Global Policy Forum

The suffering of the African people as a result of abject poverty, hunger and disease (especially HIV/AIDS) and the destruction in the lives of a countless number of Africans are subject of endless conferences held here and elsewhere. Such problems mostly result from uncontrollable natural phenomena and also, to a good extent because of the lack of good governance and failed economic and social policies of governments.

It was thus no surprise that the 1st Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held earlier this week lent weight to the issue and declared, in the words of South African president Thabo Mbeki, and the current chairman of the AU, that there is the need to "move with a great sense of purpose and energy towards the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment in Africa. We have to ensure that we meet the objectives that we set ourselves in NEPAD, our peoples have responded positively by the institutional initiatives that we have taken to expedite the process of political and economic integration of Africa," he had noted.

These are, indeed, very nice pronouncements, though it could be equally pointed out that African peoples have gotten used to such promises almost at every major summit only to observe nothing in the way of practical change in their lives. Legitimate hope, of course, could be placed on the decisions that have come out of the 1st African Union Summit, which, in the words of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, symbolized "a vehicle for overcoming the challenges of Africa and to solve the multifaceted socio-economic problems of the continent."

Promising as the summit's declarations are, it also requires much more than unanimous verbal agreement of the summit participants to relieve Africa of its multifaceted problems. And such types of declarations must be followed by the commitment, resolve and honest hard work of each individual leader of each African country to implement the decisions. Contrary to tradition, every leader should commit himself to the prevalence of democracy, good governance and fairly managed market economic practices and the virtual absence of corruption. In short, each leader present at that historic summit must not only heed the words of the South African president, but also commit himself to follow Mbeki's example of peaceful power transfer and democratic governance. And then comes the issue of wars and conflicts dividing the peoples of the continent. In this connection, it is fair to lay reasonable hope on the newly established African Union, which is also designed to have a Security Council organized under the model of the UN Security Council. This is all the more important in that most conflicts that have left huge imprints of disaster and human catastrophe in the continent are situations that could have been avoided through the intervention of African peoples themselves. A typical case could be the horror witnessed in Sierra Leone, where a decade of civil war killed an estimated 45,000 people and maimed countless number of others. Only after the intervention of external (British) forces, who managed to stop the murderous soldiers of the notorious Revolution United Front from massively killing and amputating people, that Sierra Leone breathed a sigh of relief and even held democratic elections.

Needless to say, timely intervention by a responsible continental body, the AU Security Council, will thus be instrumental in peacefully ending any future conflict and catastrophe. It is thus our sincere hope that the elaborate programs laid out at the 1st extraordinary summit of African leaders will find expression in a genuine and practical measure by all African governments in the years to come. At last the day may come when Africans speak of abject poverty, conflicts, and, not least, coups d'etat as ancient history. Let's all commit ourselves to the ideals of the AU.

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