From Africa Recovery, Vol.15#4 (December 2001), Briefs page
'Open society' initiative launched in West Africa
A new foundation to promote civil society and democracy, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), was launched on 11 December in Abuja, Nigeria. With funding from Mr. George Soros, a billionaire international financier, it will provide grants to organizations seeking to strengthen the region's independent media, court systems and other non-governmental initiatives that help support democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Democracy, stressed Mr. Soros at the launch, is "not just free elections, but also the institutions without which democracies cannot function."
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had previously urged
Mr. Soros to extend his philanthropic activities to West Africa,
welcomed the establishment of OSIWA. He hoped that the foundation,
in addition to its other concerns, would also help ensure "transparency
as an antidote to rampant corruption."
Photo: ©allAfrica.com
The organization's board is composed of prominent individuals
from the region, and is chaired by Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
former head of the UN Development Programme's Regional Bureau
for Africa. It will cover 18 countries, including all the members
of the Economic Community of West African States, plus Chad and
Cameroon. In addition to the Abuja office, OSIWA will open one
in Dakar, Senegal. Six years ago, Mr. Soros launched a similar
group, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA),
with an office in South Africa.
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