Formerly ‘Africa Recovery’ United Nations Department of Public Information Vol. 18 No. 3 October 2004 Das Fotoarchiv / Ron Giling Das Fotoarchiv
Against the odds Also inside Hard-won compromise Africa strives to rebuild saves WTO talks page 3 its domestic industries The impact of tobacco controls on Africa By Gumisai Mutume page 4 ust a few decades ago, the African island-nation of Mauritius depended overwhelmingly on growing sugar-cane — and was as poor as much of Africa. New African AIDS figures J Since then, Mauritius has transformed itself into a diversified manufacturing and show young girls tourism centre, able to attract foreign investors and provide its people with incomes hit hardest far above the continental average. page 6 Across Africa, most countries face the problem that Mauritius once did: they Civil society produce and export mainly unprocessed crops or minerals, even though such raw starts to take up NEPAD materials are fetching lower and lower prices on world markets. In response, some page 10 are seeking to follow the example of Mauritius, to consciously and more energeti- cally build up their manufacturing industries. turn to page 18 United Nations contentsasdf Vol. 18 No. 3 October 2004 Cover article Also in this Issue Against all odds WTO: Accords save Africa strives to rebuild trade talks from collapse ...... 3 its domestic industries ...... 1 Tobacco control: Polishing Africa’s diamonds in Africa ...... 19 ‘golden leaf’ loses its lustre...... 4 Africa’s declining share in global trade ...... 21 Women: the face of AIDS in Africa ...... 6 Civil society engages Bringing women African plan ...... 10 out of their shells ...... 6 African women: Youth pledge fight a long battle for equality ...... 9 for Millennium goals ...... 13 Stephen Lewis: NEPAD
Das Fotoarchiv / Friedrich Stark Das Fotoarchiv Africa’s youth on Joining business the edge of the chasm . . . 9 and Africa’s development ...... 14 UN Secretary-General’s Report:
ocus on: Africa plan advances, says UN...... 16 Progress in tackling Africa’s conflicts. . . . 15 F Mixed results for
UN Secretary-General regional economic blocs ...... 23 Kofi Annan meets with community leaders in the Darfur region Departments of Sudan. Agenda ...... 25 Briefs ...... 26 UN / E. Debebe See page 26 Books ...... 25 Watch ...... 28
Africa Renewal is published in English and French by the Strategic Communications Editor-in-Chief Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information, with support from UNDP, Julie I. Thompson UNICEF and UNIFEM. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Managing Editor Writers Nations or the publication’s supporting organizations. Material from this magazine may be Ernest Harsch Gumisai Mutume freely reproduced, with attribution, and a clipping would be appreciated. Michael Fleshman
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Africa Renewal is printed on recycled paper. Accords save trade talks from collapse WTO hears pledges to remove agricultural subsidies
By Gumisai Mutume sub-committee to “ensure appropriate implementation of the agreements of the year-long impasse that threatened to prioritization of the cotton issue,” even Doha Round, it would reduce by 20 per cent derail the current Doha round of though no time frames have been set. its trade-distorting agricultural supports. A negotiations at the World Trade “Failure to address the cotton issue is a “This is the beginning of the end of Organization in Geneva finally ended in serious betrayal of developing countries subsidies,” Brazilian Foreign Minister July when member countries reached a and will have massive implications for the Celso Amorim told the media. “It is a rare compromise. The round, launched in Qatar 10 million West African cotton farmers combination of social justice and trade in 2001, ground to a halt in Cancún, whose livelihoods are currently under- coming together,” said Mr. Amorim, who Mexico, in September 2003 mined by US export dumping,” is one of the leading spokespersons of the over a series of disagree- Countries of the South said Ms. Celine Charveriat developing world on the issue. ments. In particular, devel- have succeeded in of Oxfam, a UK-based non- During the last few years there has been oping countries demanded placing agricultural governmental organization. a rise in international pressure against sub- the elimination of subsidies issues at the heart of sidies paid out to farmers in rich nations, on cotton and other key the negotiations, even Agricultural subsidies which total more than $300 bn annually, agricultural exports from The July agreements, conclu- for all crops. Such subsidies are seen as though agriculture the North, while industrial ded over an intense two-week unjust towards the world’s poorest farmers, nations insisted on introduc- represents only 8 per period, mark the conclusion of who do not receive similar handouts. The ing into the round a set of cent of world trade. “talks about talks,” during farm supports also depress world prices, four completely new areas. which WTO members had to costing developing countries millions of The July agreements foster “new hope” agree on the broad guidelines of subse- dollars in lost revenue. that the Doha Development Agenda (as the quent negotiations. The “frameworks,” as round is known) will be given priority and they are known in WTO terms, include ‘A map for the road ahead’ bring tangible results, UN Conference what appear on paper to be significant Another potentially beneficial outcome of on Trade and Development Secretary- commitments. One obliges the European the July accords for developing countries General Rubens Ricupero said. Upon its Union to eliminate agricultural subsidies was a compromise from industrial nations conclusion, the World Trade Organization that have long been blamed for distorting to drop all but one of a set of completely (WTO) expects the round to enable devel- international farm trade — but at a date new issues they have been trying to oping countries to use trade to boost eco- to be determined in the final phase of turn to page 24 nomic growth. negotiations beginning in September. However, argues Mr. Moussa Faye of According to French Agriculture Minister the non-governmental group Action Aid Hervé Gaymard, it could be 2015 or 2017 Senegal, “only if there is immediate before European export subsidies are reform of the WTO will there be a fair deal finally eliminated. that will improve the lives of the millions In turn, the US agreed to curb elements of people living in poverty. The [July] of its export credit and food aid pro- compromise maintains the status quo and grammes, which developing countries does not change the fundamental imbal- deem unfair and trade-distorting. The US ance in the multilateral trading system.” also agreed that in the first year of the A number of African countries were particularly disappointed that the agree- ments provide no immediate relief from the Kenya farmers, harmful cotton subsidies, amounting to demonstrating more than $3 bn annually paid out to US in Nairobi, Getty Images / AFP Simon Maina cotton farmers. Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad protest European and Mali had been demanding that cotton cattle subsidies, subsidies be dealt with as a priority and which are twice separately from all other areas under nego- what the average tiation in the Doha Round, to allow imme- Kenyan farmer diate resolution. The US opposed this. A earns per day. compromise was reached to set up a special
OCTOBER 2004 3 ‘Golden leaf’ loses its lustre International tobacco controls spurring production shifts
By Naututu Okhoya and Gumisai Mutume Kutengule, an official in Malawi’s Finance General Gro Harlem Brundtland. It is he growing global campaign against Ministry. It was a long shot, and now the “programmed death,” she says, because a smoking poses a daunting challenge country is debating a turnaround. The gov- cigarette is the only consumer product T for Malawi, a country almost entirely ernment recently issued a draft economic “which when used as directed kills its dependent on tobacco for government strategy to encourage eventual diversifi- consumer.” This year marks the 40th revenue, employment and development cation into alternative cash crops and the anniversary of the US surgeon general’s financing. After the government, the development of other sectors such as 1964 report on cigarettes — the first offi- tobacco industry is the second largest mining and tourism. cial recognition that tobacco smoking employer. It is responsible for 75 per cent causes cancer and other serious diseases. of foreign earnings and contributes 10 per ‘Programmed death’ In sub-Saharan Africa, already ravaged cent of the country’s gross domestic The decline of tobacco is a reflection of by other health crises such as HIV/AIDS product. The crop has been so eagerly growing international concern that its and where economies can barely support embraced by farmers in the region that health risks far outweigh its economic vital services such as health care, the they call it the “golden leaf.” advantages for producing countries. added burden of smoking will further But in May 2003, world leaders agreed Smoking is responsible for 4 million reduce life expectancy, the WHO warns. on the first global treaty to control tobacco. deaths annually. It is the world’s leading Acknowledging these and similar arguments, African delegates joined their global counter- parts at the 192-member WHO in 2003 to adopt the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Tobacco Once in force, the convention worker in requires countries to ban or set Zimbabwe: tough restrictions on tobacco Countries advertising, sponsorship and dependent promotion within five years. on tobacco So far, 118 nations have signed earnings will the convention. As soon as 40 need time countries ratify it, it will to shift to become law in those countries, other crops. and subsequently in other countries as they too ratify it.
Africa’s challenge The architects of the FCTC acknowledge that African Das Fotoarchiv / Frank Herman Das Fotoarchiv tobacco-producing countries are faced with a complex Suddenly, countries such as Malawi, preventable cause of death, with every problem. The convention includes mecha- Zimbabwe and Kenya had to begin recon- second smoker dying from a tobacco- nisms to provide long-term support for sidering the sustainability of the sector. related illness. The World Health Organi- those countries in which tobacco farming is Tobacco is grown in more than 100 coun- zation (WHO) forecasts that 10 million an economic lifeline, such as Zimbabwe tries around the world and the sector people will die from smoking each year and Malawi, WHO Executive Director employs about 33 million people. by 2020, and 70 per cent of them will be Derek Yach told Africa Renewal. He says However, only a handful of developing in poor countries. other institutions such as the World Bank countries, such as Malawi and Zimbabwe, “It is rare — if not impossible — to and the European Union also offer assis- are heavily dependent on the crop. find examples in history that match tance for diversification. Both organiza- “We gambled that tobacco was going to tobacco’s programmed trail of death and tions have urged producer countries “to be around longer,” says Mr. Milton destruction,” says former WHO Director- reduce dependence, invest in rural develop-
4 OCTOBER 2004 and there might even be job gains as money once spent on tobacco is shifted to other goods and services. In any event, experts say, countries will have reasonable time to adjust and diversify, because implementing tobacco controls is a slow process and consump- tion and production will not cease imme- diately. “Even if the convention were remarkably successful and managed to hold consumption at cur- rent levels, there would Anti-tobacco be no decline in demand demonstration for tobacco,” says Mr. in Nigeria: Yussuf Salojee, director Health concerns of the National Council Global Partnership for Tobacco Control / Anna White Control Global Partnership for Tobacco are increasing. Against Smoking in South Africa. WHO pre- ment more broadly and they will get the earns about 7 times more than maize, dicts that the number of smokers will rise support they need,” he says. 22 times more than cotton and 60 times from the current 1.1 billion people to 1.7 Dr. Yach is concerned that at this point more than sorghum. The Zimbabwe billion by 2025. it is not money that is hampering progress Tobacco Association argues that reduced A study by South Africa’s University of in diversification, but a lack of political tobacco production would lead to perma- Cape Town notes that Zimbabwe already will, especially in countries where large nent job losses and lower government rev- has a viable alternative to tobacco farming, multinational tobacco companies are influ- enue. “Tobacco provides one of the most horticulture (growing fruit, vegetables and ential. Ms. Karen Slama of the Paris-based stable and effective cash crops for farmers,” flowers). The study, on the economic International Union Against Tuberculosis notes the International Tobacco Growers impact of tobacco control in Southern and Lung Disease says tobacco companies Association, a lobby group of manufactur- Africa, reports that roses provide econom- provide large external investments and ers and farmers. “Without it, millions of ic returns 44 times higher than those from governments are grateful for new factories farmers on marginal land would be reduced tobacco. Land under horticultural crops in and jobs. But this creates a vicious cycle as to subsistence production.” Zimbabwe is growing. By 1990 the coun- greater demand for cigarettes is created Nevertheless, the WHO argues that a try was already ranked as the sixth largest within those countries. majority of small-scale tobacco farmers in rose exporter in the world. The main Because of the impact of the anti- developing countries continue to live in drawbacks, however, are that roses require smoking lobby in industrial nations, tobac- poverty. In addition, says Ms. Catherine le larger investments to cultivate, transport co companies are increasingly targeting Galès-Camus, a WHO assistant director- and market than do tobacco. developing countries. The WHO notes that general, “Precarious labour conditions, this push into developing country markets including the use of child labour and expo- Towards tobacco control results in part from increasing tobacco sure to highly toxic products, and a highly In support of the international campaign controls in industrial nations, including negative impact on the environment, make to reduce tobacco consumption, Dr. Yach limits on advertising and the placement of tobacco an issue inextricably linked to urges African countries to raise taxes on health warnings on cigarette packages. As poverty and other development issues.” and ban the promotion and advertising of a result, while smoking is declining in tobacco products. He says countries that high-income countries, it is on the rise Diversification have done so steadily over the years have among males in most low- and middle- The World Bank is seeking to allay fears seen a rapid decline in smoking among income countries and among women in developing countries that substituting youth and the poor — who tend to worldwide, reports WHO. other crops for tobacco would result in be the majority of smokers in most Tobacco also happens to be a crop of massive job losses. The claims about the African countries. choice for farmers in many poor coun- negative effects of tobacco control have South Africa is considered a model for tries, as it is easy to grow. Because it is largely been generated by the tobacco tobacco control on the continent. In 1990 essentially a weed, tobacco grows any- industry and “have been greatly over- consumption peaked at 40 bn cigarettes, where and thrives in marginal soils that stated,” the Bank notes. In a study entitled but owing to a vigorous anti-tobacco cam- yield little else. The Economics of Tobacco Control, the paign by government and civil society It is also lucrative for national econo- Bank says that in all but a few agrarian mies. In Zimbabwe and Malawi, tobacco countries there would be no net job losses, turn to page 22
OCTOBER 2004 5 Women: the face of AIDS in Africa More action needed against high female infection rates
Three-quarters of all Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 who are HIV-positive are women. That astonishing figure, just released by UNAIDS, highlights the growing UNICEF / C-1638 Pirozzi concern of international agencies, African governments and AIDS activists over the ‘gendered’ impact of AIDS in Africa. It also has spurred the beginnings of a campaign to help young African women counter the disease.
By Michael Fleshman the world’s popula- here are days when Mary Mwasi does tion, impoverished not know where she will find the sub-Saharan Africa T strength to get out of bed. But sick- is home to two-thirds ness, exhaustion and despair will not feed of its HIV-positive the children or fetch the water, and so, population. But it is somehow, she wills herself erect and steps only recently that into the sunlight of another Kenyan morn- doctors, governments and the Joint UN Deputy Director Kathleen Cravero, of ing. “I have to look for food for the chil- Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)* those in the 15–24 age group, fully 75 per dren day by day,” she told a counselor for have realized that not only does the global cent were young women. “That’s a the US charity World Vision. “Life is diffi- struggle against AIDS have an African remarkable figure,” she told Africa cult. Unless I get help from well-wishers, face, it is increasingly the face of an Renewal. “We’re actually looking at we cannot afford to eat.” African woman. As infection rates mount, young women becoming almost Like many other residents of Ghaza, a scientists and researchers are scrambling an endangered species in Africa due to village near the port city of Mombasa, to understand the causes and to fashion this epidemic.” Mrs. Mwasi is infected with HIV, the virus new policies and programmes in response. Part of the explanation for the stagger- that causes AIDS. At least one of her three ing rates, she continued, is biological. children is also HIV-positive and the others Young women an ‘endangered species’ Because of their reproductive systems, are often ill — whether from the disease or The need for urgency is clear. In July, women’s bodies are more susceptible to malnutrition, she cannot be sure. Her hus- UNAIDS announced that of all Africans infection by the human immunodeficiency band left in search of work two years ago aged 15–49 who are HIV-positive, virus than are men’s bodies. That is and never came back, so she lives on suf- women make up a disproportionate particularly true of sexually active young ferance on her in-laws’ land — fearful that 57 per cent. Even worse, noted UNAIDS women, whose bodies are still developing. they will learn of her condition and expel her from the community. Her only finan- cial assets are a few chickens, held in Bringing women out of their shells reserve to buy medicine for the kids. She knows there is no hope for her. Her Despite the danger of being ostracized told Africa Renewal in New York in Sep- concern is for her children. “We say, from her community or even stoned to tember. “We believe women should come ‘When you pour water on the ground, you death, 19-year-old Yinka Jegede-Ekpe out and speak about their concerns about went ahead and announced to her fellow the HIV prevalence rate as well as treat- cannot pick it up again,’” Mary told the Nigerians that she was HIV-positive. In a ment issues.” Far too often the voices of counselor. “I did not think of so many country where women’s public voices are the few women brave enough to attend things before, so many worries. I am trying muted, she went on to set up a group to mixed-gender gatherings could not rise to leave everything to God.” encourage her compatriots to speak out, above those of men, she said. And it was As HIV/AIDS enters its third calami- fight stigmatization and raise awareness. the men who would speak for them on tous decade, Mary Mwasi’s plight has “The organization was formed to bring issues that primarily concerned women. become tragically common in East and women out of their shells, because we “More women than men in Africa are Southern Africa, the regions hit hardest by have been trapped for far too long,” Ms. infected. It is they who care for people who the global epidemic. With 10 per cent of Jegede-Ekpe, who is now 25 years old, are sick,” the activist noted. “The issue of
6 OCTOBER 2004 The progression of the epidemic itself in the home and community. It faulted unpaid women’s labour to care for the sick is another factor. It was in Africa that the both regional governments and the inter- and orphaned in the home and communi- virus first spread, leaving more people national community for favouring men in ty. The task force urged donors to establish vulnerable to infection for a longer period the design of HIV/AIDS programmes or small grant schemes and training pro- than in other parts of the world. “But it is adopting what it termed a “fictional” grammes for caregivers and called for the much more a function of the social gender-neutral approach to HIV/AIDS drafting of a “volunteer charter” establish- and economic position of education, prevention and ing basic rights and obligations for both women,” Ms. Cravero contin- Adults living treatment. Only a “gendered” men and women struggling to meet the ued. “This is what happens with HIV/AIDS approach that accounts for the needs of the ill. when countries don’t pay Population, millions different effects of the disease The report also noted that as life- enough attention to the impact on men and women will be prolonging anti-retroviral drugs and other of HIV/AIDS on women.” able to reduce infection rates, medications become more widely avail- 35.7 Total the report stated. able in Africa, treatment programmes must Women Facing the future The researchers found a be structured and monitored to ensure In January 2003, therefore, clear link between gender dis- equal access for women. UN Secretary-General Kofi 23.0 crimination and the dispropor- Annan asked UN Children’s tionate impact of HIV/AIDS Targeting ‘sugar daddies’ Fund (UNICEF) Executive 17.0 on women and girls in six Among the task force’s most important Director Carol Bellamy to 13.1 areas, including: findings was a link between the extraordi- establish a task force on • prevention programmes narily high infection rates among young women and HIV/AIDS to • education women and their sexual relationships with examine the links between • violence much older men, “sugar daddies,” in the spread of the disease and Global Sub-Saharan • women’s property and exchange for money and gifts. the socioeconomic status of total Africa inheritance rights Existing somewhere between romantic women in Southern Africa. • home and community-based relationships and prostitution, such inter- The 27-member task force Source: UN Africa Renewal caregiving generational, “transactional” sex is a “key included Namibian Health from UNAIDS data. • access to care and treatment driver” of the epidemic in impoverished Minister Libertina Amathila, The task force noted that Southern Africa and a major target for edu- Vice-President Justin Malewezi of in some Southern African countries adult cation and prevention programmes, Ms. Malawi, Ms. Terezinha da Silva, head of women are still legally minors, and thus Cravero said. “You have an infection cycle the Mozambican non-governmental orga- unable to own or inherit land and other that’s going from the older men to the nization Forum Mulher, and South property. This is a major contributor to the young girls. The girls in turn infect their African parliamentarian Ruth Bengu. impoverishment of AIDS widows and slightly older boyfriends, who grow up to The task force’s July 2004 report, orphans and underscores the urgent need give it to the young girls they start seeing. Facing the Future Together, examined both for legislative reform and enforcement of If we could collapse this bridge of inter- the causes of the high infection rates women’s legal rights. generational sex, we could go a long way among women and the economic and The report cautioned that governments towards breaking the hold of this epidemic social burden of the pandemic on women and donors could not continue to rely on on young girls.”
preventing mother-to-child trans- Speaking out has not been The fight has been worth it because of mission does not necessarily easy. When Ms. Jegede-Ekpe the changes she sees taking place in the concern men. It is women who revealed her HIV status while communities of Lagos. “Right now, if a
need to know how to protect Africa Renewal / Mutume still in nursing school, the prin- man comes to the podium and tries to their children.” cipal tried to expel her. Her speak for the women and children, I am In 2001, Ms. Jegede-Ekpe dorm-mates locked her out of sure that a woman will stand up from the joined forces with other women the women’s bathrooms and crowd and say, ‘Please don’t talk for me to form the National Community relegated her to menial while I’m here.’” of Women Living with AIDS. It chores. But she fought for her Ms. Jegede-Ekpe was awarded the teaches women about their rights right to continue studying. 2004 Reebok Human Rights Award in New and gives them gender-specific Finding out that she had been York for courage in changing her country’s Ms. Yinka Jegede-Ekpe information on HIV/AIDS. Under- infected through the unhy- response to HIV/AIDS. Her organization is staffed and ill-financed, the orga- gienic practices of her dentist, currently working on setting up a crisis fund nization still operates only in Lagos state, Ms. Jegede-Ekpe fought for changes in for women and an educational trust fund even though it aims for a national reach. dental procedures. for orphans.
OCTOBER 2004 7 The task force noted that because trans- focus on the special vulner- actional sex is driven by poverty and grow- abilities and needs of ing consumerism, the long-term solution is African women. But the sustained economic development, with steady rise of HIV-infection expanded career and educational opportu- rates among women glob- nities for young women. In the meantime, ally is a grim reminder that, the report called for an explicit focus in while the need for action is education and prevention programmes on most urgent in Africa, the the dangers of transactional sex, as well as problem extends far beyond pressure on older men by political, reli- its borders. gious and community leaders not to In February 2004, a exploit poor women for sex. group of international orga- nizations and non-govern- Beyond ‘ABC’ mental women’s rights and Rising infection rates among women are anti-AIDS activists, includ- also raising questions about the widely ing UNAIDS Director Peter praised “ABC” prevention strategy Piot and UN Population (Abstain, Be faithful or use a Condom). Fund Executive Director That approach has been credited with dra- Thoraya Obaid launched an matically reducing HIV-infection rates in informal network called the Uganda. But recent research showing high Global Coalition on Women Jorgen Schuytte / Peter Arnold infection rates among monogamous and AIDS. Its goal is to married women in Africa — combined focus international attention with gender inequality and what Ms. Cravero terms a global “epidemic” of sex- ual violence — suggests that for many More care is needed for women ABC offers no real choices at all. women living with HIV/AIDS. “Across the globe,” she notes, “women, particularly young women, are not in a on the “feminization” of the AIDS epi- include women’s property and inheritance position to abstain. They are not in a posi- demic and mobilize greater political and rights, access to care and treatment tion to demand faithfulness of their part- financial resources for practical and effec- services, protection from violence and the ners. In many cases they are in fact faith- tive responses. development of new prevention technolo- ful, but are being infected by unfaithful The coalition, which is guided by a 28- gies, including anti-viral foams and female partners.” Similarly, researchers report that member steering committee, is based on condoms, which women can control. women in transactional or dependent rela- six key principles: She acknowledged that the solution to tionships are often unable to compel the • women are not victims the crisis of women and AIDS lies in the use of condoms by their partners or are • young women and girls are at particu- fundamental transformation of women’s unwilling to even raise the issue for fear of lar risk economic and social status. But transfor- rejection or physical assault. • many women at great risk of infection mation can be viewed both as an ultimate “A woman who is a victim of violence do not themselves engage in high-risk goal and as “a day-to-day process.” By or the fear of violence is not going to nego- behavior, a situation termed “the para- supporting the efforts of women them- tiate anything, let alone fidelity or condom dox of low risk and high vulnerability” selves and emphasizing concrete and use,” Ms. Cravero continues. “Her main • the factors contributing to women’s vul- short-term legislative, political and policy objective is to get through the day without nerability can be changed with sufficient responses in key areas, she concludes, “we being beaten up. Real-life prevention commitment and resources can reduce the level of violence against strategies for women include reducing the • the involvement of women living with women, improve their chances of remain- levels of violence against women, protect- HIV and AIDS is vital for success ing in school and challenge discriminatory ing their property and inheritance rights • efforts to reduce the burden of legislation. Even if we don’t immediately and ensuring their access to education.” HIV/AIDS on women must also engage transform women’s place in society, we boys and men can make a difference in the lives of Global Coalition for a global crisis Despite its global mandate and broad women and girls.” ■ The scale and complexity of the principles of unity, Ms. Cravero explains, HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa has served as the coalition is intended to promote practi- * Get more information on UNAIDS and its activi- the catalyst for a desperately needed cal solutions to specific problems. These ties against the disease at: www.unaids.org
8 OCTOBER 2004 Africa’s youth on the edge of the chasm Stephen Lewis raises alarm over loss of young women to HIV/AIDS
ince his appointment in January 2001 as UN Secretary- S General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, A counselor Ambassador Stephen Lewis has for South earned a reputation as a fierce, Africa’s plainspoken advocate for greater “Love Life” action against the HIV/AIDS pan- AIDS educa- demic sweeping the continent. He tion group was an early — and often lonely — gives advice voice for a much stronger focus on to another Getty Images / Brent Stirton the special challenges to and contri- young butions from African women in the woman. struggle against the disease. On 12 July, Mr. Lewis delivered the first of two major addresses on women and AIDS at the Internation- al AIDS Conference in Bangkok, drawing attention to the soaring HIV infec- in every country in sub-Saharan Africa. He asked: “Where are the laws that tion rates among young African women “The astonishing sameness of the figures descend with draconian force on those and calling for urgent action. demonstrates the deep-rooted and univer- who are guilty of rape and sexual vio- The announcement that girls and sal nature of the gender inequality,” lence? Where are the laws that deal with young women now account for 75 per Mr. Lewis asserted. “But even more it rape within marriage? Where are the laws cent of all Africans aged 15–24 living demonstrates the potential for a further in every country that enshrine property with HIV and AIDS, he said, “is unprece- explosion of infection amongst the 15–24 and inheritance for women?” dented in the history of the pandemic and age group.” If such inequities intensify, he He recited a long list of missing legisla- . . . perhaps the most ominous warning of cautioned, “then the youth of Africa are tion: laws to protect women from stigma what is yet to come.” walking on the edge of the chasm.” and discrimination, to raise the minimum The new data, released a week earlier Mr. Lewis believed that African leaders age of marriage, to abolish school fees so by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS do not fully understand the situation. “If that girls and other children orphaned by (UNAIDS), revealed that women (both they did, they’d be howling from the AIDS can go to school. He asked why older and younger) comprised more than rooftops and changing legislative policies there are no laws or regulatory mecha- 50 per cent of the HIV-positive population at every turn.” nisms to guarantee that HIV-positive young women and girls have access to African women: a long battle for equality treatment in proportion to their numbers. “Where are the laws that guarantee equal- For Ms. Sibongile Msimela, the UNAIDS gender adviser for East and Southern Africa, the ity before the law for women in all matters solution to soaring HIV infection rates among women is the full empowerment of women. economic and social? In short, where are “None of it is rocket science,” she told Africa Renewal from her Johannesburg office. “If the the laws which move decisively towards international community had done the things we know we need to do around women’s gender equality?” empowerment issues, the impact of HIV and AIDS wouldn’t be as severe as it is today.” As welcome as the current focus on women is, much of the debate seems to imply Profound changes in attitudes and that “African women are doing nothing,” she continued. “It’s important to keep in mind behaviours can take generations, Mr. that African women themselves are very actively pushing for change. The notion that Lewis noted. But “in the meantime, we’re people will come from outside to save African women is wrong. The battle for women’s losing the women and girls of Africa.” It is rights has been fought by African women for a long time now.” well past time for political leaders to create Women are organized to work for their rights in much of Africa, she noted. They are a legal framework that can give women a particularly strong in places like South Africa and Zimbabwe, where they participated in chance to resist the virus, he said. And the the struggle against white minority rule. “That history of organizing,” she said, “has really danger of inaction is stark: “Whole soci- helped women keep their communities together through some of the darkest times. It’s eties are unraveling, as parts of Africa are not all gloom and doom.” depopulated of their women.” ■
OCTOBER 2004 9 Civil society engages African plan Despite criticisms, more grassroots groups want to work with NEPAD
By Ernest Harsch The situation in Malawi is not unique. about it to their own citizens once they n the Southern African country of In South Africa, Nigeria and Senegal — return home. Few African parliaments Malawi, most local civil society organi- whose presidents have been among have discussed the plan in any detail. I zations were initially very critical of the NEPAD’s foremost advocates — hardly a One study commissioned by OSAA New Partnership for Africa’s Development month goes by without some major public on women’s organizations and NEPAD (NEPAD). Activists objected that the conti- gathering designed to mobilize local sup- found that in Cameroon “dialogue barely nental development plan was “top-down,” port for it. In Ethiopia a existed” between civil soci- having been drafted by a handful of presi- consortium of civil society Increasingly, civil society ety groups and the govern- dents and then adopted by African leaders, groups has been formed to activists are starting to ment. A survey in South without public consultation, in 2001. They monitor the plan’s imple- see NEPAD not so much Africa found that 17 per cent complained that its accent on promoting mentation and progress. In as a flawed plan of a few of all respondents had never foreign investment and trade ignored the Algeria, a coalition of 19 presidents, but as an heard of NEPAD and that constraints facing especially poor countries groups has initiated a another 15 per cent believed opportunity that could be such as Malawi. programme to popularize it would not change their After some reflection, however, more NEPAD at literacy centres seized to advance Africa’s lives, even if it were imple- than 70 such groups formed a coalition and among students and development priorities. mented. Ms. Grace Akumu, known as the Malawi Economic Justice grassroots organizations. executive director of the non- Network (MEJN), which welcomed “Overall,” notes a study released in June governmental Climate Network Africa, NEPAD “as a landmark in the process of by the UN’s Office of the Special Adviser notes that while NEPAD is sometimes shared aspirations for African unity.” on Africa (OSAA), “there is evidence of discussed in Kenya’s capital, “not very According to one of its leading spokesmen, growing efforts to involve or consult with many NEPAD activities have taken place Mr. Dalitso Kingsley Kubalasa, the net- civil society organizations and the private outside Nairobi, in the rural areas.” work still has reservations about the plan, sector in implementing NEPAD.” It adds, The limited public knowledge of but also “remains hopeful that a genuine however, that “the nature and scope of this NEPAD, combined with the initial lack of NEPAD” can help Africans reduce poverty, involvement vary greatly.” official consultation with civil society and achieve gender equity and attain global private sector groups, contributed to the economic viability. Rather than “giving up Scepticism and faultfinding plan’s critical reception by grassroots on NEPAD because the process hasn’t been Although NEPAD is already more than activists. Many continue to find fault with ideal,” he says, Malawian civil society three years old, it is still not well known or what they consider its shortcomings. organizations have decided instead to put understood in many parts of Africa. Some Mr. Oduor Ong’wen of the Kenyan forward their own suggestions for advanc- leaders go to continental or regional meet- group EcoNews Africa notes that NEPAD ing NEPAD, “to make it really work.” ings on NEPAD, but then fail to speak embraces the poverty-reduction and other targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while at the same time urging Africa’s greater integration into the world economy through expanded trade and foreign investment. He believes that Civil society NEPAD’s promoters are too optimistic groups want about the benefits of globalization and a voice in worries that policies of economic liberal- NEPAD’s ization will further hamper achievement of implementa- the MDGs. tion, insisting In an article published in February that it not be 2004, Mr. Tajudeen Abdul Raheem of the left to govern- Uganda-based Pan African Movement and ments alone. Mr. Alex de Waal of the London-based Justice Africa argued: “NEPAD needs popular debate. Some of the core ideas are sound, though having fallen into the hands
Getty Images / AFP Rajesh Jantilal of the bureaucrats they have had any
10 OCTOBER 2004 originality systematically bleached out.” In particular, they fear, some of the govern- ments promoting the plan are beginning to Traditional focus too much on securing donor aid for chiefs projects. “NEPAD is not an implementing in Ghana: agency. If it were to become so, it would There and in be a competitor to existing ministries several other and departments and would rightly be countries, shunned.” The New Partnership, they chiefs are insist, should instead focus primarily on offering to mobilize rural “the big policy issues” such as trade, debt Getty Images / Michel Porro relief, HIV/AIDS and the quality of aid. support for Some seem to reject NEPAD’s basic ori- NEPAD. entation. According to Mr. Khabele Matlosa of the SAPES Trust, a Zimbabwe-based educational and research organization, the policies reflected in the New Partnership are essentially “neo-liberal and dependent.” days and the path we intend to follow is voluntarily to submit their governance ‘We need to be realistic’ difficult. Thus we need to be realistic performance to review by other Africans. Increasingly, however, other groups and about these matters.” Mr. Chris Landsberg, director of South activists are starting to see NEPAD not so At a national civil society forum on Africa’s Centre for Policy Studies, warned much as a flawed plan of a few presidents, NEPAD in Nairobi, Kenya, in October against “false expectations” of what the but as an opportunity that could be seized 2003, the several dozen participating APRM will be able to achieve, since it to advance Africa’s development priorities. groups drew a number of general conclu- does not have any punitive authority over After all, most civil society groups agree sions. The first was: “NEPAD is an impor- countries with poor governance standards. with the plan’s stated commitments to tant idea whose time has come and we Its value, he said, is as a “socializing tool” advance democracy, entrench human must keep up with it.” The groups also to popularize and encourage the spread of rights, improve education and health ser- pledged to undertake their own NEPAD good governance practices. vices, strengthen productive capacities and activities and to “make enough noise” that Above all, agreed the academics and achieve regional integration. the government will hear them. activists at the EISA conference, civil soci- African civil society, argues Ms. ety organizations have a vital role in Akumu of Kenya’s Climate Network Democracy and the state strengthening democracy and human Africa, should identify the positive aspects From the outset, a number of groups saw rights in Africa and in holding the conti- of NEPAD, “because if all we see is nega- NEPAD’s insistence on democracy, nent’s leadership accountable, not only tives . . . then what is the point of getting respect for human rights, peace and good for its political practices but also for engaged in it?” The positive elements, she governance as one of its most innovative its management of Africa’s financial believes, include the political will of lead- features. Previous African development resources. By making governments more ing African statesmen “to do something plans, they noted, virtually ignored the transparent and responsive to their citi- for the development of Africa,” as well as political underpinnings for economic and zens, some participants pointed out, civil their commitment to good governance, social progress. society groups do not aim to weaken the peace, democracy and respect for human In May 2003, the Electoral Institute of state, but to strengthen its capacity to carry rights. She adds that working through South Africa (EISA) convened a con- out essential public functions. NEPAD does not prevent grassroots orga- ference on “strengthening democracy Mr. Kubalasa of the MEJN coalition in nizations from criticizing its shortcomings. through NEPAD,” with a focus on how Malawi makes a similar point. NEPAD’s In fact, “we mention them so that we can civil society in particular can help that economic policy framework, he says, strategize to better overcome them.” process. Speakers highlighted the impor- “should be facilitated by a strong and South African Member of Parliament tance of strengthening Africa’s electoral inclusive developmental state, which Ben Turok, who urges greater cooperation systems, which remain weak in much of engages various levels of society.” between civil society and parliamentari- the continent. In some countries, traditional chiefs are ans on NEPAD, notes that most African Participants also drew attention to the coming forward to offer their assistance in governments remain very weak. Grass- unique role of the African Peer Review helping to promote developmental efforts roots activists therefore should not expect Mechanism (APRM), a NEPAD initiative in Africa’s countryside, where the central rapid implementation. “These are early in which participating countries agree state is often especially weak. “If NEPAD
OCTOBER 2004 11 is meant to fight for the eradication of society — development projects will not some of the shortcomings of African civil poverty and the upliftment of the socio- be able to pull these women out of poverty society itself. At a number of the confer- economic conditions of the masses, its and into the mainstream.” ences held over the past year, speakers protagonists must take it to the rural At an October 2003 conference in have pointed to the diversity of civil soci- areas,” says Mr. Patekile Holomisa, presi- Nairobi on women’s participation in the ety organizations in Africa, many of them dent of the Congress of Traditional African Union and NEPAD, Ms. Maria small, with few financial resources or Leaders of South Africa. “This time tradi- Nzomo, Kenya’s high commissioner to skilled personnel and with varying inter- tional leaders and their structures must be Zimbabwe, noted some of the steps taken ests and areas of concern. taken on board. Their special status in since the plan’s adoption to enhance the Mr. Turok noted that the South African African life must be used to enhance the role of women. These have included the parliament and government do not interact legitimacy of the development projects.” African Peer Review Mechanism, whose with non-governmental groups as much as In August 2003, traditional chiefs from seven-member panel of experts includes they should, “partly because civil society is Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Togo met three women, one of whom is the chair. badly organized.” The problem becomes in Kumasi, Ghana, for the first African Ms. Nzomo urged women’s organizations even more complex when such groups try conference of traditional leaders. They to press for a stronger voice within both to work with the African Union and other regional organizations. “If civil society wants to engage with all these institutions, it must pull up Voting in its socks,” he said. Benin: Many According to Mr. Tebego civil society Molefi, from Rhodes University in groups see Grahamstown, South Africa, civil NEPAD’s society groups should adopt con- emphasis on stitutions that embrace the objec- strengthening tives of the AU and NEPAD and democracy should develop “fair, participatory as one of its and transparent election process- most innova- es” within their own structures. tive features. But the main weakness facing civil society groups in Africa, he asserts, is that too many govern- AfricaPhotos.com ments are still not willing to talk openly with them. pledged to support initiatives for peace and the AU and the various initiatives launched At a May 2003 conference in Ghana development through the African Union under NEPAD. on civil society and NEPAD, Mr. (AU) and within the framework of NEPAD, Evidence that this is occurring came Getachew Demeke, an Ethiopian with to join the fight against HIV/AIDS and to on 19 June 2004 in the Senegalese town of long experience in the civil society move- promote “the cause of women towards Louga, when an association of women ment, called on African governments to gender equity.” teachers held a public conference on reform their laws to make it easier for women’s participation in NEPAD. Foreign grassroots organizations to operate. He Mobilizing women Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio welcomed also urged government officials to recog- Women’s associations have also been criti- their mobilization, noting that women nize the importance of civil society partic- cal of NEPAD, stating that, aside from comprise a majority of farmers in Senegal ipation in political change and public poli- some scattered references to women in the and other African countries, and therefore cy, in line with NEPAD’s commitments. original document, it has virtually ignored are central for realizing NEPAD’s agricul- For their part, more and more civil the gender dimensions of development. tural development objectives. He urged society groups believe that “continuing “Poverty,” argues Ms. Nombulelo the women, as educators, to think about engagement” with both the African Union Siqwana-Ndulo of South Africa’s Commis- developing plans for teaching and publi- and NEPAD must be an ongoing priority, sion on Gender Equality, “has a dispropor- cizing NEPAD. says Mr. Kubalasa from Malawi. NEPAD’s tionately large impact on women. Unless vision can become a reality, he believes, an analysis of rural poverty is underpinned Building channels for dialogue “if Africa’s leaders enter into a new part- by a gendered approach — an approach As they discuss how to have a stronger nership with their people. The vision of a that examines what women can and cannot voice on NEPAD and other initiatives, new Africa dawning in the 21st century is do due to the position they occupy in grassroots activists are also grappling with too precious to be lost.” ■
12 OCTOBER 2004 Youth pledge fight for Millennium goals ‘NEPAD is important to young Africans’
By Wilma Jean Emanuel Randle In a declaration, the African youth devote greater attention to the specific Dakar leaders identified conflict, HIV/AIDS, interests and concerns of youth. “It’s or young people across Africa, educa- poverty and corruption as the main obsta- important that NEPAD and all these other tion is vital, argues Mohammed A. cles to Africa’s progress. They agreed to initiatives focus on youth,” Ms. Kaltouma F Latif Mbengue, a 28-year-old gradu- establish an ongoing network, via the Nadjina told Africa Renewal. A champion ate student at Senegal’s Cheikh Anta Diop Internet, to coordinate efforts to advance runner, she represented Chad at the University. The fact that African countries the MDGs and other development goals. Olympic Games in Athens in August and have not yet succeeded in When asked speci- is also UNDP’s Goodwill Ambassador in working together to solve the The African youth fically about their views of the country. continent’s problems has leaders identified conflict, NEPAD, some delegates Unfortunately, added Ms. Aku Xorman hampered access to educa- HIV/AIDS, poverty and responded that the pro- Adzraku, who works in the youth division tion. “The lack of coordina- corruption as the main gramme remains a mystery, of the Planned Parenthood Association of tion makes it very difficult since they have received Ghana, too few young people in Africa are obstacles to Africa’s for me if I want to study at little information about yet aware of NEPAD. “Ways must be progress. They agreed another African university.” it. Some were confused found to get young people involved, and He believes that the to establish an ongoing about the relationship one way to do that is to make information New Partnership for Africa’s network, via the Internet, between NEPAD and the available that directly deals with young Development (NEPAD), to coordinate efforts to MDGs campaign. people.” She noted that many of the young which emphasizes regional advance the MDGs. “I’m aware of the objec- people she works with are concerned with integration, can help. He also tives of NEPAD, but many the same issues addressed by NEPAD and thinks that the global campaign to achieve of the young people in my country are not, the MDGs campaign, such as having food the Millennium Development Goals and that’s because there has been almost no to eat, clothes to wear and the opportunity (MDGs) is essential. Endorsed by world information directed towards them,” said to advance their education. “Youth in my leaders in 2000, the MDGs campaign has Ms. Marie Tamoifo Nkom, executive secre- country are worried about their future.” ■ set targets that include reducing by half the tary of the Cameroon Association number of people living in poverty by the of Green Youth, an environmental year 2015, to ensure that all children com- advocacy group. Nevertheless, she plete primary education and to combat told Africa Renewal, NEPAD’s HIV/AIDS. When African leaders drew up objectives address many issues, NEPAD the following year, they incorpo- especially employment, that con- rated the MDGs within their plan. cern young people in Cameroon. Mr. Mbengue and about 150 other Ms. Aliaa Ahmed Mossallem, a youth leaders assembled in this Senegalese 22-year-old from Egypt, saw hope capital on 28 June–1 July, for the first-ever in NEPAD’s Africa-wide perspec- Pan-African Youth Leadership Summit. tive. “NEPAD and the MDG effort Organized by the UN Development Pro- are things that concern all coun- gramme (UNDP) and the Global Peace tries, including my own,” she said. Initiative of Women, a non-governmental “I think that it’s important that organization, the summit focused on mobi- youth be empowered to help make lizing the next generation of Africa’s lead- these efforts a reality.” ers behind the push to achieve the MDGs. Some believed that despite the Ms. Eveline Herfkens, executive coor- summit’s calls on young people to dinator of the MDGs campaign, noted that play a more active leadership role, young people under the age of 35 account the development programmes of for 60 per cent of Africa’s population. They governments and international should not be considered only in terms of organization must themselves Africa’s future, she said, but also its
present, urging them to unite to call on UNDP governments to take up the challenge of Participants in Dakar Youth Summit. combating poverty.
OCTOBER 2004 13 Joining business and Africa’s development African private sector urged to invest in NEPAD priorities
o realize the ambitious goals of the sized that public-private partnerships — the document approved by African New Partnership for Africa’s Develop- between governments and businesses can leaders in 2001 mentions the private sector T ment, governments must forge solid have practical benefits for everyone. With more than 20 times. However, notes Mr. partnerships with African businesspeople, limited foreign aid and other sources of Peter Ondeng, managing director of the says the president of the African Union, public financing for infrastructure invest- Kenya NEPAD Business Group, the plan Mr. Alpha Oumar Konaré. “We strongly ments, he said, “public-private partner- was initially developed “without the neces- believe in the African private sector,” the ships provide the only means for building sary consultations that would have enabled former president of Mali told a conference the roads, the power and the water supplies a broader ownership of the vision.” on business support for NEPAD held in that not only improve living standards but As a result, many entrepreneurs still do Johannesburg, South Africa, in December also provide the basic infrastructure for not understand how they can become 2003. “Without its help, we cannot achieve profitable business that creates wealth, involved. “Even a cursory survey of the great things.” jobs and hope for a better future.” level of knowledge and information about African business leaders have often More business engagement can also NEPAD among the business community argued the same thing. “Harnessing the help prepare African countries to take better shows that it is very low,” observes Mr. Steve Godfrey, director of the Common- wealth Business Council, which represents more than 4,000 businesses, more than half of them African or operating in Africa. In 2004, PricewaterhouseCoopers, an international investment-services compa- Business- ny, interviewed nearly 250 business heads men in in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It found Mozambique: that only 38 per cent of the chief exe- African entre- cutives believed that NEPAD will suc- preneurs ceed and that 32 per cent thought it is welcome unlikely to succeed (the remainder were NEPAD’s undecided). Most thought the biggest promotion obstacles facing NEPAD were poor and of the private corrupt political leadership, war and trade sector. barriers. “The private sector,” commented the survey, “recognizes the potential benefits of NEPAD. However, NEPAD must make a greater effort to build aware- ness of its goal.” A start is already being made. The iAfrika Photos / Eric Miller African Business Roundtable, which was established more than a decade ago as a expertise and entrepreneurial spirit of the advantage of opportunities in the global forum for dialogue between private busi- business community is crucial for mobiliz- marketplace, says the UN’s Special nesses and national and international ing the capital, technology and human Adviser on Africa, Under-Secretary- financial institutions, in 2002 set up the skills we need to ensure that NEPAD’s General Ibrahim Gambari. “A true and NEPAD Business Group (NBG), a coali- bold vision for a new Africa becomes a growing private sector would enhance com- tion of international business organiza- reality,” said Mr. Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, petitive forces and promote competitive- tions and groups of African businesses. head of a Nigerian shipping company and ness,” he told the Johannesburg conference. The ABR has named a liaison person to executive president of the African work directly with the NEPAD Secretariat Business Roundtable (ABR), at a confer- From ignorance to opportunity in South Africa. Both the ABR and the ence in Tunisia on 25 June 2004. Like other sectors of the African public, NBG have been organizing numerous Speaking just a few days later at the business leaders have had mixed reactions conferences and forums across Africa to first African Union private sector forum in to NEPAD. They have been encouraged by Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mr. Tukur empha- the plan’s emphasis on private investment turn to page 17
14 OCTOBER 2004 Progress in tackling Africa’s conflicts But poverty, weakness of democracy hinder peace efforts, Annan reports
frica today is afflicted by fewer Renewed confidence the African Union in efforts to facilitate a serious armed conflicts than it After earlier disappointments in attempts solution to the current crisis in Sudan’s A was just six years ago, says UN to bring peace to Somalia, Rwanda, Darfur region. In Sudan as in a number of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. When he Angola, Liberia and elsewhere in Africa other armed conflicts in Africa, such crises issued his first major report on the causes in 1990s, the success of the UN peace- often have serious consequences for neigh- of conflict in Africa in 1998, there were 14 keeping mission in bouring countries, high- countries in the midst of war and another Sierra Leone — which The international community lighting the importance of 11 were suffering from severe political brought an end to years should be “sensitive and regional solutions. turbulence. Today, Mr. Annan notes in his of civil war — “marked responsive” to the security Most of the newer annual follow-up report,* just a half-dozen a watershed,” Mr. Annan concerns that Africa itself has missions are “multi-disci- African countries are suffering from seri- says. It “has given confi- identified, says Mr. Annan. plinary,” Mr. Annan notes. ous domestic armed conflicts, among dence to the United They do not simply try to External assistance should be them Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, the Demo- Nations to again support monitor and enforce signed provided in a way that cratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. And complex peace opera- peace agreements. They very few other countries are facing deep tions in Africa, and respects Africans’ priorities, also seek to address the political crises. today Africa receives the institutions and decisions. “root causes” of conflict The UN and the rest of the internation- highest deployment of by promoting sustainable al community have been “responding UN peacekeeping efforts in the world.” development, economic recovery, democ- more readily” to armed conflicts in Africa, (According to the UN Department of ratic pluralism, transparency and respect the Secretary-General notes. But much Peacekeeping Operations, nearly 48,000 for human rights and the rule of law. credit for the improvement also rests with peacekeeping troops were stationed in Africa. The African Union, various sub- Africa at the end of August 2004.) African initiatives regional organizations and a number of In recent years, the UN Security The African Union’s establishment earlier governments have become more active Council has approved new peacekeeping this year of a Peace and Security Council in mobilizing military forces for peace- missions in Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, the has given a “major boost” to its own keeping missions or in defusing political Democratic Republic of Congo and peace initiatives, Mr. Annan reports. The crises before they escalate into large-scale Liberia. The UN has also dispatched an Council has already taken up the political violence, he reports. advance team to southern Sudan, where a situations in a dozen African countries, Despite “steady” improvements in peace agreement has been signed, and the these areas, he adds, there have been only world body is collaborating closely with turn to page 17 “modest and slow” advances in alleviating the underlying eco- nomic and political conditions that foster tension and strife. Poverty reduction has been slow, in spite of efforts by African countries and their external partners to imple- ment the New Partnership for Rwandan Africa’s Development (NEPAD). contingent of Concerns are rising about high African Union levels of youth unemployment force on and heightened competition over its way to scarce resources because of demo- Darfur, Sudan. Getty Images / Gianluigi Guercia graphic pressures. There also has been only limited progress in strengthening democracy, enhanc- ing administrative capacity, ensur- ing independence of the judicia- ry and promoting transparency and accountability.
OCTOBER 2004 15 African plan advances, says UN Annan urges more consistent backing for NEPAD
frican countries are making consider- review by other Africans. So far, Debt undercuts aid to Africa, $ bn able progress in carrying out their 23 countries — nearly half of A continental plan, the New Partner- Africa’s total — have joined, and 1990 1995 2000 2001 2002 ship for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), several more are considering join- Net aid inflows * 25.6 22.0 15.8 16.6 22.2 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says. ing. Between May and July 2004, Debt servicing outflows ** 23.0 22.2 22.1 21.4 21.9 Yet to help them surmount the serious the mechanism’s first support mis- * Official development assistance. ** Includes servicing payments challenges they continue to face, he argues sions travelled to Ghana, Rwanda, on long-term public and private debt. in his second annual report on NEPAD’s Mauritius and Kenya to prepare Source: UN Africa Renewal based on data in: “New Partnership implementation,* Africans also require for their reviews. for Africa’s Development: second consolidated report on progress firmer and more coherent support from the To develop Africa’s physical in implementation and international support,” report of the UN Secretary-General, 4 August 2004. international community. This should infrastructure, reports Mr. Annan, entail more aid, debt relief, foreign invest- NEPAD’s heads of state implementation According to donor country figures, total ment and trade opportunities. It also committee has approved a list of 20 “top official development assistance to the should involve greater consistency in priority” projects, including in energy, region reached $22.2 bn in 2002 (up from external policies, so that advances on one transport, water and sanitation, and infor- just $16.4 bn in 2000). Preliminary UN front are not undercut by lags on another. mation and communications technologies. estimates project that it may have reached “Africa is putting its shoulder to the Although the World Bank and African $23.1 bn in 2003. wheel,” explains Under-Secretary-General Development Bank have already ear- Yet this is still below the $25.6 bn in aid Ibrahim Gambari, the UN’s Special Advis- marked some financing, about half of the Africa received in 1990. And most of the er on Africa. “Since NEPAD’s adoption in estimated total cost of $8.1 bn is expected financing won through aid inflows contin- 2001, it has accomplished a lot.” to come from the private sector. ues to be lost through high debt-servicing The Secretary-General’s report notes payments. In 2002 alone, Africa paid $21.9 “much progress” on the African Peer Coherence in policies bn in external debt-servicing costs, almost Review Mechanism, a voluntary process Despite Africa’s progress so far, points out the same amount it received in aid that year. by which African leaders subject their stan- Mr. Gambari, “there’s a lot left to do. And So far, 23 African countries have dards of democracy, human rights, gover- for that, Africa’s needs its external partners received some debt relief under the Heavily nance and economic management to to be even more forthcoming.” The inter- Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. national community is already giving However, even for the 11 African countries more, he acknowledges, and Africans that have reached the HIPC stage at which welcome that support. “But some- they are eligible for extensive debt cancella- times the partners give with one hand tion, observes the Secretary-General, there and take away with the other.” is not much hope for “debt sustainability.” While the international communi- As a result, “there is now an increasing call ty is now beginning to provide more for a new framework for debt sustainabili- support to Africa, the report empha- ty” that goes beyond HIPC. sizes, that assistance is sometimes not Donor aid policies and international well-coordinated, limiting its effec- trade practices are also contradictory, the tiveness. Moreover, international report emphasizes. Africa’s share of the policies and practices on aid, debt, world market has declined dramatically trade and investment often are incon- since 1970, reports the Secretary-General, sistent, with shortcomings in one area bringing estimated losses of income of undermining progress in another. about $70 bn a year — almost five times The Secretary-General’s report, what Africa receives in aid annually. The for example, notes that the overall continent especially needs reforms in agri- level of aid to Africa has increased cultural trade, he says, including elimina- during the past couple years. tion of agricultural subsidies in developed countries, which place Africa’s agricultur- al exports at a competitive disadvantage. African governments pledge to spend The Secretary-General urges Africa’s iAfrika Photos / Eric Miller 15 per cent of their budgets on health. partners to better align their policies in these
16 OCTOBER 2004 different areas. “Improved policy coher- ence,” he says, “promises to be a virtuous Progress in tackling Africa’s conflicts link in the cycle of increased and effective aid, reformed trade policies and debt relief from page 15 rapid deployment to any country that may by developed countries towards Africa.” fall into crisis in West Africa. and has decided to pay particular attention The Group of Eight industrialized African action to several of those which have shown little countries, notes the report, have agreed to About half of the Secretary-General’s sign of progress: in Darfur, Côte d’Ivoire, provide financial support and training for report looks at the actions that Africans the Democratic Republic of Congo and the African Union’s plans to set up a simi- themselves have undertaken over the past between Ethiopia and Eritrea. lar standby force at the continental level. year. African countries, reports Mr. The Secretary-General commends the The European Union has recently pledged Annan, are seeking to gradually align African Union for sending a peacekeeping €250 mn for the AU’s peace fund. their budgetary spending with NEPAD mission to Burundi in 2002, which helped While helping in such ways, Mr. Annan priorities. They have committed them- to stabilize the situation there (a UN adds, the international community should selves, for example, to allocate 15 per cent peacekeeping mission has now taken over at the same time be “sensitive and respon- of their national budgets to health and 10 from the AU force). The African Union sive” to the security concerns that Africa per cent to agriculture. About 5 per cent of and the Inter-Governmental Authority for itself has identified. Especially with a both national and local budgets should be Development, a sub-regional group in the strengthened AU now in place, external earmarked for water and sanitation, while Horn of Africa, have been working to help assistance should be provided in a way that spending on science and technology reconcile the various sides in Somalia. In respects Africans’ priorities, institutions should rise to 1 per cent of gross domestic June 2004, the Economic Community of and decisions. ■ product within five years. West African States authorized the cre- This process is likely to be slow, says ation of a standby peacekeeping unit of * The full text of the report is available online at: the report, since most African countries 6,500 trained and equipped soldiers, for
OCTOBER 2004 17 Africa strives to rebuild its industries Economic diversification to guard against unfavourable commodity prices
from page 1 Early hopes — and disappointments marginalized in the global economy. When most African countries gained their According to the World Bank, the African South Africa, a country developed independence in the 1960s, the new gov- share of global non-oil exports is now less through the revenues of its gold and dia- ernments saw industrialization as a logical than one-half what it was in the mond mines, is drafting new legislation to means of shaking off colonial trade pat- early 1980s. encourage companies to first process terns and attain sustainable development. minerals before exporting them. In neigh- They employed state-led strategies to Diversifying production bouring Botswana, a realization that the develop local industries to produce goods Building — or rebuilding — African economy cannot be sustained indefinitely that were previously imported. But the industry is a major challenge. Across the on a single product, diamonds, has given results fell short of expectations. developing world, countries that have suc- renewed impetus to that country’s indus- By the 1980s, many African govern- cessfully shifted from producing raw trialization programme. ments embraced structural materials into manufacturing have done so The story is much the same As African industries adjustment policies pro- in stages. They started by moving into the in a small but growing faltered, most economies moted by the World Bank processing of primary commodities, a number of African coun- remained dependent on a and International Mone- process known as vertical diversification. tries, including Namibia narrow range of primary tary Fund which reduced Some African countries, for instance, are and Senegal. products. Development the role of the state in now exporting leather instead of just Africa is clearly on a economic activities and hides, textiles in place of cotton, or paper, planners warn that unless new path, says Executive encouraged the sale of plywood or furniture instead of logs. Côte the continent diversifies Secretary K.Y. Amoako of public enterprises. While d’Ivoire, now a major fish- and wood- the Addis Ababa-based UN the range of products it many of these enterprises processing country, has managed to do Economic Commission for produces and exports, it had been inefficiently run, this. So has Senegal, which also shifted Africa, marked by eco- will be further marginalized they often accounted for from simply selling raw fish into process- nomic reforms, greater in the global economy. most industrial production ing and packaging its produce. commitment to political and employment. “Our entrepreneurs,” says Botswana’s pluralism, a decline in conflicts and poli- As African industries faltered, most President Festus Mogae, “should look for cies more favourable to private invest- economies remained dependent on a technology from partners to enable them ment. “African countries should aim to be narrow range of primary products. This is to process their products and sell value- middle-income industrialized nations in a growing concern among development added goods abroad.” At independence in the next three decades.” While this is a planners, who warn that unless the conti- 1966, his country was one of Africa’s bold vision, Mr. Amoako says, it can nent diversifies the range of products it poorest, but it soon discovered diamonds be achieved. produces and exports, it will be further and its economy has been one of the conti- nent’s fastest-growing. Aware that these diamonds will one day be exhausted, Manufacturing value added in sub-Saharan Africa Botswana has used the revenues to invest heavily in human resources. annual % growth rate, 1961–2000 The government has also invested in infrastructure, to help make the country
15 more attractive to investors outside the mining sector. At independence Botswana 10 had only 5 kilometres of tarred road. Now, virtually all national roads are surfaced 5 and the country boasts modern, well-
0 equipped hospitals in all major centres. However, Botswana remains dependent –5 on diamonds, which bring in $2 bn of the
4.8 7.3 7.1 4.3 8.3 0.2 –0.9 5.5 3.1 country’s $3 bn in annual foreign revenue. Due to dry weather, the Southern African 1961 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 country has limited options in agriculture, Source: UN Africa Renewal from World Bank data. except for cattle ranching. So in 1997 it
18 OCTOBER 2004 launched a major industrializa- tion drive, based partly on value- added industries in the cattle Cotton- sector such as meat and hide spinning processing and the production of mill in cattle and chicken feed. The Sudan: By country is also promoting a processing small but rapidly growing indus- their raw trial sector in textiles, motor- materials, vehicle assembly, electronics, African garments and jewellery. countries Although South Africa has can managed to build up sub- stimulate Saharan Africa’s most sophisti- their cated industrial sector, execu- economies. tives there are also concerned about the economy’s continuing UNIDO reliance on mining. “We cannot solely depend on the extraction industry and forget about the fact that the single commodity accounts for more than prices are among the poorest in the world. resources that we have . . . are finite,” says 50 per cent of export revenue. But such “Africa’s overall economic decline is Mr. Sandile Nogxina, director-general of dependence on primary products, espe- linked with its economic structure and its South Africa’s Ministry of Mines. cially agricultural crops, means the conti- trade patterns,” notes the UN Industrial South African parliamentarians are nent is vulnerable to unstable market Development Organization (UNIDO) in currently drafting legislation to make it prices and weather conditions. its Industrial Development Report 2004. easier for companies to produce jewellery The UN Conference on Trade and “Africa has not significantly industrialized, in South Africa, either on their own or with Development (UNCTAD) reports that it has not reduced its initial dependence on foreign partners. “If Belgium and Israel between 1997 and 2001, primary com- primary commodities for exports . . . in have become centres for the international modities lost more than 50 per cent of their contrast to the rest of the developing trade in diamonds without having their purchasing power in relation to manufac- world.” Although other developing regions own resources, why can’t we develop a tured goods. This meant that in order to managed to break into the global market sector in South Africa where upstream and maintain their 1997 incomes, African for manufactured goods, notes UNIDO, downstream activities reside side by side?” exporters would have had to more than Africa did not. asks Mr. Nogxina. double production volumes in 2001. The Overall, manufactured goods now biggest declines were in coffee, cocoa, tea account for 80 per cent of the exports Over-reliance on commodities and vegetable-seed oils, which comprise from developing countries, compared Earnings from primary commodities about 20 per cent of the continent’s non- with just 25 per cent in 1980. Those coun- represent 40 per cent of Africa’s gross fuel commodity exports. Almost all the tries that successfully transformed their domestic product. For 20 countries, a countries hardest hit by falling commodity economies did so by investing revenue from natural resources into infrastructure, human resources and new technologies. Polishing Africa’s diamonds in Africa But natural-resource-rich African coun- In mid-September, a Belgian-based diamond company broke ground in Gaborone, tries such as Benin, Cameroon, the Botswana, for the construction of a new diamond cutting and polishing factory. The oper- Democratic Republic of Congo and ation, which is being built by Eurostar Diamond Traders, will eventually be the biggest Nigeria did not make such a transforma- such factory in Africa, employing more than 1,000 workers. tion, notes UNIDO. Up to now, almost all of Botswana’s rough diamonds have been sent abroad for polish- In Nigeria, some oil revenue was ing by the South African De Beers company, which dominates the world diamond trade channeled into import-substituting indus- and jointly owns, with the Botswana government, the local diamond mining enterprise. tries, which the government gave heavy Although the Eurostar factory will change this pattern, De Beers supports the initiative. protection from external competition. But Said De Beers Managing Director Gary Ralfe at a news conference following the ground- breaking ceremony: “De Beers increasingly realizes how important it is to respect the when oil earnings fell, such subsidies entirely reasonable and justified demands by the governments of Botswana and Namibia proved too expensive and these industries to create . . . jobs.” A similar Israeli-owned diamond polishing factory was recently could not compete externally. More than opened in Namibia, and employs 550 workers. $200 bn was invested in the non-oil sector
OCTOBER 2004 19 in Nigeria, but this sector is now smaller, There were notable exceptions, they international trade in such products. on a per-capita basis, than it was before the report, including Botswana, Mauritius and For example, the US Department of oil boom. Zimbabwe, which attained some success Agriculture reports that in North America with strong public sector involvement. the tariff rate is about 25 per cent for raw Industry collapses Trade liberalization, a component of tobacco, but rises to 112 for tobacco Nigeria’s story was common across structural adjustment, also caused havoc. products. The European Union (EU), Africa. Seeking economic independence Tariffs on imported goods were reduced, another major market for African prod- from colonial trading patterns, many allowing cheaper imports to flood domes- ucts, charges average tariffs of 21 per cent countries adopted an industrialization tic markets and further eroding the remain- for fresh fruit, but raises the rate to about model known as “import substitution,” ing small and medium-sized enterprises. 37 per cent for fruit juice. producing domestic goods in place of Unable to compete, many businesses were World Trade Organization Director- imported ones. But these efforts were forced to close down or were privatized. General Supachai Panitchpakdi agrees thwarted by high transportation costs in Africa now finds itself in a vicious that despite attempts at the WTO to lower landlocked states, small markets and lim- cycle. Its manufacturing industries are them, tariff rates remain high on some ited skills and technology. Many such largely dominated by a small and weak products in which developing countries industries were themselves dependent on indigenous private sector at one end of the are competitive. This, he says, prevents them “from moving away from dependence on a few commodities.” Some trade arrange- ments designed to assist developing countries also Ghanaian reinforce over-reliance on workers primary commodities. By sand wood offering preferential duty- used in free or quota-free access to manufacturing European and North garden American markets to pri- furniture for mary products, but not export. manufactured goods, they tend to encourage greater production of raw materi- als, critics point out. One such treaty was the Lomé Convention
Das Fotoarchiv / Ron Giling Das Fotoarchiv (now known as the Cotonou Convention), a imported inputs, especially oil, and were scale and large, foreign multinational cor- series of international aid and trade vulnerable to foreign currency shortages. porations at the other. Medium-sized arrangements first negotiated in 1975 On top of this, structural adjustment indigenous firms — vital for developing a between the EU and former colonies in policies eroded the industrial base in many strong domestic private manufacturing Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, notes a recent paper by African sector — are largely absent. regions. While its architects had noble researchers Samuel Wangwe and Haji intentions — to guarantee market access to Semboja. They note that the rate of growth International trade policy bananas, sugar, beef and other goods pro- in manufacturing value added (which mea- Further complicating matters, some global duced in ACP countries and foster sustain- sures the growth of the industrial sector) trade practices discriminate against devel- able development — the agreement’s declined from 3.7 per cent during the early oping countries seeking to export manu- achievements were modest. 1990s to 2 per cent by 1994. factured goods. One of these practices is One weakness “was that the design of “Compared with anywhere else in the “tariff escalation,” in which customs the ACP countries’ preferential access to developing world, Africa’s was the most duties may be very low or absent for pri- the EU market was based on selected, serious manufacturing-capacity loss,” the mary goods but then rise as the product mainly traditional commodities, and this academics note. This was because struc- undergoes processing. Because the prac- tended to discourage diversification of tural adjustment drastically curtailed the tice protects domestic markets from ACP economies in general and industrial- role of the state in industrial development. imported processed goods, it inhibits ization in particular,” writes Mr. Gerrishon
20 OCTOBER 2004 Ikiara in a study for the Netherlands-based India’s Bangalore and become the informa- development institutions, the private sector European Centre for Development Policy tion-technology hub of the region, utilizing will not come to Africa on the scale that is Management. Moreover, because they a workforce able to operate in both English required,” says Mr. Wiseman Nkuhlu, faced no direct competition, many coun- and French. Mauritius also invested in a chairman of the NEPAD Steering tries did not improve efficiency even in the fibre-optic underwater communications Committee. Through the facilitation of the production of these goods. When the cable that connects East Asia and South NEPAD Secretariat, a number of large- agreements finally end in 2009, many Africa, and is currently amending its labour scale cross-border infrastructure projects ACP countries will not be able to compete laws to attract investors. It recently secured are planned. with those that have a $100 mn low-interest loan Last year, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya become more efficient Competitiveness will be from India to build a “cyber signed an agreement to build a 400- because they did not enjoy undermined if governments city,” a project which will megawatt power line linking the three such protection. fail to maintain law and produce information tech- countries at a cost of $323 mn, partly order, guarantee the security nology goods and create financed by the World Bank. The African Mauritius: getting it right of individuals and invest- 5,000 jobs. Development Bank has committed $95 mn Despite such obstacles, a ments, protect intellectual In addition, Mauritius to an Algeria-Morocco-Spain electricity few African countries have property rights or provide has other advantages. interconnection project, $20 mn to a managed to develop a an efficient infrastructure, UNIDO notes that the Nigeria-Togo-Benin power project and formula for industrial adequate training, education country was fortunate in $100 mn to a Mali-Burkina Faso-Ghana transformation. Among that its industrialization road project. and health systems. these is Mauritius. Once a programme coincided with Many such development projects poor, sugar-dependent the need of Hong Kong- remain underfunded, however. If Africa nation, it now has a diversified economy based firms to relocate their production is to attain its goals, notes World Bank in which manufacturing and tourism play sites. The government of Mauritius has also Chief Economist François Bourguignon, a growing role. Its per capita income is succeeded in restraining corruption and the international community needs to about $10,000, many times higher than other bad practices by its public officials. play a role, “investing more in education, the sub-Saharan average of $300. In a case study in its Economic Report trade promotion and the development The country’s sugar sector is still the on Africa 2003, the UN Economic Com- of infrastructure.” third largest export earner, having bene- mission for Africa concluded that fited from preferential access agree- the success of Mauritius has much ments with Europe over the last 50 years. to do with how development Africa’s declining share in global trade The arrangements guaranteed Mauritius strategies are formulated. The sugar prices that were 100-200 per cent policies are “well thought out to Over the last few decades Africa’s share of world trade above world prices. But by 2009 these address the needs of the econo- has progressively declined. During the 1950s, sub- agreements will be phased out. Mauritius my,” and are not simply formulat- Saharan Africa accounted for about 3 per cent of world has long prepared for this by developing ed in reaction to crises. exports, but by the 1990s this had fallen to 1 per cent. other sectors. “Even in the area where Africa is supposed to have a A key government strategy was to Attracting investors competitive advantage [such as agriculture], it has been develop export-processing zones, duty- Despite seemingly insurmountable losing market share,” says Mr. Kamran Kousari of the UN Conference on Trade and Development. free industrial areas that also provide tax challenges, African leaders remain In a study, Trade Performance and Commodity incentives to businesses. The policy optimistic that the continent is Dependence, released in February, the agency attrib- allowed the government to protect exist- now turning the corner. In 2001, utes the failure to increase agricultural productivity in ing import-substituting industries while at they adopted a new vision known Africa to a number of factors. These include reliance on the same time permitting new export as the New Partnership for an ill-supported small-scale farming sector, rudimentary firms to take advantage of duty-free Africa’s Development (NEPAD), technology, donor-driven policies that have reduced the imports. The authorities strategically which stresses peace, security and role of state institutions in the sector and domestic sub- encouraged investments in service indus- good governance. To accelerate sidies in industrial countries that have eroded the com- tries such as finance and information and development, the plan targets cer- petitiveness of African farmers. Over the years, Africa has lost its advantage in grow- communication technologies. tain priority areas for investment, ing cocoa, tea and coffee more competitively than Latin Realizing that the labour force was ill- including human resources and American and Asian producers, and is losing markets to equipped for the transition, the government infrastructure, particularly in countries in these regions. According to a World Bank increased spending on manpower and energy and transport. assessment, had the continent maintained its 1950s infrastructure development. Mauritius, “We believe that without the share of world trade, the value of its annual exports which now boasts world-class telecommu- leadership of the African countries today would be $65 bn, a figure that far surpasses the nications facilities, is seeking to emulate themselves and the multilateral $13 bn in aid the continent received in 2000.
OCTOBER 2004 21 For their part, African governments and macro-economic policies. urgently need to focus on the “supply Today, UNIDO identifies infra- side,” notes UNIDO. This would entail structure, governance, skills and training workers to operate plants at com- technology as the four elements petitive levels, raising quality, introducing influencing competitiveness. new products and encouraging higher Moreover, adds UNIDO, all four value-added activities. While this depends elements are dependent to varying on adequate financial investment, reports degrees on state policies and capac- UNIDO, it primarily requires “a set of ities. Competitiveness will be resources more precious than money: undermined if governments fail skills, organization, knowledge, effort and either to maintain law and order, to institutions.” guarantee the security of individu- als and investments, to protect intel- On the way to recovery lectual property rights or to provide While African governments and their an efficient infrastructure, adequate development partners continue to grapple training, education and health sys- with the factors responsible for sub-Saha- tems, notes the agency’s Industrial Life Pictures / Louise J. Gubb Getty Images / Time ran Africa’s weak performance, there is a Development Report. growing consensus that, at least in a num- An earlier African Competi- ber of countries, the policy environment tiveness Report issued in 1998 by for recovery now exists. The World Bank the World Economic Forum and the forecasts that in the medium term, manu- facturing value added will grow at about 4 per cent annually. Shaping a gold bar in South Africa: A turning point out of the decline of Despite industrial diversification, African industry came in the mid-1990s, the country still depends heavily reports UNIDO, as 36 countries attained on mineral exports. industrial growth rates higher than during the first half of the decade. Among the fac- Harvard Institute for International avoid high levels of economic and political tors that contributed to this shift, the agency Development found that small, dynamic turmoil also made it into the top half of the states, was a new focus by African govern- economies with solid export bases perform ratings. The survey is now issued periodi- ments on competitiveness. In the past, pol- the best. In sub-Saharan Africa, the top per- cally. And as with other international icy-makers believed competitiveness large- formers were Mauritius, Botswana and ratings, African governments prefer to ly related to wage levels, exchange rates Namibia. Other countries that managed to climb rather than descend the ranks. ■
‘Golden leaf’ loses its lustre many African countries declined in real terms. In Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Kenya and Nigeria, a pack of 20 cigarettes is now from page 5 these actions with increased public-aware- more than 25 per cent cheaper than it was ness and educational campaigns in the in 1990. groups, it dropped to 24 bn by 2003, says media, and it set up a national telephone Dr. Yach notes that a 10 per cent Mr. Peter Ucko of the National Council “quit line.” increase in cigarette taxes in Zambia, for Against Smoking. He says taxation was In many African countries, there is example, would increase cigarette tax “the single most important factor that “ample room to increase tobacco taxes,” revenues by more than 7 per cent and lead contributed to the decline in smoking, says Dr. Yach. Whereas taxes amount to to a 2.4 per cent drop in consumption. because it made smoking less affordable.” two-thirds or more of the retail price of a Moreover, the additional funds generated South Africa also used other measures, pack of cigarettes in high-income coun- by such efforts could be used for other passing legislation in 1995 that requires tries, by contrast they amount to no more health priorities. “Extra tobacco tax rev- health warnings to be placed on tobacco than half the retail price in poorer coun- enue could be a crucial and immediate product packages and banning advertising tries. Of greater concern, he says, is that source of funding for HIV/AIDS and in 2000. The government complemented between 1990 and 2000 cigarette prices in malaria, as well as for tobacco control.” ■
22 OCTOBER 2004 Mixed results for regional economic blocs ECA highlights progress and shortcomings of African integration
ince 1994, when Africa began imple- “There has been some progress. You Conflict and weak institutions menting a treaty to establish a conti- find that inter-connectivity within Southern In those that performed badly, progress S nent-wide economic community, Africa, in terms of transport links, is much was hampered by low “implementation of integration has proceeded weakly and improved now,” ECA Executive Secretary treaty obligations, an inability to prevent irregularly across countries, sectors and K.Y. Amoako said at the report’s launch in and resolve conflicts decisively and a lack regional economic communities. In its New York. “The same can be said of North of resources to support integration.” first comprehensive assessment of region- Africa. But it is still a major, major problem The ECA reports that integration in al integration in Africa, the UN Economic for Central Africa.” agriculture has been very disappointing, Commission for Africa (ECA), based with the sector registering 2 per cent in Addis-Ababa, reports that the best per- Strong performance growth during the period under study. forming regional economic communities One of the strong performers was the Eco- Obstacles included bureaucratic red tape, had well-developed integration pro- nomic Community of West African States protective non-tariff barriers, lack of cred- grammes that were implement- (ECOWAS). In 1981, ECOWAS members it, land scarcity, insufficient supplies and ed “steadily and began eliminating tariffs among them- poor infrastructure. However, there has effectively by mem- selves on unprocessed goods and in 1990 been visible cooperation in early warning ber states.” By con- started lifting tariffs on industrial products. systems and agricultural research. Early trast those communi- Now, no ECOWAS country except Liberia warning systems are strongest in East and ties affected by polit- charges tariffs on unprocessed goods. On Southern Africa. ical, economic and the other hand, only Benin has so far A key hindrance to integration in Africa social upheavals per- removed tariffs on industrial products. has been the multiplicity of regional formed poorly, notes The report places the continent’s economic communities with overlapping the study, Assessing Regional Integration regional economic communities into five memberships, resulting in a duplication of in Africa 2004, released in July. categories based on their performance. There are 14 major regional economic ECOWAS, the West African Economic and Trade among African countries groupings in Africa, considered the build- Monetary Union and the Southern African as % of GDP ing blocks of the African Economic Development Community were “above Community, which is expected to gradual- average,” with improvements of about 8.8 8.8 ly develop over the next few decades 6 per cent annually in the period 1994-99. 8.5 under the terms of the 1994 Abuja Treaty. “Strong trade expansion and above- 8.3 8.3 8.3 The goals of that treaty have been rein- average performance in the money and 8.0 forced by the adoption in 2001 of the New finance, transport, and telecommunication 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Partnership for Africa’s Development sectors explain the faster integration of the (NEPAD) and the establishment the fol- top three performers,” the report states. Source: UN Africa Renewal from ECA data. lowing year of the African Union, a conti- The four other categories were: nental political organization. • Average: (4-6 per cent) — Central efforts and waste of scarce resources. Out The ECA reports that integration African Economic and Monetary of sub-Saharan Africa’s 53 countries, only among African countries improved by an Community, Community of Sahel- 6 are members of one regional economic average of 4.5 per cent annually from 1994 Saharan States and Economic Com- community, 26 belong to two and 20 are to 1999, the last year for which it had com- munity of Central African States. members of at least three. Fewer regional prehensive data for a variety of indicators. • Close to average: (2-4 per cent) — communities would reduce administration The study measured performance in the East African Community, Inter- costs and provide funds to improve day-to- linkage of eight key economic sectors — Governmental Authority on Develop- day operations and finance projects, the trade, transport, communications, energy, ment and Common Market for report states. agriculture, manufacturing, finance and Eastern and Southern Africa. “If you don’t have strong institutions to labour markets. It assessed, for example, • Stagnant: (2 per cent and lower) — implement these objectives then you are the extent to which countries have removed Arab Maghreb Union. not going to make much progress. That is barriers to trade (such as tariffs), have • Volatile: (erratic results) — Economic one lesson we have learned,” said Mr. developed policies to allow people to move Community of Great Lakes Countries, Amoako. “Our institutions have not been freely and work in other countries and have Indian Ocean Commission and Mano strong enough and they lack resources, built links such as roads and power grids. River Union. both human and financial.” ■
OCTOBER 2004 23 Accords save Scepticism was reinforced when a US trade negotiator, seeking to trade talks calm the fears of American farm- ers, told the US media that in order from collapse to meet some of its July commit- ments without actual reducing farm supports, the US would sim- from page 3 ply shift assistance into different include in the current round, known as the categories permitted by the WTO. Singapore issues. Since the WTO’s minis- Even at the conclusion of the terial meeting in Singapore in 1996, current round, it may take a long industrial countries have been pushing for time before the benefits of lower- binding agreements on trade and invest- ing farm subsidies are realized. In ment, competition policy, government July, the US pledged to lower the Uganda Department of Information procurement and trade facilitation. cap on its agricultural supports by The issues that were dropped include 20 per cent in the first year of trade and investment, which seeks to expand the rights of foreign investors, as well as competition policy, which would Northern cotton subsidies regulate cartels and lead to open competi- depress world prices and reduce the tion between foreign and local firms, to the earnings of Africa cotton exporters. detriment of the latter. Negotiations on an agreement on government procurement, to implementation of the final agreement. the “green rooms” — meetings in which permit foreign firms to compete for gov- The US spent about $23 bn in subsidies only a small group of nations engage in ernment tenders, were also shelved. Many annually over the last three years — well negotiations. Others noted that the poorer developing countries were wary of the pos- below the maximum of $49 bn permitted countries had very little leeway to oppose sible damage such agreements would have under the current agreement. So lowering the final text presented to them, given that had on their development policies. the cap by 20 per cent could have no it had already been endorsed by their more However, talks on an agreement on impact at all on actual payments. In addi- powerful counterparts in the Group of 21 trade facilitation, to lower the costs and tion, some observers warn, the language in and by industrial nations. simplify customs procedures, will go on. the framework is vague. According to Mr. Zaki Laïdi of the The deadline for concluding the round, “In agriculture, the framework is a legal Centre for International Research in which had been set for January 2005, was instrument for the US and EU to maintain France, countries of the South have suc- extended to at least December 2005, when their subsidies,” argues Ms. Aileen Kwa, ceeded in placing agricultural issues at the WTO members meet for the organization’s policy analyst with the non-governmental heart of the negotiations, even though highest decision-making forum, the minis- group Focus on the Global South. “It is agriculture represents only 8 per cent of terial meeting. Having missed a number of nothing but a box-shuffling exercise, even world trade. crucial deadlines, there were fears that if as developing countries’ markets are However, poorer nations, especially no agreement emerged from Geneva in forced open.” the least developed, may not gain as much July, the round would completely break from agricultural exports. They have con- down. “The Doha round is back on track,” Lack of transparency tinually stressed the importance of not said EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Organizations that monitored the negotia- conceding too much ground on trade in Lamy at the conclusion of the agreements. tions in Geneva charge that the final industrial goods. They opposed the draft “We have laid out a map for the road agreements largely represent the interests agreement, which lays the framework ahead,” noted US Trade Representative of a few powerful countries. In agricul- for significant tariff cuts. African and Robert Zoellick. Now it is time to negoti- ture, the main negotiations to decide the Caribbean countries argued in particular ate “the speed limits for how far and how final text were carried out by a so-called that this would open their domestic mar- fast we will lower trade barriers.” group of five interested parties — the US, kets to imports of low-cost industrial European Union, Australia, Brazil and products, killing their efforts to build their Maintaining the status quo India. “For developing countries, the main own industries. However, it remains to be seen if there decisions were left to Brazil and India,” “All in all, the text is a raw deal for the will be any substantial change in the way reports Ms. Kwa. South,” maintains Ms. Kwa. “It is the mak- international trade is conducted and African delegates complained that the ings of a round that will be catastrophic for whether developing countries will benefit. most outspoken countries were left out of the poor.” ■
24 OCTOBER 2004 AFRICA Africa. Contact Sean Moroney, e-mail
AFRICA £16.95, $29.95; hb £55.00, $75.00) Princeton, NJ, US, 2002; 224 pp; hb $18.95, £13.95; pb $49.50, £35.00) Capacity Building for a Reforming African Power Sector, ed. Mengistu Tefferra and Stephan AIDS in Africa: How Did It Ever Happen? by Karekezi (Zed Books, London, UK, 2003; 320 Frank Ham (Kachere Series, 2004; 223 pp; hb BOOKS pp; pb £15.95, $25.00; hb £49.95, $75.00) £11.95, $22.95) Imagine There’s No Country: Poverty, Inequal- Economies réelles en Afrique/African Real Shifting Burdens: Gender and Agrarian ity, and Growth in the Era of Globalization by Economies by Georges Kobou (CODESRIA, Change Under Neoliberalism, ed. Shahra Surjit S. Bhalla (Institute for International Eco- Dakar, Senegal, 2004; 332 pp, pb £29.95) Razavi (Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT, US, 2002; 288 pp; pb $29.95) nomics, Washington, DC, 2002; pb $28) Debt Relief Initiatives and Poverty Allevia- L’autre mondialisation by Dominique Wolton tion: Lessons from Africa by Munyae Mulinge State of Readiness of African Parliaments on (Flammarion, Paris, France, 2004; 212 pp, €8.19) and Pempelani Mufune (Africa Institute of the Eve of the Pan-African Parliament by South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, 2004; Korwa Adar and Nthabiseng Nkosi (Africa Insti- The African Studies Companion: A Guide to 409 pp, pb £25.95, $42.95) tute of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, Information Resources, ed. Hans M. Zell 2004; 107 pp, pb £13.95, $24.95) (Hans Zell Publishing, Scotland, UK; 2003) African Political Parties: Evolution, Instition- alization and Governance, ed. M.A. Mohamed Clothing and Footwear in African Industrial- Popularization of Science and Technology Salih (Pluto Press, Sterling, VA, US, 2003; ization by Dorothy McCornick and Christian M. from Africa, eds. Mike Savage and Prem 372 pp; hb $75.00; pb $24.95) Rogerson (Africa Institute of South Africa, Pre- Naidoo (Commonwealth Secretariat, London, toria, South Africa, 2004; 649 pp) UK, 2002; 267 pp; pb £13.90) Histoire démographique du Burundi by Christian Thibon (Karthala, Paris, France, 2004; Hostels, Sexuality, and the Apartheid Legacy: Better Governance and Public Policy, eds. Dele 440 pp; €29) Malevolent Geographics by Glen S. Elder Olowu and Soumana Sako (Kumarian Press, (Ohio University Press, Ohio, US, 2003; 192 pp; Eroding Local Capacity: International Bloomfield, CT, 2003; 288 pp; pb $26.95; hb $65) hb $49.95; pb $24.95) Humanitarian Action in Africa, eds. Monica Continent of Mothers, Continent of Hope: Kathina Juma and Astri Suhrke (Nordiska Islam, Sectarianism and Politics in Sudan Understanding and Promoting Development Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala, Sweden, 2003; 203 since Mahdiyya by Gabriel Warburg (Hurst & in Africa Today by Torild Skard (Zed Books, pp; SEK220, £16.95, $27.95) Co, UK, 2003; 252 pp; £16.95) London, UK, 2003; 256 pp; pb £14.95, $22.50; hb £45.00, $65.00) Ameliorer les systemes de distribution du Our Dream Deferred: The Poor in South livre en Afrique by Tony Read, Carmelle Africa by Abebe Zegeye and Julia Maxted Agricultures et paysanneries des Tiers mondes Denning et al (Association for the Development (UNISA Press, Pretoria, South Africa, 2003; 127 by Marc Dufumier (Karthala, Paris, France, 2004; of Education in Africa, Paris, France, 2004; pp, pb £17.95, $35.95) 600 pp; €32) 344 pp; pb £17.95, $29.95) A History of Postcolonial Lusophone Africa Women and Land in Africa: Linking International Trade and Political Conflict: by Patrick Chabal et al (Indiana University Research to Advocacy, ed. L. Muthoni Wanyeki Commerce, Coalitions and Mobility by Press, Indiana, 2002; 360 pp; hb $49.95; (Zed Books, London, UK, 2003; 384 pp; pb Michale J. Hiscox (Princeton University Press, pb $22.95)
OCTOBER 2004 25 AFRICA security to Darfur and is ready to play its government in Khartoum of supporting part to revive the stalled peace talks. the Arab pastoralists. Sudanese armed IN BRIEF Taking a lead role, the AU had already forces and a government-backed militia, deployed about 80 military observers in known as Janjaweed, mobilized to sup- Darfur, protected by just over 300 soldiers, press the rebellion. to monitor a rarely observed cease-fire The Janjaweed have been blamed for African Union plans agreement signed in April by the Sudanese killing and raping thousands of civilians, more troops for Darfur government and the two rebel movements and destroying homes, wells and cropland. The African Union (AU) is hoping to send — the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army According to prevalent estimates, some 3,000–5,000 troops to help dampen the (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality 50,000 people have been killed in the last deadly conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region. Movement (JEM). From 23 August–18 19 months. The UN estimates that nearly Thousands of local residents are dying September, the first substantial peace talks 1.5 million more are internally displaced each month in Darfur, and about 1.5 mil- took place in Abuja, Nigeria, under the and another 200,000 are refugees in neigh- lion others have been uprooted from their AU’s auspices. The opposing parties bouring Chad. A total of 2 million people homes because of attacks by pro-govern- reached agreement on humanitarian require humanitarian assistance. ment militias and fighting between rebel issues, and some progress was made on The carnage in Darfur has aroused forces and the regular army. security matters, but the underlying politi- world attention and has prompted a Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, cal, economic and social differences number of UN Security Council actions. the current chairman of the AU, told a remained unresolved. The talks were Concerned that Sudan has not fully met news conference in September that the 53- adjourned, but expected to resume, possi- its obligations to protect civilians, disarm nation body aims to mobilize the force bly by late October. the Janjaweed militia and bring to justice quickly, but needs external financing to The rebels began their uprising in those who have carried out the atrocities, deploy the African troops. It is seeking February 2003 after years of skirmishes the Council in September said that it about $200 mn or the equivalent in trans- between farmers who identify themselves would consider taking additional mea- port equipment and other logistical sup- as “African” and Arab nomadic livestock sures, including oil sanctions, against port. Mr. Obasanjo said the Union is res- herders, mainly over land and water Sudan if necessary. olute in its commitment to bring peace and disputes. The rebels accused the central Describing the resolution as a “fatal blow,” Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail characterized the conflict as an uprising by rebels and a dispute among tribes, caused in part by an increase in population, livestock and the encroach- ment of deserts. On 1 October, the Sudan- ese government agreed to allow up to 3,500 AU troops to go to Darfur. The UN is supporting the African UN Secretary-General Union’s efforts to strengthen operations in Kofi Annan during a all parts of Darfur to protect civilians. visit to a camp for Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the displaced people in international community to assist the Darfur, Sudan, in early expansion of the AU’s mission and empha- July. Helping to resolve sized that its strengthened presence the devastating conflict requires substantial international resources in Darfur, in coopera- and logistical support. ■ tion with the African Union, is a priority for the United Nations. Locusts threaten West African harvests A bumper harvest was originally expected in West Africa this season, but a substan- tial portion may be destroyed by swarms of locusts that have deluged North and West Africa, the worst infestation in that United Nations / Eskinder Debebe region for 15 years. The locusts could not have come at a worse time for the arid
26 OCTOBER 2004 Senegal honoured with human rights award Zambia declares AIDS ‘emergency’ In September, the International League for Human Rights (ILHR) bestowed its annual human rights award on Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade. Established in 1941, the The government of Zambia declared a ILHR is an independent advocacy group that promotes human rights across the globe. five-year HIV/AIDS “emergency” in Receiving the award at a ceremony in early September. According to the author- New York, President Wade said that he ities, the move is designed to permit the accepted it on behalf of the Senegalese manufacture of cheaper anti-retroviral people, who have long fought to enshrine the medicines (ARVs) to counter the effects principles of human rights and democracy. of the disease, Reginald Ntomba reports Mr. Wade himself was a long-time opposition leader who attained the presidency in 2000 from Lusaka. With one out of every five following democratic elections. He noted Zambians aged 15–49 estimated to be that the new Senegalese constitution HIV-positive, there has been considerable adopted in 2001 incorporates respect for pressure on the government to make ARV basic human rights into the country’s highest therapy more widely available to those legal instrument. These include recognizing living with the disease. the equality of women and men in the work- The emergency declaration was place, as well as the right of women to own required under the terms of the World land and other property. A bill has just been Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on submitted to parliament to formally abolish Africa Renewal / Ernest Harsch the death penalty. intellectual property rights, which permits Beyond his own country, President Wade the importation and manufacture of gener- Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, ic medicines in the event of a national in New York, proposes a world summit said, the continent as a whole must adopt high on Islamic-Christian dialogue. human rights standards, in the spirit of the health crisis. The Zambian government has New Partnership for Africa’s Development. agreed that it will not seek to export such “Africa should be built by respecting human generic ARVs to other countries. rights.” Shortly before the awards ceremony, he announced that his country is organizing Zambia has already begun preparations a world summit in 2006 on “Islamic-Christian dialogue,” to bring together political leaders for the local manufacture of ARVs, with from around the world to promote tolerance and cross-cultural interchange. technical assistance from Cuba. According to Minister of Health Brain Chituwo, nations in the Sahel region, which had have been laid fallow by the swarms. In Cuban specialists are seeking to ensure endured three years of drought before Mali, officials estimate that the swarms that the locally produced ARVs are suit- ample rains came this year. will destroy 1 mn tonnes of its grain crop able for public distribution. The good rains created ideal breeding — about a third of the nation’s food sup- Anti-AIDS activists have welcomed the conditions for the locusts. Although the UN ply. Senegalese President Abdoulaye move, saying it will help reduce the costs Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Wade, who has declared war on the of ARVs, currently at about US$8 per per- began to warn of the impending locust dan- locusts, warns that they could cause up to son per month in government hospitals ger earlier in the year, governments $500 mn of damage to agricultural pro- and higher at private clinics. “It’s not just responded slowly, and by mid-September duction in his country. having [access]. We need affordable and some 3-4 mn hectares of land were infest- Aided by the wind, locust swarms can effective drugs. We need a guarantee that ed by the locusts. Mauritania, Senegal, travel for up to 200 kilometres a day. A sin- they would be available and cheap,” said Mali and Niger are the countries most at gle tonne of locusts (a small proportion of Mr. Raymond Mwanza of the Network of risk of heavy locust damage, reports the an average swarm) eats as much food as Zambian People Living with HIV/AIDS. nine-member Inter-State Committee to 2,500 people in a day. The locusts multiply A Ministry of Health spokesperson Fight Drought in the Sahel. “The maxi- rapidly and increase 10-fold from one gen- told Africa Renewal that the government mum losses likely in a scenario where the eration to the next. Swarm sizes range wants “to ensure that the poor are not desert locust situation is not brought from one square kilometre to hundreds of deprived” of access to ARVs. The govern- under control are estimated at 25 per cent square kilometres, consisting of several ment is extending its provision of ARVs of the overall production in the region.” billion locusts. from provincial and district hospitals to The FAO has called for $100 mn in “Locusts don’t respect political bound- community health centres, the spokesper- international assistance to control the aries, so it is essential that the countries in son said. He also noted that the authorities swarms. But by September the countries the region work closely together to tackle are planning to allocate additional spend- had received pledges for only a third of the this emergency,” says FAO Director- ing to train more personnel to handle amount, while just 300,000 hectares of the General Jacques Diouf. The agency has ARVs and provide other treatment for the land under siege could be treated. been assisting 11 countries in the region to opportunistic infections associated with In Mauritania alone, 1.6 mn hectares fight the swarm invasions. ■ HIV/AIDS. ■
OCTOBER 2004 27 AFRICA Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African African economies must grow by a Republic, Chad, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, minimum of 7 per cent annually for the Sudan and Togo. next decade to enable the continent to WATCH Epidemiologists fear a major epidemic reduce poverty by half by 2015. To achieve could leave thousands of children para- this, the continent needs massive financial POLIO lyzed for life. African health ministers have resources, UNCTAD reports, the bulk of Vaccinations resume, responded by drawing up a series of syn- which are currently being used to service chronized mass immunization campaigns debt. Africa, the world’s poorest continent, as disease still spreads in 23 countries, with the goal of reaching received $540 bn in loans between 1970 The polio outbreak that originated in 80 million children under the age of five. and 2002 and paid back $550 bn in princi- northern Nigeria after suspension of The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a pal and interest, mainly to rich creditor immunization last year has now spread to consortium that includes WHO, UNICEF countries. Despite these transfers, the con- 12 other countries, endangering global and other groups, has warned that immu- tinent still has a debt stock of $295 bn. ■ efforts to eliminate the disease worldwide nizations planned for October-November by 2005. and into the next year may be seriously SLAVERY Intense polio vaccination efforts in compromised by a lag of $100 mn in need- Remembrance and Africa had succeeded in containing polio ed funding. ■ to only a few pockets by the end of 2002. living reality However, in late 2003 some Islamic reli- UNCTAD The UN Educational, Scientific and Cul- gious leaders in Nigeria charged that vac- Africa needs debt write-off tural Organization (UNESCO) led world- cines supplied by the United Nations wide events on 23 August to commemo- Children’s Fund (UNICEF) were contami- In a new study released in September, the rate the abolition of slavery. Among the nated. In response, four states in predomi- UN Conference on Trade and Develop- ceremonies, a new slavery museum was nantly Muslim northern Nigeria halted ment (UNCTAD) calls on industrial opened in the US state of Ohio and a com- immunization campaigns until their safety nations to write off the debts of African memoration was held on Gorée Island, concerns were met. nations to enable them to attain the inter- Senegal, once a major slave trade post. The Although vaccination efforts had nationally-agreed Millennium Develop- date was set by UNESCO as the “Interna- resumed in all states by July, the disruption ment Goals (MDGs). Continued debt ser- tional Day for the Remembrance of the of the drive permitted the disease to spread vicing by African countries constitutes a Slave Trade and Its Abolition,” marking from Nigeria to previously polio-free coun- reverse transfer of resources to creditors the first decisive victory of slaves against tries. In August, new infections were report- by a group of countries that can least their oppressors during the revolt of San ed in Guinea and Mali. Other countries that afford this, notes the report, entitled Debt Domingo in 1791. That uprising led to the have been affected are Benin, Botswana, Sustainability: Oasis or Mirage? creation of the independent state of Haiti. UNESCO notes that despite the end of slavery, millions of people are still being APPOINTMENTS held against their will across the world. “Although abolished and penalized in Mr. Jean Ping has been appointed president of the 59th session of the UN General international instruments, [slavery] is Assembly. Since 1999 he had served as minister for foreign affairs for Gabon, where he also had been an elected member of parliament, director of cabinet for the presi- still practiced in new forms that today dent and minister of information. He began his professional life at the UN Educational, affect millions of men, women and chil-
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1972. He was president of the UN dren,” said UNESCO Director-General Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1993. Koichiro Matsuura. The UN Secretary-General has appointed Mr. Jan Pronk as his spe- One of the fastest growing forms of cial representative for Sudan, effective 18 June 2004. Mr. Pronk served three times as modern day slavery is human trafficking, minister for development cooperation of the Netherlands and also as minister of the environment. He was the Secretary-General’s special envoy for the World Summit on especially of women and girls, who are Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. He also was deputy secretary- shipped from Africa, Asia and Eastern general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1980-85, and
UN Europe to become sex slaves or domestic later served as a UN assistant secretary-general. servants in Western Europe and North Mr. Juan E. Méndez has been named by the UN Secretary-General as his first America. In a report released in April, the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. Mr. Méndez is a human rights advo- UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that cate, lawyer and former political prisoner from Argentina. As a lawyer in the 1970s, he sought to defend political prisoners against Argentina’s military junta. He was jailed for human trafficking is a problem in every those activities, and Amnesty International adopted him as a “prisoner of conscience.” African country. Children are the main He worked for Human Rights Watch for 15 years, specializing in Western Hemisphere victims, the report observed, through UN issues. At the time of his UN appointment, he was president of the International Centre recruitment as soldiers and employment as for Transitional Justice, a non-governmental organization. forced labourers or prostitutes. ■
28 OCTOBER 2004