PRESS CONFERENCE ON EVOLVING ROLE OF ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY

Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Mauritius, and Amara Essy (Côte d’Ivoire), Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), gave a press conference this afternoon at Headquarters to discuss the OAU’s role in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa, the transformation from OAU to African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.  The speakers were accompanied by Said Djinit, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs of the OAU, and Jagdish Koonjul (Mauritius), the current President of the Security Council.

In introductory remarks, Mr. Gayan said today’s Security Council meeting focused on Africa.  After the events of 11 September and the subsequent attention the international community had paid to terrorism, it was important to refocus world attention on the problems and conflicts of Africa.  This special Council session featured two innovations: participation by the OAU’s Secretary-General and by the President of the Economic and Social Council.  It was important that both organs worked together, helping in post-conflict resolution and rehabilitation of deprived areas in Africa.

There was a consensus in Africa, among leaders, civil society and the people, that with the coming into operation of the African Union and the launch of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the time had come “to turn the page and to get Africa to work again”.  He wanted to convey a message to the world that Africa had realized it should no longer blame others for the problems there, but should start working for what Africa is and for the potential it had in many areas.

[The African Union is to succeed the OAU.  The Constitutive Act for the African Union was adopted by heads of State and government in Lomé, Togo, in July 2000.  The New Partnership for Africa’s Development was born out of the New Africa Initiative, which was approved by the OAU summit meeting in Lusaka in July 2001.  Its goals are to promote accelerated growth and sustainable development, to eradicate widespread and severe poverty and to halt the marginalization of Africa in the globalization process.]

Mr. Essy, Secretary-General of the OAU, said the Security Council devoted 60 per cent of its time to Africa.  One of the problems of peace and security was economic development. “Peace does not get along with hunger”, he quoted an African elder.  Today’s Council meeting provided an opportunity to exchange ideas and to develop a vision for the future.  Solutions to the problems of Africa depended on Africans.  The OAU had a role to play in that, but so did regional and subregional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).  They should be used more effectively.

The African Union was slowly but surely developing, he continued.  The Union and the New Partnership offered great hope.  Without achievement of the institutions’ objectives, Africa could not emerge from its problems.  Integration was unavoidable.  Conflicts and security depended primarily on economic relations, and strengthening Africa’s economy could be a way to resolve conflicts.  “If we manage to solve economic problems among us today, to set up a form of cooperation

where all problems can be discussed, that would be the solution to many conflicts in Africa”, he said.

Asked about concrete proposals for cooperation between the OAU and the United Nations, Mr. Essy said certain responsibilities should be delegated to regional and subregional organizations.  If there was a problem in Liberia, for example, the OAU would give more latitude to ECOWAS, as they knew the problems and the players.  The regional and sub-regional institutions, however, needed financial assistance to be active in peacekeeping.

Mr. Gayan added that the best formula would be to have a combination of forces of the United Nations, the OAU and the regional bodies to look for conflict solutions.  There was a proposal to set up a working group for the implementation of the recommendations of today’s meeting.

Answering questions about the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Essy said he had sent a special representative of the OAU to the Democratic Republic of the Congo today to follow the negotiations of the Facilitator.  Many efforts for peace were under way, scattered in different places.  He had met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  There was constant contact among other players.  There were many different schemes on how to manage the transition until the elections, but good examples of well-managed transitions existed, such as in South Africa.  Different scenarios to control the armed groups in the DRC through a multilateral system in a fair way were possible.

In response to another correspondent’s question, he said the African Union must be more accessible.  It had been said that OAU was a matter of governments and officials.  The African Initiative should be a reflection of the will of the people, not of the heads of States.  There were many proposals on how to set up the African Union, which showed that there was great interest in it.

Mr. Gayan, in response to a question about the situation in Zimbabwe, said that in a recent SADC meeting, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe had given assurances that elections would be free and transparent.  He had said: “I have never cheated in my life and I am not going to cheat now”.  When a head of State said something like that, you could not question him.  But there was pressure on President Mugabe, and one had to wait for the elections to take place.  One should give everyone the benefit of the doubt.  During an election, tensions tended to mount, but after the elections, tensions would diminish.

Mr. Gayan also expressed concern about the situation in Madagascar, as the economies of that country and Mauritius were closely linked.  The region had called on President Rasiraka and the Mayor of Antananarivo to put an end to the post-election demonstrations and to make sure that a legal course was followed.  Yesterday, the Security Council had issued a press statement on the matter to show that the international community was closely following events, and he hoped that message would be heard in Madagascar.

Mr. Essy also expressed his concern about the situation there, as Madagascar was an eminent member of the OAU.  The central body of the OAU had met.  The Organization had not been invited to observe the elections, and could therefore not give an objective opinion.  He said that regardless of the frustration, election procedures had to be followed and a second round was necessary.  If the Mayor of Antananarivo had won with 50 to 56 per cent as he claimed, he would "walk through an open door" in the second round of the elections.  He hoped everything could take place in peace and security and that the country would remain unified.

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