Protestors scamper to escape the tear gas canisters fired by police in the Musaga neighbourhood of Bujumbura last week
By Harold Acemah
On May 25 the African Union (AU) will mark the
52nd anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which was
established in 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Uganda is a founding
member of the OAU.
For historical, nostalgic and other reasons, I have a soft spot for the OAU and Addis Ababa which was my first duty station outside Uganda as a diplomat. I was posted to the Uganda Embassy at the Ethiopian capital in March 1971; the head of mission was a distinguished career diplomat, Ambassador Matiya Lubega, who was one of my mentors in the diplomatic service.
Agenda 2063, a plan for Africa’s structural transformation, was adopted at the African Union’s golden jubilee summit held in May 2013. The 50th anniversary declaration incorporates a pledge to make progress in eight priority areas of the continental agenda which are to be integrated into regional and national development plans.
The priority areas are African identity and renaissance; continuation of the struggle against colonialism and the struggle for the right to self-determination; the integration agenda; agenda for social and economic development; peace and security agenda; democratic governance; Africa’s destiny and place in the world.
Agenda 2063 is anchored in and driven by the aspirations of the African people that were embedded through a consultative process. The consultative process involved various stakeholders such as, youth, women, civil society organisations, Africans in the diaspora, African think tanks and research institutions, government planners and the private sector. In addition, ideas were received from African ministerial sector meetings and meetings of the regional economic communities (RECs) such as the East African Community (EAC).
Agenda 2063 embraces and reinforces the vision of Africa and endorses the 12 continental priorities of the African Union contained in the AU Constitutive Act which form the basis for the development of continental frameworks, such as the Programme for Infrastructure, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, the African Mining Vision, the African Governance Architecture and the African Water Vision.
Among disaster risks and challenges Agenda 2063 identifies are the prevalence and severity of extreme events, such as heat and cold waves, dust storms, severe winds, floods, droughts, and greater rainfall variability and patterns. These are bound to distort traditional crop cycles, diminish production of agricultural and industrial raw materials as well as export earnings and thus affect the safety and wellbeing of Africans. To achieve the goals of high standard of living, quality of life and well-being of all citizens as well as environmentally sustainable and climate resilient economies and communities, Agenda 2063 identifies the following indicative strategies which integrate disaster risk reduction:
(a) Elimination of poverty, hunger and malnutrition
(b) Climate resilience low carbon production systems in place and significantly minimising vulnerability and natural disasters
(c) Mainstream/integrate climate resilience in planning, budgeting and monitoring in development outcomes and processes
(d) Conduct climate change research including detection and attribution
(e) Promote/support climate-smart agriculture
(f) Promote climate resilience practices in integrated coastal and marine ecosystem management systems
(g) Promote/support disaster risk reduction, emergency response and climate resilient policies and programmes; and
(h) Domesticate the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Agenda 2063 recognises that climate change and natural disasters will continue to adversely impact Africa’s development for many years to come and Africa has limited capacity for disaster preparedness and prevention, resulting in every natural disaster leaving a trail of suffering, deaths and material destruction. Agenda 2063 calls for the mitigation of these challenges which should instead be turned into opportunities through mounting collective strategies and effective public policy responses and actions to counter the most disruptive economic, social and environmental problems facing Africa.
Agenda 2063 identifies two strategic dimensions for overcoming risks and addressing fragilities:
(a) Drawing on resilience found in African societies, such as the strong capacity demonstrated by farming communities to weather risks and create livelihoods in the most difficult environments through enabling civil society and communities to manage their affairs including settlement of disputes and protection of the vulnerable; and a vital role for African women in efforts to bring peace and rebuild livelihoods.
(b) Building interlocking partnerships and institutions at community level among member states, at regional and at continental level to help absorb the disruptive changes and reduce associated community and state fragilities. Building the capacities of RECs to find regional solutions to regional problems.
All these priority actions are contained in the African Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and they provide an integrated framework for addressing climate change and disaster risk reduction. Agenda 2063 integrates disaster risk reduction in its 50-year vision for Africa.
For historical, nostalgic and other reasons, I have a soft spot for the OAU and Addis Ababa which was my first duty station outside Uganda as a diplomat. I was posted to the Uganda Embassy at the Ethiopian capital in March 1971; the head of mission was a distinguished career diplomat, Ambassador Matiya Lubega, who was one of my mentors in the diplomatic service.
Agenda 2063, a plan for Africa’s structural transformation, was adopted at the African Union’s golden jubilee summit held in May 2013. The 50th anniversary declaration incorporates a pledge to make progress in eight priority areas of the continental agenda which are to be integrated into regional and national development plans.
The priority areas are African identity and renaissance; continuation of the struggle against colonialism and the struggle for the right to self-determination; the integration agenda; agenda for social and economic development; peace and security agenda; democratic governance; Africa’s destiny and place in the world.
Agenda 2063 is anchored in and driven by the aspirations of the African people that were embedded through a consultative process. The consultative process involved various stakeholders such as, youth, women, civil society organisations, Africans in the diaspora, African think tanks and research institutions, government planners and the private sector. In addition, ideas were received from African ministerial sector meetings and meetings of the regional economic communities (RECs) such as the East African Community (EAC).
Agenda 2063 embraces and reinforces the vision of Africa and endorses the 12 continental priorities of the African Union contained in the AU Constitutive Act which form the basis for the development of continental frameworks, such as the Programme for Infrastructure, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, the African Mining Vision, the African Governance Architecture and the African Water Vision.
Among disaster risks and challenges Agenda 2063 identifies are the prevalence and severity of extreme events, such as heat and cold waves, dust storms, severe winds, floods, droughts, and greater rainfall variability and patterns. These are bound to distort traditional crop cycles, diminish production of agricultural and industrial raw materials as well as export earnings and thus affect the safety and wellbeing of Africans. To achieve the goals of high standard of living, quality of life and well-being of all citizens as well as environmentally sustainable and climate resilient economies and communities, Agenda 2063 identifies the following indicative strategies which integrate disaster risk reduction:
(a) Elimination of poverty, hunger and malnutrition
(b) Climate resilience low carbon production systems in place and significantly minimising vulnerability and natural disasters
(c) Mainstream/integrate climate resilience in planning, budgeting and monitoring in development outcomes and processes
(d) Conduct climate change research including detection and attribution
(e) Promote/support climate-smart agriculture
(f) Promote climate resilience practices in integrated coastal and marine ecosystem management systems
(g) Promote/support disaster risk reduction, emergency response and climate resilient policies and programmes; and
(h) Domesticate the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Agenda 2063 recognises that climate change and natural disasters will continue to adversely impact Africa’s development for many years to come and Africa has limited capacity for disaster preparedness and prevention, resulting in every natural disaster leaving a trail of suffering, deaths and material destruction. Agenda 2063 calls for the mitigation of these challenges which should instead be turned into opportunities through mounting collective strategies and effective public policy responses and actions to counter the most disruptive economic, social and environmental problems facing Africa.
Agenda 2063 identifies two strategic dimensions for overcoming risks and addressing fragilities:
(a) Drawing on resilience found in African societies, such as the strong capacity demonstrated by farming communities to weather risks and create livelihoods in the most difficult environments through enabling civil society and communities to manage their affairs including settlement of disputes and protection of the vulnerable; and a vital role for African women in efforts to bring peace and rebuild livelihoods.
(b) Building interlocking partnerships and institutions at community level among member states, at regional and at continental level to help absorb the disruptive changes and reduce associated community and state fragilities. Building the capacities of RECs to find regional solutions to regional problems.
All these priority actions are contained in the African Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and they provide an integrated framework for addressing climate change and disaster risk reduction. Agenda 2063 integrates disaster risk reduction in its 50-year vision for Africa.
Some preliminary observations
Agenda 2063 is a comprehensive and ambitious blueprint for Africa, but the challenge it faces include lack of resources for its implementation and lack of commitment on the part of African leaders who have a knack to agree in public to matters they do not actually believe in or fully support. This reminds me of the Trans-African Highway, a project which the African Group at the United Nations in collaboration with the OAU and the Economic Commission for Africa championed during the 1970s when I was a delegate at the Permanent Mission of Uganda to the United Nations in New York.
The ambitious Mombasa to Lagos highway via Uganda, DRC and many other African countries was stillborn and never took off despite all the hype and a pledging conference which was held to raise funds for the project. The Trans-African Highway vanished into thin air like the once famous “10 point programme” which has been replaced by a “No change programme”. How tragic! Much as I welcome the AU’s Agenda 2063, I am sceptical about its implementation.
To be continued next Sunday
Agenda 2063 is a comprehensive and ambitious blueprint for Africa, but the challenge it faces include lack of resources for its implementation and lack of commitment on the part of African leaders who have a knack to agree in public to matters they do not actually believe in or fully support. This reminds me of the Trans-African Highway, a project which the African Group at the United Nations in collaboration with the OAU and the Economic Commission for Africa championed during the 1970s when I was a delegate at the Permanent Mission of Uganda to the United Nations in New York.
The ambitious Mombasa to Lagos highway via Uganda, DRC and many other African countries was stillborn and never took off despite all the hype and a pledging conference which was held to raise funds for the project. The Trans-African Highway vanished into thin air like the once famous “10 point programme” which has been replaced by a “No change programme”. How tragic! Much as I welcome the AU’s Agenda 2063, I am sceptical about its implementation.
To be continued next Sunday
Mr Acemah is a political scientist, consultant and a retired career diplomat. hacemah@gmail.com
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