by Barbara Lopi – SANF 04 no 116
African governments and civil society organizations have urged the Commission for Africa (CFA) to use its influence to mobilise development aid and lobby for urgent debt cancellation in order for the continent’s poorest countries to progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Meeting at a regional conference in Lusaka, Zambia, in mid December, participants recommended that the CFA should lobby the G8 and the European Union to fulfil their promises and release financial support to needy countries in Africa.
The CFA is UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s initiative to address Africa’s slow development and provide concrete action plans to influence internal support for Africa to accelerate and sustain growth.
The Commission is an independent body with 17 commissioners, nine of whom are African. There are four commissioners from southern Africa, President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Dr Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, a Tanzanian who is Executive Director of the UN Centre for Human Settlements, Linah Mohohlo, Governor of Botswana Central Bank and Trevor Manuel, Finance Minister of South Africa.
Amid debates on whether the CFA would make a difference to Africa’s development challenges, the meeting concluded that African governments and civil society organizations must consider the CFA as an opportunity for lobbing for increased support towards enhancing economic growth from the rich world.
Participants to the Lusaka conference urged the CFA to be inclusive and promote participation of the youth, women, the aged and people with disabilities in all its consultations that will lead to the drawing of an action plan for a strong and prosperous Africa.
The fight against HIV and AIDS was highlighted as one of southern Africa’s major challenges and setback to the region’s human and economic development.
The desire to eradicate poverty; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases remains critical on the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) agenda “to achieve development and economic growth” in the region.
The meeting noted that the UK government will hold the G8 and EU presidency in 2005. Thus they urged the CFA to take advantage of that and mobilise financial support to strengthen implementation of Africa’s home-grown governance and development initiatives such the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and NEPAD.
The meeting challenged the CFA to set out comprehensive, coherent and practical proposals for action by the international community with Africa leading the way once the plan of action for a strong and prosperous Africa have been developed.
The two-day regional consultation coordinated by the Southern Africa Regional Poverty Network (SARPN), was aimed at providing civil society organizations in southern Africa with a platform to add their voice to the CFA.
The CFA’s final report will propose action by both Africa and the international community. The report is intended to provide a basis for proposals to the G8, the EU, and Millennium Review Summits in 2005.
The Lusaka event was the fourth of the CFA’s regional consultation with civil society on the continent. Other consultations were held in Cameroon, Senegal, Kenya and Egypt
The CFA was established in 2004 to support and generate ideas and action for a strong and prosperous Africa, and has the mandate to promote and fashion a new relationship between the rich world and Africa.
The Commission’s objectives are to:
- generate new ideas and action for a strong and prosperous Africa, using the 2005 British presidency of the G8 and the European Union as a platform;
- support the best of existing work on Africa, in particular NEPAD and the African Union, and help ensure this work achieves its goals;
- help deliver implementation of existing international commitments towards Africa;
- offer a fresh and positive perspective for Africa and its diverse culture in the 21st century, which challenges unfair perceptions and helps deliver changes; and
- understand and help fulfil African aspirations for the future by listening to Africans.
During the two-day meeting, the 120 participants assessed southern Africa’s progress, challenges, and recommended action in seven thematic areas of governance, peace and security, human development, culture and inclusion as well as economic policy.
Acknowledging that Africa’s demography is changing with half of its population being young, the meeting called for strengthened support to development programmes that focuses on young people and foster economic growth.
In some of the seriously affected countries in southern Africa, human development gains achieved over the last decade are being reversed. African governments and civil society organisations have the challenge to halt further reversal of the gains achieved in human and economic development. (SARDC)
