Despite tangible progress, many African countries remain fragile, says Janneh

Addis Ababa, 25 July 2007 --- Many African countries remain fragile despite visible progress made in political accountability, decentralization, improved macroeconomic performance and stable economies, the Executive Secretary of United nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Abdoulie Janneh, said today in Addis Ababa.

In a welcoming address at the Conference on “Engaging with Fragile States: Challenges and Opportunities”, Mr. Janneh said many African countries continued to face challenges of fragility due to on-going conflicts, and post-conflict situations.

He called on the international community to support such fragile states by focusing on issues such as democratic governance, human rights, civil society engagement and peace building.

Concerted and sustained support in these areas “will tremendously assist in transforming fragile states into capable states,” said Janneh.

He said while many fragile states exhibit similar characteristics, the causes of their fragility may be context-specific. Therefore, approaches to the challenges must be context-specific, too.

But affected states must take ownership of the policy process and commit themselves to addressing the issues that brought about crisis and conflict in the first place, said Janneh

The conference was co-organized by ECA, the World bank and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.