Global Policy Forum

25 September 1997

(Robert G. Mugabe; Kofi Annan; Salim Ahmed Salim; Keizo Obuchi; Robin Cook; Madeleine K. Albright).

Concerned by the number and intensity of armed conflicts on the African continent and their effects on sustainable economic and social development, the UN Security Council held a Ministerial meeting on 25 September 1997 to consider the need for concerted international efforts to promote peace and security in Africa. As a next step, the Council has asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to produce a report containing concrete recommendations regarding the sources of conflict in Africa, ways to prevent and address these conflicts, and how to lay the foundation for durable peace and economic growth. The report is to be submitted to the Council by February 1998 and also to the UN General Assembly and other relevant UN bodies for appropriate action.

The open meeting was attended by Foreign Ministers of Security Council member States, representatives of observer governments, and representatives of interested agencies and organizations. In addition to the 15 members of the Council, the meeting also heard statements from the UN Secretary-General, the President of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the OAU Secretary-General.

In his address to the Council, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted a "new consensus that the primary responsibility for the solution of Africa's problems rests with Africans themselves." This consensus, however, brings with it a new realization of the role and responsibilities of the international community in support of Africa's goals: "In place of interventionism, it promises a mature relationship based on mutual support and trust," he explained. "In place of papers, studies and documents, it offers the prospects of targeted assistance and support based on common goals and shared analysis." With respect to conflict prevention and conflict resolution, he stressed that "the crucial underlying need is for security in the lives of ordinary people -- security in the form of access to health and education, clean water, and a decent standard of living."

"Security is no longer confined to preventing invasions," he stated, "True security is built on a firm foundation of sustainable development." The current Chair of the OAU, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, also emphasized that peace and security could not be attained "in conditions of abject poverty as prevalent as in Africa today." Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary-General of the OAU, emphasized the importance of close cooperation between the OAU and the United Nations, while other African governments noted the importance of paying heed to African positions when deciding matters relating to the wellbeing of continent.

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, Mr. Robin Cook, addressed some of the intractable economic problems facing African countries in a globalizing world economy: "... the truth is that Africa is the continent which will benefit least from GATT," he said, "indeed some analysts claim that Africa will be a net loser under GATT." He stressed the need for helping Africa in the areas of poverty eradication, conflict prevention and peacekeeping and in supporting and promoting human rights.

Expanding on the question of security, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, Mr. Fernando Naranjo-Villalobos, stated that "Costa Rica does not consider an exaggeration to invite weapon-producing countries to exercise greater control of their exports to Africa. If the International Community has justifiably demanded a concerted strategy aimed at destroying the roots of drug trafficking in their countries of origin as a contribution to lessen its impact in consuming societies," he asked, "wouldn't it be just as morally necessary that the weapon producers and sellers, which are ultimately coresponsible for the instruments of death that every year kill and maim tens of thousands of innocent Africans, be called upon to exercise similar restraint?"

Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Keizo Obuchi noted that "how well we succeed in resolving the African problem will be a test of the effectiveness of the Security Council as the principal organ of the United Nations primarily responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security." He announced Japan's intention to convene the International Conference on Preventive Strategy in Tokyo in January 1998, which will focus particularly on Africa.

Oxfam International issued a statement welcoming the council's initiative, but additionally called on the UN, the World Bank, the IMF and other international institutions and governments to adopt a more comprehensive approach to tackling conflict. Greater coherence across all political, economic, military and humanitarian policies, notes the statement, would ensure that they reinforce rather than undermine one another. Oxfam also recommended undertaking a "conflict impact assessment" that would be applied to all international economic, trade, aid and investment policies when a region is subject to conflict or instability.

Excerpts of Statements made to the UN Security Council Ministerial Meeting on Security in Africa, 25 September 1997

ROBERT G. MUGABE,
President of Zimbabwe and current Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), said the OAU placed a premium on the establishment and maintenance of peace and security at the national, regional and continental levels for the achievement of sustainable economic growth and development. But peace and security could not be attained in conditions of abject poverty as was prevalent in Africa today. A politically stable, prosperous and vibrant Africa was the best place to contribute to greater global peace and security. Through subregional groupings, as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Africans had activated subregional mechanisms in the search for solutions to subregional crises.

The OAU itself, through its Mechanism for Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution, had endeavoured to play its part in those efforts. International support to those efforts, including in the area of capacity-building, was needed.

Recalling the phenomenal increase in African countries that had adopted economic and political reforms, he stressed that the need for investment in infrastructural development was critical. The success of those policies would be greatly enhanced by improved support from international financial institutions and the donor community. Since 1990, more than 20 African countries had held free and fair elections, but they had not proved to be the panacea that some had hoped they would. That was largely due to the prevailing economic conditions of underdevelopment.

The OAU had taken an unequivocal stand against military governments or those who assumed power through undemocratic and unconstitutional means, he said. Such regimes could no longer be tolerated. He called on the international community to stand solidly behind the OAU in denying legitimacy and recognition to such regimes and in its efforts to restore democracy and good governance. In such countries as Sierra Leone and Burundi, the newly established democracies were thwarted militarily and thus failed to be sustainable. It was imperative that the United Nations and the international community assisted African countries in ensuring that democracy became an irreversible process. The present trends towards democratic governance and the rule of law needed to be buttressed economically if African countries were to enjoy the peace dividend following the end of the cold war.

He noted that out of sub-Saharan Africa's approximate population of over 500 million people, about 262 million lived on less than $1 a day; 290 million were illiterate; 200 million were without access to health services, while 274 million had no access to safe water. "This is absolute poverty",he said.

The credibility of international cooperation was at stake in the face of such damning and distressing statistics, he said. Similarly, the international community's assertions of true partnership with Africa, in the face of failing official development assistance (ODA) and impossible debt repayments, to mention just two major constraints, might soon sound hollow unless that partnership manifested itself in concrete programmes of action. Debt relief was, therefore, urgently called for.

He said Africa had defined its priorities as the establishment of the African Economic Community by way of regional and subregional integration; the maintenance of conditions of peace and stability; human resources development; eradication of poverty; promotion of human rights; improvement of the condition of women and children; consolidation of democracy; and good governance. Often in the past, Africa had been dictated to, and had never had the opportunity to define its own priorities. Africans wanted their partners to become committed to a new partnership based on sovereign equality and mutual benefit.

"What Africa is asking for is not charity, but a new partnership which is mutually beneficial", he said.

KOFI ANNAN,
Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that, according to a Swahili proverb, "you cannot turn the wind, so turn the sail". Africans were working with the winds of change blowing around the globe, and they were beginning to reap the benefits. There was a consensus that the primary responsibility for the solution of Africa's problems rested with Africans themselves. That called for a re-evaluation of the role of the international community in support of Africa's goals and placed responsibility on the shoulders of governments outside of Africa as well. In place of interventionism, it promised a mature relationship based on mutual support and trust. In place of papers, studies and documents, it offered the prospect of targeted assistance and support based on common goals and shared analysis.

He said the challenges of development were formidable. Africa was the only region in the world where poverty was expected to increase in the next century. "Now is the time for action", he said. The international community must respond to Africa's call. Preventive diplomacy was not an option, but a vital necessity. He called on the international community to support the OAU in its efforts to strengthen its capacity for preventive diplomacy. There was scope for enhanced partnership between regional organizations and the United Nations in African peacekeeping.

In that context, he welcomed the initiatives of interested Member States to strengthen Africa's peacekeeping capacity.

Referring to peace-building, he said the crucial underlying need was for security in the lives of ordinary people in the form of access to health, education, clean water and a decent standard of living. True security was built on a firm foundation of sustainable development. The pursuit of peace and security and the building of societies based on justice, democracy and human rights were mutually supportive and reinforcing. "Without peace, development is not possible; without development, peace is not durable", he said.

SALIM AHMED SALIM,
Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), said the issues of peace, security and stability and the problems of economic development in Africa should be addressed simultaneously as they were mutually reinforcing. While socio-economic development was the fundamental objective, there could not be meaningful progress in an environment devoid of peace, security and stability. In that spirit, Africa was presently involved in the implementation process of the Abuja Treaty on the establishment of the African Economic Community; the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution; as well as other collective undertakings in human and social development endeavours.

He said the international community should learn from the failure to anticipate and effectively prevent the crime of genocide in Rwanda and from the inability of the Security Council to respond appropriately to the call by African leaders to deal with the crisis in the eastern part of former Zaire. While Africa had the responsibility to address its own problems as a matter of priority, the United Nations could not exonerate itself from its Charter responsibilities towards the continent. Member States should recommit themselves to an enhanced cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and African institutions.

Due consideration, he said, should be given by the United Nations to the positions of the continent as articulated by the OAU and its leaders. For example, many failed to understand why despite the request made by the Chairman of the International Mediation Committee on Congo, President Omar Bongo of Gabon, for the deployment of a peacekeeping force, the Security Council had not to date been able to take decisive action. The United Nations and the OAU, should aim at building a new partnership in keeping with the provisions of Chapter VIII of the Charter and the Agenda for Peace on the role of the regional organizations in the maintenance of peace and international security.

KEIZO OBUCHI,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, said "how well we succeed in resolving the African problem will be a test of the effectiveness of the Security Council as the principal organ of the United Nations primarily responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security". The Council should more proactively involve itself in carrying out its role and assist in the endeavours of the African countries to prevent and resolve the conflicts in Africa. In that context, the reform of the Council, aimed at making it a more legitimate and effective organ to deal with those conflicts was urgent. It was essential that the Council sought close cooperative relations with regional and subregional organizations, such as the OAU.

It was with that in mind that Japan, in January of next year, would convene in Tokyo the International Conference on Preventive Strategy, focusing in particular on Africa, he said. He hoped that concrete recommendations might come out of the Conference for strengthening such cooperative relationships. He emphasized the importance of humanitarian assistance for refugees, displaced persons and others in the context of conflicts and renewed his Government's appeal that the parties involved fully respect the principles of international humanitarian law and ensure the safety of all personnel engaged in humanitarian activities.

Japan had taken the initiative for a "new development strategy" which was to be based on the recognition of ownership of the countries involved as well as a "genuine partnership" between them and industrialized countries, he said. It was a comprehensive strategy, to be carried out by donor countries including Japan, developing countries, the United Nations, the World Bank and all other partners on development issues. It sought to achieve development through an organic combination of ODA, trade, human resources development and other means. Japan would co-organize in the autumn of 1998, together with the United Nations and the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA), the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II), in which the participation of all of the African countries was anticipated at the ministerial level. The Conference would explore concrete ways in which the "new development strategy" could be applied to Africa.

ROBIN COOK,
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, said democracy was spreading in Africa and good government was taking strong root. However, the changes should not hide the real problems from the international community. Africa was the only continent where there had been no increase in per capita income. The truth was that Africa was the continent which would benefit least from the global economy. Indeed, some analysts claimed that sub-Saharan Africa would be a net loser under the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It was no surprise that the continent with the least economic progress had produced the greatest conflicts.
All shared the same shock at the appalling atrocities that were occurring nightly in Algeria, he said. All roundly condemned such terrorism and called for improvement in the security of the lives of the ordinary people. It also must be acknowledged that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) package over the decade in Algeria had the effect of reducing the standard of living of many of its people. The war against terrorism must be fought on three points: better security; political mediation; and economic development.

MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT,
Secretary of State of the United States, said in many African nations, difficult reforms were producing economic growth and progress towards democracy.

The primary impetus for economic growth must come from the private sector, requiring strategies to make indigenous investment rewarding and foreign investment welcome. It required privatization, more open markets and regulatory and financial reform. It required efforts to improve education, training and health care, so that all people, men and women, may reach their potential. Last year, the United States contributed more than $1.5 billion in direct humanitarian and development aid, plus another $1 billion through multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank. It was no accident that Africa's current economic upturn was paralleled by a growing embrace of democratic principles.

Today, more than half of the 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa had leaders chosen in elections that were deemed by international observers to have been free and fair, she said. That was important politically and economically, because development depended on people. Free elections were a necessary part of democracy, but they were not sufficient in themselves. The United States was committed to working with Africa and the international community to help develop durable and effective democratic institutions, such as legislative assemblies, judiciaries and an independent press.

In closing, she announced her plans to visit the African continent before the end of the year, to meet with its leaders and people and to demonstrate America's commitment to stand with Africans as they realized long-delayed aspirations for true freedom, growing prosperity and simple human dignity.