We,
of African civil society organisations that were invited to
the “African Regional Consultations on UN-Civil Society
Relationships” (Cardoso Panel) in Johannesburg, 25-26
November 2003, wish to thank the UN Secretary-General for this
initiative to dialogue with us. We deliberated on the issue
on the agenda for two days and have made our suggestions. However,
the dialogue and our participation are meaningful only in the
context of the reform of the UN system. Accordingly, in addition
to the suggestions we have made on UN-civil society relations,
we feel that our views on the reform of the UN system should
also be considered, and we are pleased to record that the Panel
reporting to the Secretary-General have agreed to attach this
declaration as appendix to their report. The concerns expressed
below do not exhaust our ideas about the reform of the UN system,
and we do understand that they are not achievable in the short
run, but we would urge that this is the general direction in
which the UN should move.
- Noting that the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP),
and its other manifestations such as the Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers (PRSPs) pressed by the Bretton Woods Institutions
(BWIs), have misled our governments towards adopting economic
strategies that have failed to work over the last twenty-five
years, and that have been one of the principal reasons for
the increasing impoverishment of the people of Africa, we
urge the Secretary-General not to give the moral authority
of his office to these policies, and ask him to advocate
coherence of BWIs policies to a human rights oriented genuine
development of our people.
- Recognising that the UN system has itself weakened in
the contemporary unipolar world, and that the UN Charter
is often torn apart by the unilateral action of some powers,
we welcome the efforts of the SG towards multilateralism,
and urge him to vigorously defend the Charter and international
law, and maintain the high moral authority of his office.
- Noting that many of the specialised agencies of the UN,
such as the UNCTAD, the ECA and the UNDP, have also weakened
and are being overshadowed by the BWIs and the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), we recommend that they be strengthened
and made responsive to the developmental needs of the developing
countries. For example, UNCTAD should resume its original
mandate as conceived by Raul Prebisch, especially in the
areas of commodity price stabilisation, technology transfer,
and the monitoring of the Transnational Corporations; and
the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UNDP offices
in our countries should open space for a meaningful dialogue
with African civil society for alternatives to Africa’s
development other than through SAPs, uncritical market liberalisation,
privatisation, and deregulation. In this context we strongly
urge that these agencies and their activities be adequately
funded from the regular budget of the UN, and not be made
hostage to ad hoc programme funding by donors.
- We have always welcomed the efforts of the UN system
to create space for civil society in UN Conferences such
as on Sustainable Development and Finance for Development.
We wish to record, however, that our participation has often
been co-opted by the UN system to legitimise predetermined
processes and outcomes, and our recommendations are seldom
taken seriously, whilst creating the impression that the
civil society has been consulted in the building of “consensus”.
Once again, we do understand that the realities of power
politics at the global level may not allow some of the above
recommendations to be implemented immediately. However, we
hope that the Secretary General will give his moral weight
and authority to moving generally in the direction indicated
above, and on our side, the civil society organisations in
Africa undertake to give our support to the UN and the Secretary
General to the realisation of the above objectives.
Signed: Date: |
