September 23, 1999
President Chiluba echoed the concerns of many people, particularly Africans, in his address to the UN Security Council when he bemoaned the failure by the international community to respond swiftly to crises affecting the African continent. It is undeniable that even when millions of innocent lives are imperilled by conflict through no fault of their own, Africa receives only marginal attention from the UN which usually elects to stand aloof as massacres take place. The most recent example is the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and threatens the political stability of the entire Great Lakes region and other neighbouring states which are now hosting refugees.
But an even more sordid example of the UN's inaction, which bordered on callousness, was the UN's hasty retreat from Rwanda where its peace-keepers were withdrawn in spite of prior knowledge of imminent massacres of Tutsis and moderate Hutus, resulting in the mass slaughter of close to one million people. The Rwanda genocide left an indelible blemish on the UN which should now redeem itself by changing its modus operandi, and that entails discarding its ambivalent attitude when responding to crises in Africa and other parts of the world, particularly Europe. Angola's protracted civil war represents yet another sad example of how the West has lamentably failed to flex its muscle, through the UN, to cripple Unita's military arsenal. Unita leader Jonas Savimbi has been armed to the teeth by the West, and only the West can stop the fratricidal strife in that country.
As President Chiluba aptly observed, it is sad that conflicts on the African continent go largely unnoticed, or are treated with indifference by the world body, but similar humanitarian disasters in the West elicit swift responses from the UN. The swift response by the US-led Western alliance to the crisis which engulfed the Yugoslav province of Kosovo, and the UN's prompt deployment of a peace-keeping force in East Timor are but only two examples of recent actions which give credence to the perception that the Animal Farm syndrome is at play.
As the 20th century draws to a close, Africa's plea to the UN, and indeed to the West as a whole, is that the continent will not be marginalised further, but will receive greater attention and assistance in its quest to rid itself of the myriad problems that continue to retard development. The African countries are not seeking any preferential treatment but merely demanding a fair hearing and the same treatment accorded other members of the UN which have been grappling with similar crises. The UN has a duty, nay a responsibility, to ensure that even its weaker and poorer members are protected, and a predominant number of these are in Africa. Unless this principle is upheld, the UN may unwittingly harm its own integrity and the view that it tends to treat African crises as peripheral issues will continue to gain currency.
