du Bois, Louis Burnham, Lena Home and ity; it called a halt to its strategy of intervention and of the Atlantic, would be interwoven. Recogni- laration, “...that that they (the colonised peoples) must strive others who rallied to the Council on African Affairs, military destabilisation of independent Africa, and tion of that reality spurred the most far-sight- for these ends by all means at their disposal” with deeds. were also leading players in the struggle for free- finally inflicted a decisive strategic defeat on the ed political leaders of the African Diaspora to In June 1967, the joint forces of the Zimbabwe and South Af- dom within the US itself. forces of apartheid at Cuito Cuinavale, thus open- assume leadership of a trans-Atlantic move- rican liberation movements commenced joint operations into ing the way for Namibian independence in 1990. ment for African freedom. This they achieved, Zimbabwe, announcing the outbreak of the Southern African The African Diaspora was destined to play a de- Among the pressures that finally compelled the by demonstrating in practice, that the blood liberation wars. cisive supportive role especially in the Southern apartheid regime to the negotiating table, was the that binds these two communities is thicker African theatre of struggle, where the statesmen of defeat suffered at Cuito Cuinavale. than the waters of the Atlantic. The Pan-Af- The wars to liberate the Portuguese colonies, Zimbabwe, Europe and the US outdid themselves in equivo- rican movement they inspired, after close to Namibia and South Africa, were inter-linked and intertwined cation, while quietly giving tacit support to the re- Who was in whose trench during those thirteen a century of struggle, has reconquered the not solely by geography but also by the long-standing links maining colonial and white supremacist regimes on years, will always weigh heavily in the scales when sovereignty of the African continent and put amongst the freedom fighters of Southern Africa. The found- African soil. This was baldly stated in a US policy Africa considers the situation in the Caribbean. We an end to institutionalised racism on both the ing of the ANC in South Africa had inspired sister movements document: do not lightly forget our old friends, even when we mother continent and in the New World. in all of South-Eastern Africa, as far north as Kenya. Many of have found new ones! the liberation movement’s pioneer leaders were accepted as Despite this historic victory, Africa is an ex- spokespersons for the entire region. Relations established US direct investment in southern Africa, An extraordinary degree of co-ordination among tremely troubled continent, plagued by inter- as students at universities, in Europe and America, among mainly in South Africa, is about $1 billion the various fronts of a Pan-African effort to deal necine wars, political instability and its people pioneers; but increasingly, at Fort Hare University College and yields a highly profitable return. Trade, the final deathblow to apartheid occurred during afflicted by degrading poverty. The first free again mainly with South Africa, runs a these years. In the Commonwealth, African, Carib- African nation of modern times, Haiti, is the

58 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 59 Keynote address By Ralph E. Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St Vincent and The Grenadines 18 March 2005

poorest country in the Caribbean, with a troubled history ex- that will take us forward. There are important de- pressed in the 37 coups, which the island has witnessed. The velopments taking place in Africa, many of them African communities of the Atlantic are not prosperous. In the based on our own efforts. The reversal of the at- New World the legacy of slavery, compounded by nearly a tempted coup in Togo in recent weeks is a case in century of constitutionalised racial oppression, has kept them point. It is equally significant that it was the action at the lowest rungs of the social ladder. Despite the pervasive taken by ECOWAS that achieved this feat. poverty evident in virtually every part of the continent, Africa remains a net exporter of wealth to Europe and North America. We remain engaged with the issues of the Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Having won political freedom through their collective action Sierra Leone and Liberia. The struggle to achieve during the 20th century, the challenge facing the peoples peace and political stability on the mother continent of Africa in the 21st century is how to devise a programme is going to require the same measure or commit- of action to break the chains of poverty and underdevelopment, as well as the solidarity that brought us free- ment, which hold far too many of our people in thrall. dom during the 20th century. Yet, it is equally true that African capacity is gravely constrained by the ‘Globalisation’ is the name used to describe the develop- limited finances of the continent, and the huge devel- ments in world economy, brought about by the rapid developmental challenges facing every African country. opments in telecommunications, international travel and the movement of capital and goods across international fron- Here in the Caribbean, we have witnessed yet an- tiers. Though the African continent and the peoples of Af- other coup in Haiti, coinciding with the bi-centen- rica have been at the core of evolution of the world system nial of Haitian independence. The Caribbean com- since the 15th century, globalisation threatens to marginal- munity was unable to thwart the aims of big powers ise our continent even further, compounding the social and that took a direct hand in effecting ‘regime change’ economic situation of Africans of the Diaspora. Africa has in Haiti, and the interventions of the Black Con- attempted its own indigenously evolved response to globali- gressional Caucus in the USA were greeted with sation, namely the New Partnership for African Development utter contempt. (NEPAD), focusing on the development of infrastructure, the redefinition of trade between Africa and its principal trading Nigh a century after he spoke these words, Pixley The Honourable Prime Minister, Ralph E. Gonsalves partners, the exploration of intra-African trade, and the de- Kalsaka Seme’s clarion call for the ‘Regeneration velopment of new partnerships amongst African nations and of Africa’ should summon us all to the new battle- other developing countries. fronts to defeat the scourge of poverty among the Towards an African Century: Closer Understanding when we speak of peoples of Africa. As in the struggle for political Collaboration between Africa and an African Renaissance, we speak When I passed through London en route to Kingston this emancipation, self-determination and freedom, it is the Caribbean in the Conduct of Inter- of a rebirth that must encompass past weekend, the British media were celebrating the pub- by coordinating our efforts that we shall maximise national Relations all Africans, both in Africa and the lication of the Blair Commission for Africa’s Report. Though our striking force. African Diaspora this report contains nothing that is significantly new, the pro- In a speech at the University of the West Indies, file it has been given suggests that its validity resides in its Pan-Africanism remains eminently relevant in our in Jamaica, in July 2003, His Excellency Thabo A series of questions accordingly arise for sponsorship, a European head of government, rather than day because there is still so much unfinished busi- Mbeki, President of South Africa, addressed the is- consideration. Among these are the follow- its actual content. While it is highly commendable that a Brit- ness amongst all of us. The future beckons. The sue before us as follows: ing: ish Prime Minister regards the issues of African poverty and best and most lasting monument we can erect to the under-development as important, is it not high time that col- generations who preceded us is to ensure that Africa Over the past few years, we have made bold • What is the current condition of the lective African initiatives be dominated by discourse about does indeed walk tall. In the words of Seme, to speak about an African Renaissance. political economy and society of Africa our continent rather than his? We have also spoken of the need for us as and its Diaspora, which prompts the Then shalt thou, walking with that morning Africans to Ensure that the 21st century necessity and desirability of an African The trans-Atlantic African communities must interrogate that gleam, Shine as thy sister lands with equal becomes an African in reality, I stand rebirth? matter with the gravity that it deserves and provide answers beam. here today to talk bout what we might Thank you. do together to accomplish these goals, • What essentially does an African

60 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 61 been fashioned by the African Union under the Of the 48 countries in sub-Sa- and only one – Haiti – is Renaissance mean or entail? leadership of President Mbeki, is the critical vehi- haran Africa, only five have “despite huge natural a LIC. cle in this quest for renaissance. NEPAD summons been put in the category of • Is an African Renaissance an essential pre-requisite to all of Africa to take its destiny into its own hands, an “upper middle-income resources and talented Recently, Richard Dow- the collective self-mastery of Africa and its Diaspora so to assume responsibility for its own failing, to en- country (UMC)” by the World den, the Director of the as embody the guest to restore Africa’s greatness in the hance its possibilities, and to reduce, as far as is Bank. A UMC has an Annual people, most of Africa’s Royal African Society 21st century? humanly possible, it limitation. But the challenges Gross National Income (GNI) in the United Kingdom, in this transformative process are immense. per head, in 2002, of approxi- economics have not wrote, “despite huge • What really do we mean when we speak of ‘an African mately US$9.075. In sub-Sa- natural resources and century’ in the 21st century? In the last 25 years, Africa is the only continent haran Africa, there are four taken off”. He correctly talented people, most world-wide, which has grown poorer. Its share “lower middle-income coun- of Africa’s economics • What role, if any, is there for collaborative efforts of world trade has halved in a generation and tries (LMC)” with a GNI per observed that: “Since have not taken off”. He between Africa and its Diaspora, especially its Diaspora it receives less that 1% of direct foreign invest- capita of between US$736.00 correctly observed that: in the Caribbean, in the rebirth of Africa and the ment, globally. If fundamental alterations in Afri- and US$2,935.00, but there colonial times, Africa’s “Since colonial times, fashioning of an African century? ca’s political economy do not occur, that is to say, are 39 sub-Saharan African Africa’s economies have if business continues as usual, Africa will miss countries in the “low-income economies have been been designed to suit • What are the forms and content of such collaborative the central targets for reducing poverty by more country” (LIC) grouping with a the wants of outsiders, efforts in the conduct of international relations in the than 100 years. If the current condition persists, GNI per head of US$4 735.00 designed to suit the not the needs of the Af- interest of our people’s humanisation? it has been assessed that free primary education or less. rican people”. for all would not be provided until the year 2130 wants of outsiders, not These six queries constitute an integrated whole. Although – some 115 years after the target set by the Unit- A huge, oil-rich county like Once this is accepted, each contains its own thematic peculiarity, I shall seek ed Nations in the Millennium Development Goals Nigeria is in the “low-income the needs of the African an appropriate re-design to address them in an omnibus or rolled-up manner but (MDGs). country” category. Forty years of Africa’s economies with the requisite logical progression. ago, Nigeria was much richer people”. comes forcefully on the Across Africa, the trade patterns of the colonial era than South Korea, a country agenda. The African Condition: History, Reality and persist, despite some efforts to alter these through with roughly the same popu- Dream the creation or elaboration of regional trading blocs lation. Nigeria’s oil wealth To be sure, aspects of in the northern, southern, eastern and western ar- was squandered, while South Africa’s physical envi- First, I want to speak of the African condition, its history, real- eas of Africa. Currently, according to the Economic Korea invested in its people ronment are problem- ity and dream, in this classic entitled How Europe Underde- Commission for Africa, trade among African coun- and targeted vital export industries in the Western atic and challenging. For example, old soils veloped Africa, by the Caribbean scholar and activist Walter tries accounts for only 10% of their total exports world. Today, South Korea is a leading export na- and irregular weather patterns (including Rodney. He elaborated on the theory that Africa’s underde- and imports. tion, which has a per capita income 20 times larger droughts) pose challenges. People do die velopment is directly connected to the dominant role played than that of Nigeria’s. comparatively younger in Africa because of by external monopoly capitalism and colonialism, in wrench- Poor and expensive transport across Africa hinders diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. ing Africa from an autonomous, home-grown, sustainable increased intra-African trade. For example, ship- Meanwhile, by comparison, of the 33 countries in political economy, and placing it on a path of a dependency ping a car from Japan to Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire Latin America and the Caribbean, three are “high- These issues, and others, are connected to relationship to an exploitative overseas capital wrapped in costs US$1,500.00 but the shipping of the same income countries (HIC)” with a GNI per head of the nature and character of Africa’s political the incubus of colonial, racist over-rule. car from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to Abidjan costs US$9,076.00 or more. Fourteen of the Latin Ameri- economy, the international economic system US$1,500.00. can and Caribbean countries are in the UMC cat- and its unfair trading arrangements, and the Clearly, an African rebirth demands an alternative political egory; 14 are also in the LMC category; and only efficacy of the political apparatuses of the economy, which releases the people’s creative enterprise Most of all, Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, is two – Haiti and Nicaragua – are in the LIC group- individual nation-states across Africa. It is and spirit, which utilises Africa’s abundant natural resources ravaged by HIV/AIDS, to an extent which no other ing. surely generally accepted that the failure for the African people themselves, which promotes an inte- continent or region experiences. Even the relative- in Africa to establish effective, democratic grative economic framework regionally and continent-wide, ly prosperous Botswana, an upper middle-income Within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), 3 nation-states has been not only a political and which evolves an appropriately designed popular, par- country, is saddled with a rate of HIV injection of of its member states are in the HIC category; 5 question, but also an economic one of the ticipatory democratic form of governance. Indeed, the New some one-third of its population. are in the UMC grouping; 5 are in the LMC group; first order. Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which has

62 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 63 The delegation from St Vincent and the Grenadines accompanied their Prime Minister, the Honourable Ralph E. Gonsalves to the Diaspora Conference proceedings in Jamaica.

civilization. It contains many shared features The reality of Africa is not one-sided: it consists not only of and experiences of the African civilization, failures, weaknesses and limitations; it contains also suc- but it differs in many respects from it. The cesses, strengths, and possibilities. Often the difficulties, African civilisation is major, whilst that of the problems and limitations engender, particularly in academ- Caribbean is much smaller in size. The Car- ics, evangelists and so-called ‘mainstream’ journalists, a ibbean civilisation comprises largely migrant learned helplessness that recites the problems, not as a ba- peoples who have become ‘créolised’, whilst sis for solutions, but as an exercise in abstractions and even the population of Africa is mainly homeg- folly. Africa’s enormous material resources – tapped and rown. Africa is also a continental civilisation untapped – its people; its rich and vibrant culture; its knowl- whole that of the Caribbean is largely and is- edge and wisdom; its history and spirit; its Diaspora; its new land civilisation. These differences ought to leadership, and more, are part and parcel of its many-sided be appropriately considered in any of practi- reality. cal policies of collaboration between Africa and the Caribbean. However, the core of the The African reality necessarily gives rise to a quest, a dream. nexus between the African and Caribbean Some sleep to dream; others dream to change themselves civilisation is captured in the majestic lan- and the world for the better. This dream, this quest, demands guage of Derek Walcott in his Nobel lecture, a notion of Africanness, which provides a transition from a “The Antilles: Fragments of Epic Memory”: shared experience to a conscious expression grounded in collective solidarity and supported by practical actions arising Break a vase, and the love that reassem- from the people themselves. The Rastafarian movement in bles the fragments is stronger than the love the Caribbean has provided one excellent example of effec- which took its symmetry for granted when it tive transition from shared experience to conscious expres- was whole. The glue that fits the pieces is sions within collective solidarity. This notion of Africanness is the sealing of its original shape. It is such consciousness as one people with a common at the core of the African civilization, which has spawned the love that reassembles our African and Asiat- destiny. This consciousness converged into a Pan- Indeed, several 19th and 20th century intellectu- concept and programme of Pan-Africanism and which itself ic fragments, the cracked heirlooms whose African movement, which developed institutionally als and political activists from the Caribbean have first fashioned the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and restoration shows its white scars. This gath- from the turn of the 19th century, under the leader- been in the forefront of advancing Pan-Africanism, then, in July 2002, its formidable successor, the African Un- ering of broken pieces is the care and pain of ship of the Diaspora. Pan-Africanism rests on four including; Edward Wilmot Blyden of the Virgin Is- ion. This is the continental vehicle for Africa’s Renaissance the Antilles, and if the pieces are disparate, pillars: lands; T.E.S. Scholes; Marcus Garvey; Michael – both reality and dream; it constitutes the hope for an ‘Afri- ill-fitting, they contain more pain that their Manley and Robert Nesta Marley of Jamaica; can century’ in the 21st century. • A sense of common historical experience; original sculpture, those icons and sacred Henry Sylvester Williams; George Padmore; CLR vessels taken for granted in their ancestral James and Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Touré) of • A sense of common descent, identity an places. Antillean art is this restoration of our Trinidad and Tobago; Franz Fanon of Martinique; Pan-Africanism, the African and Caribbean destiny; shattered histories, our shards of vocabu- Norman Cameron; Eusei Kwyana; Walter Rodney Civilisations lary, our archipelago becoming a synonym of Guyana; President Aristide of Haiti, and Presi- • Opposition to racial discrimination and for pieces broken off from the original con- dent Fidel Castro of Cuba. Pan-Africanism, and the joinder between our African and colonialism; tinent. Caribbean civilisations, constitutes the basis for the elabo- The titans from Africa, including Jomo Kenyatta, ration of closer collaboration between Africa and the Carib- • A determination to create a ‘new’ Africa, In this analysis, the Caribbean’s politics fol- Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Sekou Touré, bean in the evolving international political economy. including its Diaspora. low Walcott’s “ Antillean art”. The question Léopold Senghor and Nelson Mandela, have Pan-Africanism, a product of the negative encoun- to which we must now turn precisely is that joined these important historical figures from the The preparatory document that I received for this Confer- ter between Africa and European imperialism, is of the closer collaboration between Africa Caribbean in this mammoth Pan-Africanist quest. ence puts the bundle of issues succinctly in the following principally manifested in the record of the strug- and the Caribbean in an international politi- terms: Africa’s quest for unity and social and economic re- gle of Africans against these foreign forces. Such cal economy dominated by modern globali- In my book, entitled The Politics of Our Caribbean covery is a centuries-old endeavour. The common historical struggles have taken place on the levels of overt, sation, trade liberation and the revolution in Civilisation, and published in 2001, I advanced the experience of Africans of, first, slavery and, later, colonial- armed and covert resistance to enslavement and information technology. ism, ensured that Africans developed a commonly shared imperialism. over-arching concept and reality of our Caribbean

64 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 65 An Agenda for Closer Collaboration

How do the African and Caribbean civilizations collabo- between African and the Caribbean States. rate closely in pursuance of their joint and several in- • Economic terests in an era of enhanced concentration of finance • Cooperating, on an agreed programme, capital, advanced scientific knowledge, trade liberalisa- at international organisations or inter- • Collaborating in the delivery of the many- tion, and an increasingly unipolar political hegemony governmental bodies such as the United sided information technology services be- • Education and Health backed by military might and cultural imperialism? Nations, the World Trade Organization, tween, and within Africa and the Caribbean. the Bretton Woods Institutions, the • Facilitating and promoting exchanges The formulation of an appropriate strategy requires World Health Organization, the Food • Building links to harness genetic and bio- of students and faculty members extraordinary care and skill. Its implementation calls and Agricultural Organization, the logical research in both Africa and the Car- between universities and research fa- for enormous flexibility, discipline and patience. There International Criminal Court, the Group ibbean. Cuba is already a growing biotech- cilities in Africa, Brazil and the Carib- can be no quick fix. This is one for the long haul and of 77, the Non-Aligned Movement, the nology centre. There are other research bean. a profound commitment on both sides, Africa and African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group, poles in Africa and the Caribbean in this the Caribbean. Moreover, while the immediate locus and the Commonwealth of Nations. This is area and the connected fields of pharma- • Co-operation fully on an African- of action will be at the political level, failure is likely most vital work of a detailed, pain-staking, ceutical development. Both the Caribbean Caribbean basis, and through inter- to result if the strategic action plan stays only at that ongoing kind around clear principles and and Africa are rich in materials for research national bodies, to fight HIV/AIDS, level. The strategy must connect with practical areas focused objectives. Existing diplomatic of these kinds. Malaria, Tuberculosis at every level. in the economy, transportation, education and training, resources in the various capitals can be co- This is a priority in view of the fact health, the environment, culture and sports. Overall, ordinated for specific purposes. • Establishing viable air and sea links be- that Africa has the biggest HIV/AIDS we must recognise that this conscious expression, in tween both Africa and the Caribbean. In this problem world-wide, and in the Carib- political terms, a pre-existing nexus in the context of • Building together very close links with the regard, Brazil and Venezuela are critical bean there are 10 of the top 15 coun- the international political economy, is of strategic sig- emerging economic powerhouses, namely, allies. tries outside Africa most affected by nificance for the politic. Further, Africa and the Carib- Brazil, Russia, India, China (the so-called HIV/AIDS. bean must establish strategic partnerships with other BRIC countries). Brazil has the largest • Facilitating and promoting investment by nations to advance their joint and several interests. African population outside of Africa and Africa in the Caribbean and Brazil vice- is critical to the collaborative enterprise versa, not only through special incentive- • Sports and Culture Accordingly, I advance the following agenda for closer between Africa and the Diaspora. regimes but through the formation of an collaboration between the African and Caribbean civili- appropriately designed Africa, Brazil Carib- • Collaborating in myriad ways in sation. • Strengthening, on an agreed programme, bean Business Council. sports, especially in football, athlet- our relations with the USA, Canada, ics, boxing, cricket, and lawn tennis. • Political Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. • Pooling skills for transference to Africa ant Sometimes Africa can be the bridge, other he Caribbean. We can call it the Pan-Afri- • Facilitating and promoting exchanges • Granting the African Union observer status at times the Caribbean, oft-times both. can Skills Project. of students and workers in the field CARICOM and granting CARICOM observers status of culture, the arts, and works of the at the African Union as first steps to a greater • Encouraging travel facilitation, including • Developing a joint approach to energy. creative imagination, generally. bonding between these two entities and leading the signing of agreements requiring no Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean possess 5 towards a permanent, inter-governmental African visas, for travel between African and central energy sources, geothermal energy, – Brazilian Caribbean Commission to spearhead the Caribbean countries. For example, St hydroelectric power (the Congo holds more collaborative efforts. Vincent and the Grenadines has already than 20 per cent of the world’s potential proposed a ‘no visa’ agreement between supply), hydrocarbons, hydrogen fuel cell, • Establishing bilateral, or joint, diplomatic relations itself and Ethiopia. and solar energy.

66 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 67 the Americans facilitated apartheid’s de- Final Comments It took a Caribbean country – Cuba mise. On the contrary, they were involved in what they called ‘constructive engagement’ In February 2004, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, – peopled by former African slaves, with the racist regime in South Africa. To be launched a 17-member Commission for Africa, consisting sure, Europeans and Americans of all walks of mainly of European and African leaders. It reported on to send its internationalists fighters of life and their non-governmental organisa- March 11 2005. Its recommendations relate to a number of tions supported the anti-apartheid struggle critical issues including public debt, official aid, trade, cor- to Angola, who in the process, but, at best, their governments were in prac- ruption and HIV/AIDS. tical terms, equivocating. It took a Caribbean overwhelmingly defeated the army country – Cuba – peopled by former African On the matter of public debt it was observed that between slaves, to send its internationalists fighters 1980 and 1995 Africa’s external debt almost trebled. Indeed, of the apartheid regime at Cuito to Angola, who in the process, overwhelm- the annual repayments to creditors, on the debt of US$160 ingly defeated the army of the apartheid re- billion, now exceed the amounts which many African states Cuinavale. It is this anti-apartheid gime at Cuito Cuinavale. It is this anti-apart- spend on health and education. The Commission recom- heid victory, which opened the door that led mends a 100% debt cancellation for poor African countries. victory, which opened the door that to the negotiated surrender of the racist regime. This is not merely my perspective; this The proposal of the Commission, too, is to triple official aid led to the negotiated surrender of the is the authoritative judgment of the revered to Africa from 13 billion to 26 billion extra every year for three Nelson Mandela. years, rising to 39 billion extra a year thereafter. This is rec- racist regime. This is not merely my ommended to be financed through extra donations from In consolidating and extending the coopera- governments, a specially designed finance scheme, and tax perspective; this is the authoritative tive bonds between Africa and the Carib- on airline ticket. bean, I reiterate that we commence first by judgment of the revered Nelson establishing a permanent, inter-governmen- The unfair trade patterns attracted the Commission’s atten- tal African-Brazil-Caribbean (ABC) Commis- tion. For every US$1, which African countries earn in aid, Mandela. sion to fashion and implement the public pol- they lose US$2 because of unfair trade barriers. Thus, the icies of collaboration between our respective Commission calls for an immediate end to European and civilizations, and we take it from there. US trade barriers and subsidies on cotton and sugar, and an end to all other trade barriers by 2010. This measure would To spark a shake-up of the international po- save the European Union some US$26 billion per year in litical system for the benefit of Africa and agricultural subsidies. But European farmers would probably its Diaspora, including the Caribbean com- be adversely affected. ponent of that Diaspora. This is an event of fected by HIV/AIDS in the next 20 years. The hand- huge significance but its lasting, and historic difficulties or meet its profound challenges. His- Official corruption was estimated by the Commission to cost ing out of cheap anti-retroviral drugs is a good idea impact would be realised only if we take tory has taught us that such reliance is at best Africa some US$78 million per year. Billions of pounds in but there is an urgent need for supportive medical practical decisive steps to create the politi- problematic. To be sure, partnering with them on stolen African assets – equivalent to more than half of the infrastructure, including more nurses, hospitals, cal mechanism with the requisite civil soci- terms, which are acceptable to Africa, is an im- continent’s external debt – are held in foreign banks. The sanitation and utilities. ety supports, to effect an agreed agenda for Commission explicitly rules out the linking of aid to anti-cor- portant element in the way forward but historical- collaboration. This focused reform between ly, the conduct of the ruling elites in Europe and ruption measures but demands that Africa do much on its Clearly, these are praiseworthy proposals for Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean will, in turn, Africa from the Berlin Conference in the 1880s, to own to clean up governmental corruption. It is important, too, which the Commission for Africa ought to be strengthen the various individual countries the present time, gives rise to a justifiable skepti- for foreign banks and governments to assist in the return of commended. The extent of the implementation of and their own separate integration efforts. cism. At the same time, we ought to be mature the stolen billions to Africa. these recommendations may determine, in part, This is an idea of which the time has now and not permit a healthy caution to degenerate whether or not they represent a false hope or a come. Let us get on with our work seriously. into any unjustifiable cynicism. Although Africa has just 10% of the world’s population, it ac- bright dawn. In any event, it is my view that Africa Yet, Africa must be aware of its natural allies and counts for two-thirds of all persons who are living with HIV/ cannot rely on Europe or America to remedy its Thank you. AIDS. Some 89 million more Africans are expected to be af- strategise accordingly. Neither the Europeans nor

68 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 69 Conference Statement and Plan of Action For the South Africa-African Union-Caribbean-Diaspora Conference, Kingston, Jamaica, 16-18 March 2005

acknowledge the significant contribution of in the struggle against apartheid. The the Caribbean to the Pan-African tradition; Conference also provided an opportunity and develop an agenda for confronting to celebrate ten years of democracy in common challenges in order to support the South Africa. implementation of the African Union decisions on the African Diaspora. 7. The Conference gained a new appreciation of the creative way in 3. The gathering recognised and paid tribute which the Rastafarian movement had to the visionary role played by successive sustained the vision of the founders generations of Pan-Africanists from the of the OAU, and promoted an African- Diaspora and the Continent in the affirmation Caribbean identity and Afrocentric of a common identity. values that strengthened the impulse for African liberation on both sides of the 4. The Conference confirmed the continued Atlantic, while serving as a positive force relevance of the vision that guided the Pan- for Africa globally. Africanists in their determination to promote unity, solidarity and co-operation among the 8. The Conference recognized the people of Africa and the Diaspora as well as fundamental role played by artists the spirit of the 5th Pan-African Congress held and other cultural activists in the in Manchester in 1945, which underscored the liberation struggles and called for closer right of all peoples to freedom and to govern collaboration among these actors themselves without any restriction from any in the two regions. The Conference foreign power, and to control their own destiny recommended that the African Union and to be free from imperialist control. support the planned commemoration of the 50th anniversary in 2006 of the Congress of Black Writers that was first 5. The Conference recalled the decision of the held in Paris, France, in 1956. Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, of February 2003, to 9. The Conference expressed its solidarity invite and encourage the participation of the with the independence struggle of the Diaspora in the activities of the African Union people of Curaçao and all other peoples Dr Eddy Maloka, CEO of the Africa Institute of South Africa and Rapporteur General of the Jamaica Conference. as an important part of the continent, as well of the continent and the Caribbean as the decision of the Executive Council in who are still living under colonial rule, Sun City, South Africa, in October 2003, and as well as those who are occupied or other relevant decisions and initiatives of the threatened by invasion, especially the Organization of African Unity (OAU)/African Republic of Cuba. In this spirit, the CONFERENCE STATEMENT Union (AU), including the decisions of the Conference called for the lifting of the 2. The objective of the Conference was to African Union First Conference of Intellectuals US-imposed blockade on the Republic 1. Africans from the Continent and representatives of the celebrate the centuries old historical and from Africa and the Diaspora held in Dakar, of Cuba. Diaspora from the Caribbean gathered at the Jamaica cultural bonds and re-affirm the spiritual Senegal, in October 2004. International Conference Center, Kingston, Jamaica on affinity between Africa and the Diaspora 10. The Conference further expressed 16-18 March 2005, for a conference jointly organized by based on a common history and shared 6. The Conference further recalled that the its concern over the deeply troubled the African Union and the Governments of South Africa experiences; create linkages between Africa gathering was the result of the initiative by the situation in Haiti given that it is the and Jamaica, with the theme “Towards Unity and United and the Diaspora; establish mechanisms government of South Africa to acknowledge oldest, independent African state in the Action by Africans and the African Diaspora in the for building stronger political and economic the contribution of the Diaspora in the ‘New World’, and called on the African Caribbean for a Better World: The Case of South Africa”. relations between Africa and the Caribbean; Caribbean (including the labour movement) Union and the Caribbean Community

70 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 71 and Common Market (CARICOM) to help the people c. Sharing and promotion of the knowledge of i. Recognition of the development potential of effective law-making and oversight roles of Haiti find lasting solutions to their country’s crisis. history, especially among the youth, through all strategic co-operation between Africa and the and to ensure that they create space for The Conference commended the role of CARICOM and learning institutions. Diaspora, the expansion of resource sharing, meaningful public participation, as well the African Union in rising to the cause of the Haitian acknowledging the contribution of migrant as to encourage sharing of best practice people from the outset of the current crisis, including the d. Development of a data bank of experts remittances as an economic resource. experiences across the two regions. sanctuary provided to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and research institutions in Africa and the by the Governments of Jamaica and South Africa. Caribbean, and encourage collaboration among these role players. • Solidarity 11. In its consideration of the Report of the United Nations • Society, Women, and History High-Level Panel on “Threats, Challenges and e. Use of science and technology as a tool of p. The need to acknowledge the solidarity Change”, the Conference commended the continent for integration and development. Co-operation j. The need for further dialogue between Africa and support of the Cuban Government establishing a common African position on the proposed in the area of science and technology should and the Diaspora to establish and sustain a in the liberation struggle in Southern reform of the United Nations, ‘The Ezulwini Consensus’; be explored with the view to establishing common position on the issue of reparations Africa. The continuing Cuban offer of noted that CARICOM is currently considering their centres of excellence for the mutual benefit of as well as a mechanism for its implementation. solidarity with countries of the South position on the report and that and the African Union the Caribbean and African peoples, and as a should also be acknowledged. encourages Caribbean states to lend their support to basis for developing and creating opportunities k. The Rastafari and other movements have the recommendation of the High Level Panel regarding for the absorption of human capital for the served as cultural forces of integration in both United Nations Security Council reform, including the advantage of both regions. the Caribbean and Africa. Their status as • Multilateralism allocation to Africa of five non-permanent seats and agents of sustaining and promoting an African- two permanent Security Council seats, with all the Caribbean identity and an Afrocentric value q. The need for African and Caribbean prerogatives and privileges of permanent membership, system should be recognised as a positive countries to co-ordinate their work within including the right of veto. • Economy, Trade and Regional force of integration. multilateral institutions, including pooling their resources and sharing technical 12. Participants at the Conference, in their discussions Integration l. The struggle for and the establishment of free expertise. in plenary sessions and the various working groups, communities by Maroons in the Americas, made important observations and recommendations, the f. Support for the efforts of CARICOM to especially in Jamaica and Suriname; the r. The inseparable nature of security and highlights of which include the following: accelerate its integration process, especially role that Maroon communities have played the development agendas, and the need in the implementation of the Single Market in preserving and promoting the African- to comprehensively address poverty and Economy, the facilitation of the freedom Caribbean value system and traditional eradication and debt cancellation, of movement of peoples among its Member knowledge. The Conference urges putting in and the centrality of the UN in the • Communication, Education, Science and States and the co-ordination of the foreign place a mechanism to protect the traditional maintenance of international peace and policies of its Member States. knowledge and intellectual property rights of security. Technology Maroon communities. g. Expansion of stakeholder involvement in s. The need for Africa and the Caribbean a. Knowledge production and sharing through the effective integration to include all relevant players m. The need for a concerted effort to profile to continue working together with a view use of the available technology in order to ‘break down’ including civil society, youth structures, faith- women leaders in Africa and the Caribbean to ensuring that the final outcomes of the barriers of ignorance and foster continuous dialogue based groups, labour unions and the private (from antiquity to the present) in order to raise the consideration of the Report of the between the Continent and the African Diaspora. sector. awareness about the rich history of women’s United Nations High-Level Panel on leadership in Africa. Threats, Challenges and Change, as b. The need for the African Union and CARICOM to h. Eradication of trade barriers and the promotion well as the Sachs Report are consistent formulate alternative media and communication models of investment between Africa and the n. The importance of creating an enabling with the attainment of the NEPAD and to effectively communicate with each other and the Caribbean, pursuing robust policies of trade and empowering environment for women’s Millennium Development Goals and the world at large, and to create an effective outreach diversification, and building strategies for emancipation and gender equality. safeguarding and advancement of the strategy to disseminate their policies, positive images, overcoming the legacy of colonial commercial collective interests of their peoples. programmes and ideas. policy (in order to imbue national, sub-regional o. The need to empower the legislatures in Africa and regional policies with a greater autonomy). and the Diaspora by equipping them to play t. The need for an effective reform of

72 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 73 all the organs of the United Nations, in particular, the strengthening of the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, as equally important organs in driving the international development and security agendas.

• Follow-Up

u. The institutionalisation of linkages between CARICOM and the African Union, and reinforcing ties and forging a symbiotic relationship between Africa and the Caribbean people in addressing common challenges, while endeavouring to speak with one voice on those issues.

v. African and Caribbean states to ensure that they institute appropriate policy instruments to facilitate the interconnectedness between peoples of the continent and the Diaspora in all spheres of life.

w. The need for an African-Caribbean Conference of this nature to be held on a biennial basis in rotation between the two regions, and recommends that the African Union should convene the forthcoming one in Africa.

13.Against this background, the Conference committed itself to the following:

PLAN OF ACTION

a. That the African Union and CARICOM should continue to develop a concrete mechanism for the institutionalisation of the relations between the two bodies.

b. That African and Caribbean Governments should A Rastafarian waves a flag in recognition of Pan-African solidarity, unity and cooperation. explore and develop concrete measures for promoting linkages between the two regions in the following priority areas: trade and investment, science and technology, d. That Africa and the Caribbean, through their travel and tourism, education and culture, health, and regional organizations, should explore ways 14. The Conference expressed its the governments of South Africa environmental issues. of harmonizing international diplomacy in appreciation to the government and people of and Jamaica, for co-organizing particular by utilizing the forthcoming UN Jamaica for the hospitality and warm welcome this gathering. It also recognized c. That African and Caribbean organs of civil society Millennium Review Summit and the WTO Doha extended to all the participants. with appreciation the high-level of should explore and develop concrete measures for Development Round, to advance the agenda representation at the gathering by promoting linkages and collaboration between the two set out in this Statement. 15. The Conference also expressed an CARICOM. regions. appreciation to the African Union and

74 The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report The South African, African Union and Caribbean Diaspora Conference report 75 Closing Statement By Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Minister of Foreign Affairs, South Africa, at the South Africa-Africa-Union-Caribbean Diaspora Conference Kingston, Jamaica, 18 March 2005 and together we have dreamt about our common regions, and that we need partners for de- destiny. velopment.

We have deliberated on a range of issues – from Otherwise they will treat us as inferior and the question of reparations to poverty eradication, stick to the donor-beggar paradigm. We from debt cancellation to peace and security. We cannot afford for this to happen. have discussed health, culture, the environment, gender equality, economic co-operation, trade, The young Rastafarian artists last night re- knowledge sharing, integration, South South co- minded us of the past glory of Africa, and operation, to mention but a few. they asserted correctly that we must not be slaves from the cradle to the grave. I think it would be right to conclude that we have to take our destiny into our own hands. We have to be It remains for me to thank all of you for your united and undertake united actions in a number participation in this Conference. We accord- of crucial areas. That, in President Fidel Castro’s ingly apologise for the mistakes and omis- words, we should globalise solidarity. Our strength sions made in the course of the Conference is in our unity and through unity in action. and commit ourselves to improving on this in the future. Cuba, due to its internationalist outlook, under- stands this more than anyone else because the We shall depart the Caribbean and the land country has been at it for a long time. South African of Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley with fond can attest to the value of solidarity because we are memories, inspired and knowing full well, the benefactors of the solidarity of the people of that we are connected forever. the Caribbean. We would like to invite you to Africa and Duty challenges us to support and defend the rights South Africa in two years time. of those who are still struggling for self-determination in the Caribbean and in Africa. I thank you.

This should be high on our agenda. We should strengthen South South co-operation and work together among ourselves to make our world a better place. Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM and South African Minister of Foreign Affairs, For the African Renaissance to become a reality, Dr Nkosazana Zuma. we must do what needs to be done ourselves. No- body will do it for us.

Your Excellencies, Honourable Col- not only a common past but also a shared destiny, Accordingly, we are determined to send a message leagues, Ministers, Distinguished Dip- we have spent the past three days strengthening of hope to the African continent and the Caribbean lomats, Ladies and Gentlemen: our connections through a very stimulating, frank that through unity in action, our historic mission and enriching discussion about ourselves and the must and will succeed. We have reached the end of an historic occasion world around us. for the people of the Caribbean and of Africa. If we started seriously cooperating among and be- We have reflected on our common past, our dif- tween ourselves, our partners will interpret us and As brothers and sisters on different continents, ferent experiences, the demands of the present, understand that we are determined to develop our bound by the same umbilical cord that gave us

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