Australia’s “re-engagement” with Africa

This morning the University of Sydney hosted an international forum chaired by Deputy Vice Chancellor (International) John Hearn on Australia’s “re-engagement with Africa”. The Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, and the Finance Minister for Zimbabwe, Tendai Biti, were keynote speakers.

Unfortunately my good friend Marc Purcell who is the Executive Director of the Australian Council For International Development (ACFID) was unable to attend and he invited me to make some remarks on behalf of the ACFID membership. There has been some tweet action on this subject so I felt I should drop a few lines on the content of my presentation.

My remarks focused on poverty and under development in Africa, which are the two major challenges facing the continent although both challenges are incredibly multi dimensional.  I began with a quote from Nelson Mandela, that “ending poverty is not an act of charity, but an act of justice” and justice is what the people of Africa deserve andshould accept no less.

So what does this word justice mean, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s justice as determined by a government through the courts or through the international community’s concept of justice. What it does mean is that people should have the capabilities to enjoy their freedoms and their human rights.

To do this, you need an accountable and transparent government, a vibrant private sector and a robust and energetic civil society. In this framework, economic growth is a driver, but ultimately is only a means to an end and not an end in itself. This is a point that escapes many in these sorts of debates.

Despite the title of the form, “Re-engaging with Africa”, It is important to emphasise that Australian NGOs never reduced their engagement with Africa nor did the Australian people reduce their engagement with the people of Africa. Some 35% of all Australian NGO funds that are sent to under-developed countries go to Africa and this equals approximately $120 million per year.

Australian NGOs play a key role in working with their African counterparts to deliver essential services when a government is unable or unwilling to do so, but importantly the Australian NGOs have also been assisting their African counterparts to mobilise civil society to engage with their governments and to demand accountable governance that reduces their vulnerabilities and enables them to claim their human rights.

It is true, however, that the Australian Government dropped the ball completely on Africa in the 1990′s just at the time when the continent needed our assistance the most. I must say it is refreshing and energising to see the renewed commitment from the Australian Government to re-engage and this is welcomed by the Australian NGO sector.

I concluded by fousing on three issues that Australia might focus on, which are taken from ACFID’s submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs  Defence and Trade’s Inquiry into Australia’s Relationship with the Countries of Africa:

1. We welcome Australia’s increase in officicial development assistance and the commitment to achiveing 0.5% of GNI by 2015 but at the same time we are demanding that the government commit to 0.7% of GNI, which is a long standing commitment that no Australian Government has been able to fulfil.  Most of this increase should go to Africa and more of its should be allcoated to Australian NGOs to build the capacity of African civil society to deliver essential services and to mobilise communities to enable people to claim their human rights.

2. There is a need to review key areas of the proposed assistance to Africa to determine its development effectiveness. In particular, we are concerned that there has never been a review of the Australian scholarship program to asssess and measure its development effectiveness.  We are deeply concerned that the Australian Government is committing to 1,000 scholarships a year in three years’ time when we can’t demonstrate that this initiative benfits poor people in Africa.

3. We ask that Australia reviews its position in multilateral discussions on trade that affect underdeveloped countries and African countries in particular. For exampkle any multilateral trade agreement emerging from a renewed Doha Round must provide economic growth that meets human development needs through social justice. There should be continued pressure on cuntries suchs as the US, the European Union and Japan to eliminate their agricultural subsidies, but at the same time acknowledge that emerging agricultural industries in underdeveloped countries require some protection to avoid undermining the right to food and the livelihoods of poor people.

Finally we must never forget the particular needs of women. Women suffer most from poverty, women suffer most from hunger, women suffer most from HIV/AIDS, women suffer most from violence and women’s human rights are more often ignored. There is no development without justice and there is no justice without women being able to claim their human rights.