PRESS CONFERENCE BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UN-HABITAT

 

Africa on its own could not break out of the vicious cycle in which history had placed it, Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

She said the continent required assistance much as Europe had needed the Marshall Plan in 1945 to overcome post-Second World War realities.  On the other hand, Africa must get its act together and sort out those housekeeping problems that were within its own capabilities.

Speaking as one of two United Nations officials sitting on the Commission for Africa established by United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, she said that the 17-member body’s nine African members were pushing the continent’s case with a focus on the realization of the eighth Millennium Development Goal, which was increasing assistance to the developing countries, particularly those in Africa.

She said that the Commission, on which she and K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, sit in their individual capacities, would be meeting in London next week to decide on the recommendations it should put to the world.  The African commissioners were pushing for a radical report that could make the difference if conditions on the continent were to be put right.

Africa was already integrated into the global economy, but at a disadvantage, she pointed out.  Much of the investment in the continent was in the extractive industries, rather than in the infrastructure that was vital for the ability to compete in trade.  While market access was important, the necessary infrastructure was not in place.  Cooperation and solidarity in economic thinking would create a win-win situation for all concerned.

She stressed the importance of strengthening the United Nations system, particularly its funds and programmes, so that they could help Africa to build the required capacity in the health, education, agricultural and other spheres.  As head of UN-HABITAT, she had pushed for global recognition of the rapid demographic shift taking place on the continent.  Africans, pushed by hopelessness and despair, were moving out of the countryside into cities, where 37 per cent of them now lived.  The Programme’s projections showed that by 2030 Africa would cease to be a rural continent.  By then, 51 per cent of Africans would be living in cities, the majority condemned to slums, and lacking food, water, sanitation, health care and other basic services.  Already, 72 per cent of 200 million Africans were already living in slums, which did not augur well for the continent’s prosperity.

Regrettably, she said, Africa had not attracted the attention in the West that it deserved.  While the recent Indian Ocean tsunami had shown that there was still much love, compassion and solidarity in the world, the media had never presented the case for Africa so that it could be properly understood.  For example, 8,000 Africans had died today from HIV/AIDS, in addition to 6,000 children who had died from water-borne diseases.  Similar numbers were dying every day, but still the message was not reaching the world in a manner that would mobilize the necessary attention.  Africa’s situation was a continuing crisis, and the international community must view it as an emergency or a “soft tsunami”.

Asked how much official development assistance the Commission for Africa would be asking for, she said there was a need for a doubling if not a trebling of resources in the next five years for all spheres of life, particularly given the levels of HIV infection.  Failure to prevail over the pandemic would lead to failure in all other spheres.  In terms of infrastructure, particularly the railway system, there was room for a very rapid absorption of resources.  The world was not aware that most of Africa’s infrastructure development had been suspended after the First World War.

At that time, she said, her native United Republic of Tanzania [then Tanganyika] had been a German colony.  Investments on the drawing board in 1914 for the development of infrastructure in that and other German colonies remained suspended to date.  After independence, the expected resources had never materialized.

The same correspondent asked whether United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair and the other commissioners were confident that it would be possible to double or treble available resources.

Ms. Tibaijuka replied that Mr. Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown were not only confident, but they were themselves taking the lead.  The United Kingdom had laid out its road map towards earmarking 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic product for official development assistance.  It was presently at 0.34 per cent and the United States was at 0.14 per cent.

Regarding debt cancellation, she said that the United Kingdom had already said it would be paying its part of the multilateral debt that African countries owed to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  Hopefully, there would be further good news from the upcoming G8 Summit and from the European Union.

Asked about South-South cooperation, she said the Commission would definitely be saying a lot about that issue as a necessary option.  Africa could learn much from Asia, particularly in terms of technological advancement and in rural development.  However, owing to the orientation of Africa’s trade towards Europe since colonial times, it did not have as much interaction with Asia and Latin America as it should.

Regarding intra-African trade, she added that while it was being encouraged, there were limitations.  For example, most African countries produced coffee, cotton and other commodities.  Since intra-African trade presupposed specialization, they should be encouraged to set up larger trading blocs, which would lead to specialization, which, in turn, would breed economic efficiency and greater exchange.

Asked what role South-South cooperation played in UN-HABITAT, she replied that the Programme was encouraging greater regional cooperation, and free movement of people and labour within Africa.  Some of the continent’s conflicts were related to migration.  Côte d’Ivoire was undergoing what was basically an intra-African migration crisis, and the Great Lakes conflicts, including the Rwanda genocide, were linked to the movement of African peoples within the continent.

Asked to comment about links between UN-HABITAT and the “oil-for-food” programme, she said UN-HABITAT was audited by the Office of Internal Oversight Services and the General Assembly and that she had herself requested the audits in pursuit of better management.  The audits were already out, and members of the media were free to look them up on the Internet.  The UN-HABITAT had been in northern Iraq, where it had done a great job under very difficult circumstances, she added.

The same journalist asked about a “whistleblower” fired for calling attention to management abuses.

Ms. Tibaijuka said that had happened before she had joined UN-HABITAT.  The internal system had looked at the merits of the case and taken action.  Such situations had to be considered according to their respective merits because there was a need to maintain discipline in any large organization.

Asked whether whistleblowers in the United Nations system had enough protection, she said they must be protected so that they could say things without being harassed.  There should be a system that allowed people to complain if they thought they had a grievance, but there should also be a mechanism to cross-check objectively that the complaint was correct.

She told the same correspondent that she would definitely be willing to revisit the case since the Tribunal had found her performance had not been as bad as initially reported.

Asked how a doubling or trebling of assistance to Africa squared with the African Union’s emphasis on self-reliance, she pointed out that assistance did not mean a hand-out.  It was a way to break out of a bottleneck in order to build one’s own production systems.  Africa must be in the lead and be realistic enough to recognize that it needed assistance.  Africa could not manage on its own because, for one thing, the international environment was not supportive.  Some leaders were believed to be corrupt, but nobody asked who was corrupting them.  They were said to have stolen money, but nobody asked who was banking that money.  A more supportive international environment was needed, whereby even if one wished to abuse one’s position, the global checks and balances would make it difficult to do so.

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