SECRETARY-GENERAL HIGHLIGHTS POSITIVE CHANGES IN AFRICA

Press Release
SG/SM/7153
AFR/177

SECRETARY-GENERAL HIGHLIGHTS POSITIVE CHANGES IN AFRICA

Calls for Greater Support to Nations Making Good-Faith Efforts Urges Fairness, Consistency in Peacekeeping, Humanitarian Operations

Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's address to the Security Council's ministerial meeting on Africa:

Nearly a year and a half ago, I submitted to the Security Council a report on one of the most pressing challenges of our times: how to achieve durable peace and sustainable development in Africa.

I have been encouraged by the lively response to the report, within and outside the United Nations system. The Security Council established a working group to review the report's peace and security aspects and has adopted a number of significant resolutions and statements. The General Assembly, too, has established a working group to monitor implementation of the report's recommendations. Research and academic institutions, civil society groups and individuals have joined the debate. But then again, a shortage of proposals and ideas has never been the problem. The need is for real results that bring positive change into people's lives.

My follow-up report is in your hands. Today, I would like to offer some general observations, in the hope of assisting the Council as it considers this new report and grapples with the crucial question of what more the Council can do to enhance peace and security in the African region.

As befits a continent of such great human, cultural and natural diversity, a snapshot of Africa on the eve of the new millennium reveals a combination of accomplishments and unresolved problems, of opportunities seized and chances missed.

There are places where governments and rebel groups persist in spending money on weapons they can ill afford for wars they should not fight. There are places where whole economies have come to depend on the perpetuation of war; where political power has been attained by violent, undemocratic means; where poor governance deprives people of

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basic needs; where silence about AIDS exacerbates the epidemic; where corruption thwarts economic growth; where crushing debt burdens, trade barriers and declining international aid make it extremely hard for African nations to attract investment and stave off marginalization from the global economy.

There are, in short, places where the widely held view of Africa as a region in perpetual crisis is not just an image, but an all-too- grim and painful reality.

But there are also places, more than is commonly recognized, where we are witnessing dramatic changes for the better.

Many African nations are liberalizing trade and exchange controls, privatizing moribund State industries, building up communications infrastructures, and reforming their legal and regulatory frameworks. Africa possesses land and labour resources that foreign investors find attractive. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently published a study showing that investment in Africa brings a higher return to American and Japanese companies than any other region of the world.

Africans are also taking charge of their political fortunes -- and they are willing to acknowledge past mistakes. A majority of Africans now live under democratic systems. South Africa has just seen its second peaceful and democratic presidential election, and Mozambique will have its second presidential poll next month. The return to civilian rule in Nigeria has transformed that nation's prospects. Both Liberia and Mali have carried out large-scale destructions of small arms. Algeria is taking important steps to move away from the civil strife that has paralysed its development and caused so much suffering.

And at this year's Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in Algiers, Africa's leaders insisted -- in a welcome change from an earlier era -- on the principle that governments which came to power through unconstitutional means could no longer expect to be received as equals in an assembly of elected heads of State. I am sure the day will come when the General Assembly of the United Nations will follow Africa's lead, and apply similarly stringent standards to all its members.

But until Africa gets a handle on its conflicts, such progress will remain tenuous, even in nations far from the fighting. Few African countries can match Angola's natural wealth, or, sadly, the poverty of its war-weary people. Yet, the parties there persist in fighting long past the time when either should be placing faith in a military solution.

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The people of the Sudan have also suffered far too much for far too long, yet, there are few signs that their ordeal will end any time soon. Ethiopia and Eritrea have allowed new enmities to shatter what had been a very promising break with the past. We must ensure access for humanitarian relief to the victims of these crises. But this is no substitute for the political and military engagement -- both African and international -- needed to bring stability and address the root causes of these upheavals.

Sierra Leone provides an important example of Africans taking the lead in conflict resolution. The Community of West African States sent peacekeepers to Sierra Leone and patiently brokered the Lomé Agreement bringing an end to the conflict there. The agreement is far from perfect. But it responds to the real desire for peace in that country and gives it a new lease on life following some of the most stark and brutal human rights violations the world has seen in recent years.

Another successful, albeit fragile, African-led mediation effort has resulted in the signing of the Lusaka peace agreement for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last week, President Chiluba of Zambia provided the Security Council with a comprehensive briefing on this effort, which he carried out on behalf of the States of the Southern African Development Community.

The parties to both of these agreements must now live up to their commitments. The United Nations facilitated this diplomatic work. Last week, I proposed to the Council the deployment of an up-to-6,000-strong peacekeeping operation to Sierra Leone. With the initial deployment of liaison officers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I am now studying further steps that could be taken to encourage peace in that country.

I should also like to mention the situation in Somalia. In my report to the Council last month, I stated that as a country without a central government, Somalia remained unique. Yet, anarchy does not reign in much of Somalia. There are areas where the absence of law and order has attracted criminals and subversives. A UNICEF doctor was murdered recently and humanitarian agencies temporarily suspended their operations. But there are also areas where ordinary Somalis, tired of warlords and the violence they breed, are seeking reconciliation. Regions of relative stability and coherent leadership are emerging in the north-west and north-east. The international community is beginning to acknowledge these gains. Indeed, they are examples for other regions to follow, and, if carefully nurtured, they could lead to broader national reconciliation.

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You will not be surprised to hear me say that many Africans, remembering the failure to intervene effectively in Rwanda to stop the genocide, at times regard this Council as indifferent to the continent's plight. They are closely watching the Council's deliberations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.

In recent weeks, Africans have seen the Council approve a far- reaching operation for Kosovo and respond to the violence in East Timor. They have listened while many world leaders, as well as myself, have welcomed, albeit cautiously, an evolving understanding of sovereignty that allows the international community to intervene more readily to halt massive and systematic violations of human rights.

As you move closer to your decision on these situations, I hope you will also keep the broadest possible picture in view. Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo need more than humanitarian palliatives. Each crisis situation in the world is different, and must be decided on its own merits. But for the United Nations, and this Council in particular, to retain their credibility and the support of the world's peoples, the commitment to peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and other such action must be applied fairly and consistently, irrespective of region or nation.

Whether we are speaking of peace and security issues or closely related questions such as social development, environmental protection, human rights and human resources, it is essential to think in terms of partnerships with Africa -- partnerships with the OAU, with regional and subregional organizations, with civil society groups and individuals.

Those nations making good-faith efforts and adopting enlightened policies deserve much greater support than they are now getting. Where the international community is committed to making a difference, it has shown that significant transformation can be achieved.

There is no excuse for not doing what is reasonable and doable. It is reasonable, for example, to provide more resources for humanitarian assistance and post-conflict peace-building. It is reasonable to act more rapidly and more decisively on debt. It is reasonable to increase official development assistance.

But what is "reasonable and doable" is far from a question of money alone. Training, technology, political engagement -- there are many paths for partnership to follow. The over-arching point is that, by combining African efforts with those of the international community, we can give the cause of peace and development in Africa decisive new momentum.

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"Afro-pessimism" is a dead end. "Africa fatigue" is an affront to the very idea of a responsible international community. I said in my report last year that our work with Africa was both a process and a shared partnership. However imperfectly, Africans have provided many important signs of their yearning for peace, stability and development and their willingness to work for it. The right kind of support now, carefully directed to those best able to use it, could help Africans turn a corner and set the stage for a brighter future. Let us seize this moment. Thank you very much.

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