THE AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM 2007

Statement by Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
21 March 2007

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am glad to welcome you to Addis Ababa for the 2007 African Civil Society Forum organized by the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in consultative status with the United Nations (CONGO) and the African Women's Development Network (FEMNET) working in close partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Economic Commission for Africa.

The theme of this meeting – “ Democratizing Governance at regional and global level to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ” - resonates with any well-informed observer of African societies because it underscores the important role of popular participation in achieving the MDGs. It also indicates at the same time that African countries cannot go it alone in their quest for development but need to work together at the regional level and in partnership with the rest of the international community.

Most of the MDGs are people specific and success in achieving them is dependent on genuine ownership and participation, which in turn can only be guaranteed by inclusiveness and equity, the cornerstones of democratic governance. As the only continent that is not on track to achieve all the MDGs by the target date of 2015, Africa therefore has a particular interest in ensuring the democratization of governance to achieve the MDGs. This is however not a job for governments alone nor is it limited to the national level.

It is quite evident that African countries have made major strides in democratizing governance notably since the 1990 Arusha Conference, which produced the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation. The Arusha document was a milestone as it identified the lack of popular participation in development as central to the dismal state of African economies and also as a cause of political instability and social calamity. It can indeed be argued that since then the case for democracy, freedom of association, the rule of law and economic justice has no longer been in question.

Today, it is widely acknowledged that despite some understandable bumps along the way, most African countries continue to make steady progress with increasing political accountability of the leadership, decentralization of decision-making processes and greater involvement of citizens in the development process. In spite of the visible progress that has been made, there remains a lot to be done. For instance, we should acknowledge that some African countries are yet to embark on this path due in many instances to continued conflict and political instability. At the same time, countries that have committed themselves to enthroning democracy and respect for human rights continue to need support in order to broaden and deepen their governance agenda.

It is now generally accepted that developing an active, informed and viable civil society has a vital role to play in building enduring democracies, underpinned by good governance practices. A well-developed civil society widens the democratic space and facilitates opportunities for citizens' participation in political and social life by giving voice to their aspirations and concerns. Beyond this however, civil society organizations (CSOs) have a crucial role to play in service provision as well as the monitoring the impact of public action especially where capacity is weak and resources are scarce.

African civil society organizations have played a critical role in promoting democracy and popular participation at country level and have also contributed to the regional consensus that good governance and sound economic management are key to improving Africa's long-term development. I should stress however that their role goes way beyond advocacy and includes partnership in making, implementing and monitoring policy outcomes either working together as CSOs or in tandem with governments and intergovernmental bodies. CSOs also have an increasingly important role in service delivery especially in the social sector where government resources and capacities a stretched to the utmost.

This, in the context of our theme, means that CSOs have a critical part to play in supporting governments to articulate and fashion appropriate strategies for scaling-up efforts to achieve the MDGs. Scaling-up of efforts and commitments to achieve the MDGs is a matter of particular importance which will be discussed at the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development starting here in Addis Ababa from 29 March 2007. The Conference theme – “ Accelerating Africa's Growth and Development to Achieve the MDGs: Emerging Challenges and the Way Forward ” is closely related to that of this Forum and I expect the outcome of your meeting to be available to the Ministers when they debate on this important matter.

The similarity of themes between this Forum and the ECA Conference of Ministers is but one example of why the United Nations maintains active partnership with civil society organizations. The formal and informal arrangements that the United Nations has with civil society organizations aptly demonstrated by the acronym of one of the co-organizers of the Forum - CONGO – The Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. It is therefore quite clear that CSOs should accompany the efforts of the UN as its undertakes reforms related to its work in development, peace and security, human rights and the rule of law. New elements of the new institutional architecture of the UN that should therefore engage the attention of this forum include the Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights Council and the United Nations Democracy Fund.

It is important to stress in the particular context of Africa that peace and security is necessary to provide an enabling environment for achieving the MDGs. Good governance promotes peace and stability in Africa by giving voice to previously marginalized communities and ensuring a transparent, fair and equitable access to resources. The focus of this Forum on peace and human security, governance and human rights, and development in all its ramifications is therefore well-placed as it tallies with the areas of UN reform. Cooperation in these areas should also therefore lie at the heart of the increasingly close collaboration between CSOs and the United Nations.

I should stress however that the common engagement of the UN and CSOs in Africa should be driven by African priorities and the African Union agenda. This, after all, was the spirit behind NEPAD which emphasized African ownership and responsibility for the development of the continent. NEPAD emphasized political, economic and corporate governance and also led to the creation of the African Peer Review Mechanism, which is a concrete example of the positive steps that African countries are taking of their own accord to improve governance in the continent. A key objective of this forum should therefore be to find ways and means of strengthening the partnerships between CSOs and the African Union and the regional economic communities to support the African development agenda.

ECA is well placed to play a catalytic role in deepening the engagement of CSOs with other key actors at the regional and global level. This is due to its dual role as the regional arm of the United Nations as well as its close partnership and collaboration with the African Union Commission and the NEPAD and APRM secretariats. As part of its recent repositioning exercise, ECA will aim to revitalize the African Centre for Civil Society within its Governance and Public Administration Division. This section will help to manage knowledge, build consensus and provide advisory services in this critical area of our work. It accordingly played an active role in making arrangements for this Forum.

Permit me in this context to also highlight some of the things that CSOs keep in mind as they seek to build stronger partnerships in order to strengthen and support the process of democratizing governance in Africa and at the global level.

•  First of all, I would urge CSOs to continue to bring forth and give voice to issues concerning large segments of the population including those that affect women, children and other marginalized groups. Even with the best of intentions, policymakers often have competing demands for their attention and need to be continuously encouraged to mainstream these concerns into national and regional development strategies.

•  Secondly, CSOs should always seek to make the best use of existing representative structures in democratic societies. In other words, CSOs should strive to work closely with parliamentarians and other representative groupings to influence the governance agenda.

•  Thirdly, CSOs should not spread themselves too thinly on the ground, if they are to make meaningful impact. CONGO is a good example of coming together to positively influence the development agenda. However, since capacity building is one area in which African countries and institutions need a lot of support, capacity deficits arising from the multiplicity of CSOs and duplication of efforts need to be overcome.

•  Fourthly, and most importantly CSOs should become actively engaged in the APRM process which anticipates the involvement of civil society. CSOs should lend support to countries that have acceded to the APRM process and also encourage those who have not yet subscribed to join the mechanism.

In closing, I wish to express ECA's gratitude to CONGO, FEMNET and the AUC for their contribution and commitment to making a success of this event. We certainly value and appreciate our partnership with them . I am confident that the active engagement of our partners and this distinguished gathering of participants will lead this Forum to an exciting and worthwhile outcome to your deliberations.

I wish you fruitful and successful deliberations. Thank you for your kind attention.