EU-LDC Network Conference 2004
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Multilateralism at risk - Beyond Globalisation - 2-3 April 2004,
Brussels
Session 3: Multilateralism and Global Security - a developing
country perspective -
Summary
Edwin Ijeoma presented
an overview of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
The NEPAD strategic framework document originated from a mandate
given to the five initiating Heads of State (Algeria, Egypt,
Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa) by the Organisation of African Unity
(OAU) to develop an integrated socio-economic development framework
for Africa. The 37th Summit of the OAU in July 2001
formally adopted the strategic framework document. NEPAD is designed
to address the current challenges facing the African continent.
Issues such as the escalating poverty levels, underdevelopment and
the continued marginalisation of Africa needed a new radical
intervention to develop a new vision that would guarantee Africa’s
renewal. NEPAD aims at establishing genuine partnerships between
Africa and the developed countries based on mutual respect and
accountability. It is important for Africa to achieve a greater
capacity for policy development, coordination and negotiation in the
international arena, and to ensure its beneficial engagement in the
global economy. NEPAD is also directed at making Africa more
effective in conflict prevention and in the establishment of
enduring peace on the continent. A key precondition for attaining
this is that Africa adopts and implements principles of democracy
and good political economic and corporate governance, and that the
potection of human rights becomes further entrenched in all African
countries. NEPAD has the following priorities: conditions for
sustainable development (Peace, Security, Democracy and Governance,
Economic and Corporate Governance initiative), sectoral priorities (Bridging
the Infrastructure Gap, Human Resources Development initiative,
Environment, Science and Technology platforms), mobilising resources
(Capital Flow initiative, Market Access initiative), and continued
and structured high-level engagement of continental stakeholders and
of the international community.
According to the
speaker, the majority of African countries are currently
characterised by democratic regimes, unlike the 1970s and 1980s.
African political leaders under the African Union have collectively
identified and established a development agenda through NEPAD where
issues of good governance, economic development, education,
agriculture, etc. are seriously taken into consideration.
Pan-African networks are a way of developing the capacity of African
countries in a number of policy fields. At the same time, the
current global scenario poses enormous challenges for African
countries. Due to the emergence of the global war on terrorism, it
can be argued that international security issues have, to a large
extent, displaced other priorities on the global agenda. Most
affected are the developing countries and Africa in particular. From
an African perspective it is clear that security and multilateralism
have multiple dimensions (e.g. food security, HIV/AIDS, etc.) and
cannot be limited to, for example, the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction or other issues of concern to developed countries.
The following questions still need to be answered: What does the
focus on security mean for developing countries in the fields of
trade, aid and investment? Will more resources become available?
Will strategic interests determine aid flows?
In his presentation,
Edwin Ijeoma argued that NEPAD embodies the principles of
multilateralism, especially when dealing with global peace and
security issues as well as with local conflicts, and that NEPAD has
replaced informal agreements with multilateral surveillance and peer
reviews. He also stressed that regional initiatives and regional
economic communities are the building blocks of NEPAD, which acts at
the continental level and has a facilitating role.
Alice Sindzingre
maintained that NEPAD’s multilateral peer reviews represent a
significant step forward if compared with the situation before
NEPAD’s establishment when negotiations usually took place behind
close doors. However, it remains to be seen whether the multilateral
peer reviews will bring about the desired outcomes. The discussant
also laid emphasis on a number of problematic aspects concerning
NEPAD’s activities. Firstly, NEPAD could be considered as
donor-driven, though this position is debatable and not always
accepted. Secondly, NEPAD has the problem of free-riding and does
not have enough powers to sanction countries that do not abide by
the rules. Thirdly, many problems affecting Africa are beyond the
scope of any policy initiative, at least in the short run. This
implies that in the short run multilateral agreements are
ineffective to address issues (e.g. education) which call for long
term courses of action.
During the open
discussion one participant drew attention to the risk that the shift
of emphasis on the security of developed countries may be to the
detriment of developing countries. It was also noted that the
multilateral system is asymmetrical as it suits developed countries
better than developing ones. NEPAD could potentially contribute to
making the multilateral system less asymmetric by enhancing the
capacity of African countries. Other points made during the
discussion included the need to objectively evaluate NEPAD’s
activities and the fact that European countries lack a coherent
strategy to address the problems of the African continent because of
divergent political interests. The issue whether NEPAD promotes
pluralism in development perspectives was also raised.
Session 3: Speakers
Chair: Michael Green (European Commission, DG Relex)
Speaker:
Edwin Ijeoma
(Programmes Coordination Office, NEPAD)
Discussant:
Alice Sindzingre (CNRS, Paris and SOAS, London)
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