Launching Ceremony of the African Centre for Civil Society

By K. Y. Amoako,
UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary,
Economic Commission for Africa

Addis Ababa,
24 October 1997

Your Excellency, Mr. Dawit Yohannes, Speaker of the House of the Peoples

Representative of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,

Ambassador Anatole Tiendrebeogo, Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity,

Your Excellency, Mrs. Wiltrud Holik, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Germany,

My esteemed friend and colleague, Mr. Abdul Mohamed, Chairman of the Board of Inter-Africa Group

Honourable Ministers,

Members of the Diplomatic Community,

Invited Guests,

Colleagues,

Whenever something visible and recognized is launched such as a university, or a new health service or some other public service, it is a bet with history. Citizens of goodwill gather their energies and resources and strive to improve the human condition. Sometimes the wager is won and the public is well served for many years to come. Sometimes not.

We are here today to witness another bet with history and I am here to tell you that not only do I think the wager will be won, I think many years from now we will feel as glad and as proud as all of us do today. By then we will know for sure that we were right to be part of the launching of the African Centre for Civil Society.

Today we not only make history; we build upon history.

It was but eleven years ago when the intellectual foundation of this Centre was created. The foundation was shaped by the Enabling Environment Conference held by the Aga Khan Foundation in Nairobi. At this conference, participants asserted that states would progress only if there was space for civil society and the private sector to flourish; the participants envisioned a future in which civil society, the private sector and the state would work in basic harmony for optimum development.

Brought together by ECA, particularly by Adebayo Adedeji and Sadig Rasheed, African civil society and the governments of Africa were in agreement on this fundamental thesis. In 1990, a historic agreement was forged, the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation. Shortly after its promulgation in Arusha, the Charter was formally endorsed by ECA's member States, then by the Heads of States of Africa, and finally by the UN General Assembly. The Charter speaks of a new era in Africa in which democracy and a more just, progressive society would be created. The road to this better life in Africa was mapped as a partnership in which states, civil society and the private sector would learn to respect each other's strengths and contributions. In the years since the Charter was promulgated, what was just a map has increasingly become a reality. Civil society organizations by the thousands emerged all over Africa. They now reach into many spheres of economic and social development by advocating improvements in public policy, operating a myriad of partnerships with governments at all levels, implementing development projects, bringing communities together for self help, and organizing professional associations. The rise of organized civil society in fact has come hand-in-hand with the rise of democracy, pluralism and the private sector in Africa. The virtues of participatory society are becoming evident throughout this continent.

ECA, with the support of its Member States, has worked hard to foster the precepts of the Charter and, I think it can fairly be said, we have played an important role in furthering the growth of civil society in Africa. Since 1992, ECA has been assisting Member States and civil society organizations throughout Africa to network with each other, to improve the conditions under which they operate, to build their capacity, and to link states and civil society organizations together for common cause. We work to bridge the public and private sectors knowing, as we say on this continent, that "Rain does not fall on one roof alone."

As it has often been pointed out, good government is not a luxury -- it is a vital necessity for development. Enhancing or strengthening the African State's capability is high on the Commission's list of priorities and part of that process involves strengthening its partners in development -- the private sector and the civil society -- in order to effect and sustain Africa's policial and economic transformation. To this end, our governments must give priority to five fundamental tasks which lie at the core of every government's mission:

Establishing a foundation of law;

Maintaining a nondistortionary policy environment, including macroeconomic stability;

Investing in basic social services and infrastructure;

Protecting the vulnerable; and

Protecting the environment.

Increasingly, the states must hand over some of their functions to the other two sectors, thus narrowing the gap between the demands placed upon it and its capabilities. States must choose to concentrate on functions they discharge best. The reduced load will ease the burden on the state, and thus, makes it more productive.

States become more effective when they are attentive and listen to business and citizens and work in partnership towards a specified goal. When states or governments lack the mechanisms to collaborate, they become ineffective. Getting genuine intermediaries, such as Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), to participate in policy making is a first step in articulating citizen interests. Good governance calls for the ability of a state to anticipate challenges to its well-being, provide core services to its people and then augment these services, act as a catalyst of change, and guide the various forces in society towards harmony.

In support of this process, we at ECA have conducted national programs to enhance the cooperation of the state and civil society in Egypt, Eritrea, The Gambia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. We have also organized and conducted training seminars and capacity building workshops to strengthen civil society organizations in many of these same countries as well as a number of others. We have held sub-regional, regional and global workshops and conferences on participatory development and assisted in establishing communications and inter-organizational networks working with such organizations as the African Forum for Voluntary Organizations, the Africa Leadership Forum, the Inter-African Group, the Organization of African Trade Unions, the Arab Research Centre and the International Council for Voluntary Action.

When very recently we redefined ECA's mission and work in cooperation with our member States, it was natural that areas of focus included governance in Africa, fostering Africa's private sector, and on helping to bring African civil society to its full potential. With the help of government, business and civil society leaders throughout Africa, we took stock of our work. It quickly became clear that ECA's work to foster civil society was highly valued and that we should build on past success and advance our work yet further.

Demand for ECA services is increasing because numbers of countries are now recognizing the value and place of civil society in their development. However, dynamic change, such as is taking place in a great many places in Africa, can create its own frictions and misunderstandings and the relationships between governments and their civil society organizations is not always an easy one. In general, CSOs' and NGOs' activities range from collaboration to criticism and even opposition. These organizations are sometimes perceived to be unaccountable and non-transparent. Friction of this kind can make it more difficult for these organizations and their governments to act on other opportunities for synergy between them. Grievances on both sides can accumulate, as is now apparent in the strained relations between some African governments and their CSO and NGO communities.

And, states and civil society can better recognize the potential constructive roles of civil society organizations in peace-building and conflict resolution. There has been enough success around this continent in the peace-making field alone, in fact, just in South Africa and here in the Horn, to justify additional efforts to mobilize civil society as allies of peace.

The demand for helping raise the potential contributions and synergies of civil society for development and peace in Africa is now so high that it became necessary to think about a more permanent way of institutionalizing the work ECA has carried out over the past years. Thus ECA, its Member States, African civil society and its donor friends have collaborated to create this Centre. And what will this Centre do? The Centre has three very fundamental tasks:

First, to become a resource centre for the institutional development and capacity building of African civil society organizations so that these organizations can better manage resources and better participate as partners in defining and implementing national development agendas;

Second, the Centre will work to enhance cooperation between African governments and civil society organizations with the aim of creating an enabling environment conducive to the growth and participation of CSOs and NGOs; and

Third, the Centre, in very close collaboration with the OAU, will work to build the capacities of African civil society at local, national and regional levels to assist with the work of developing innovative techniques for preventing conflict, resolving disputes peacefully, and strengthening peaceful and pluralistic democracies.

Through workshops, publications, networking and advocacy, I expect the Centre will markedly step up activity on all three of these fronts.

In so doing, the Centre will deepen a commitment made by the United Nations and its leadership, particularly through the UN System-Wide Special Initiative on Africa, to bolster civil society in Africa for peace and development. As the United Nations increasingly becomes a meeting ground between governments, the private sector and civil society organizations, it is inspiring and leading the way to common cause and common commitments.

As the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, stated today in his statement marking United Nations' Day:

the UN "will seek out and develop new partnerships, with individual men and women, with non-governmental organizations, with the private sector and with peoples at large. It will ensure that no one is left behind and that no suffering is left unchallenged. It will succeed in its calling with the support and enthusiasm of the peoples of the United Nations or not at all."

Mr. Chairman,

Finally, I want to recognize how very important the partnership of the international community has been and continues to be in this work. Our past work with civil society has benefited greatly from the support of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies, the Global Coalition for Africa, Partnership Africa-Canada, the World Bank, the International Office of Migration, USAID, the Frederick-Ebert Foundation and UNDP.

But, Your Excellency, Mrs. Wiltrud Holik, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany, I want to single out your Government, whose commitment to African civil society and ECA has been unshakable and whose long-term vision has been instrumental in launching this Centre.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is a memorable day, for today we are part of a very important chapter in Africa's history. With good will and help from all of you, millions of Africans and their organizations will benefit from the work of this Centre. Happily, and with what I hope is an understandable mixture of pride and humility, I welcome you to the opening of the African Centre for Civil Society.