 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
Egypt Region Interview International Economy Opinion Culture Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Crocodile tears
By Gamal Nkrumah
If anyone thought the forces of globalisation were attempting to bridge the widening chasm between rich and poor, last week's United Nations Millennium celebrations provided compelling evidence to the contrary. Leader after leader took to the podium and spoke of the dangerous divide. Yet none wanted to commit themselves to radical change.
Seyoum Mesfin, foreign minister of one of the world's poorest countries, Ethiopia, eloquently summed it up: "Debt," he explained, was "an obvious illustration of the problem we are facing in this regard -- a problem which by universal consensus makes development in Africa unthinkable, but regarding which no effective steps are taken within or outside the UN system." The prospect could hardly be more replete with irony.
But the rich and powerful are not to be blamed for all African ills, Mesfin conceded. "That we [Africans] often have made a mess of the narrow opportunities that we have had for peace and for economic development because of lack of good governance, mismanagement of the economy and because of human rights abuses cannot be denied for a moment," Mesfin said. Indeed, Ethiopia and its neighbour, Eritrea, have just ended a bitter border dispute, squandering precious resources in the war effort. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki echoed Mesfin's point, calling the elimination of poverty the "most daunting task facing our societies."
Time is running out. Twenty-two per cent of the world's six billion people survive on less than one dollar a day. Millions die from preventable disease. Seven million children die each year as a result of the debt crisis. Without immediate and concerted action, hundreds of millions of Africans will be driven to even greater depths of human misery. "The billions of people we represent expect that a strong, clear, unequivocal and understandable message of hope will come out of this historic Millennium Summit," said South African President Thabo Mbeki. Abject poverty condemns millions to degrading and unnecessary death, he explained, speaking out eloquently against the evil "gods of inertia", as well as market and globalisation forces.
Other African leaders pushed the point more aggressively. "We are still stuck in problems dating back to the days of slavery and colonialism. We remain burdened by the unfinished business of the 20th century, including the problem of the colour-line," thundered the visibly agitated Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe. "We risk the hypocrisy of demanding the reform of national governments and institutions in developing countries, while doing nothing to reform the undemocratic structures and practices of international bodies, such as the Bretton Woods institutions and, indeed, the UN itself."
If Africa is to be transformed, it will be through private capital -- since African governments lack the necessary capital. Or so goes the twisted logic of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Yet per capita commitments to Africa are dwindling at a time when world leaders so callously feign indignation at the plight of the poor. Overall, the reform agenda still lacks the required urgency. "Poverty can neither be wished away, nor accepted as a reality beyond redemption," warned Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee.
Intricately intertwined with the poverty crisis -- and equally urgent -- is the debt crisis, which lies at the heart of all serious poverty alleviation schemes. Exports provide the necessary foreign exchange to service external debt, and the cancellation of unpayable debts carried by poor countries is the most logical first step in that direction, African delegates unanimously agreed. According to the findings of a study undertaken by Britain's House of Commons, the cancellation of "truly unpayable debt has no further effect on UK public finances since the cost to the Exchequer has already been incurred."
Western nations, and in particular the US, do not want to budge on the critical question of writing off the poor's debts. Without a resolution of the debt crisis in Africa and the rest of the developing world, the poverty situation will only worsen. Five Southern African developing countries (SADC) -- Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi -- are experiencing acute debt problems, explained President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique. The debt situation is also of concern in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. "We believe this is a dire situation, which deserves immediate attention from creditor nations and international financial institutions," Chissano said. "In my own country, the external debt is almost four times, and twice the GNP per capita, as in Tanzania and Zambia," he added. "We [world leaders and decision-makers] should seek to adopt pragmatic action-oriented and implementable decisions."
The problem lies in the way the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions function. At the heart of each are issues of moral courage and control. The bigger question is that of control; the US will not let go of its stranglehold of international affairs voluntarily. The world's poor cannot afford to overlook the annual fall in US aid volumes to Africa since 1994. This year it is back to $800 million, a puny sum -- and the least per capita of all industrially advanced countries. Meanwhile, the US refuses to cough up the $1.5 billion in unpaid dues it owes the UN.
These vital issues will need to be settled before anyone can take Washington's feigned angst about global poverty seriously. The world's richest and most powerful country can afford to flaunt all international rules and regulations. That may seem logical, but it leads to an unfortunate contradiction at the heart of the international body. Washington's clarion call has traditionally been: Beggars can't be choosers.
See also:
A world of meanings
Pomp and circumstances
Fighting povertyRelated stories:
A defining moment 7 - 13 September 2000
