Calling for a "concerted international effort" to promote peace and security in Africa, the UN Security Council has asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to develop a "comprehensive response" to the continent's conflicts and their aftermath. Meeting for the first time on Africa at the ministerial level, the Security Council on 25 September said the Secretary-General should present a report to the Council by February 1998 on how to better identify sources of conflict in Africa, how to prevent or resolve them and how, once they are over, to lay the foundation for peace and economic growth.
"We have dissected and debated Africa, and studied and summarized its challenges for decades," Secretary-General Annan told the meeting. "Now is the time for action."
While commending African countries for having made "significant strides" towards democratization, economic reform and protection of human rights, the Security Council expressed "grave concern" over the number and intensity of armed conflicts which "threaten regional peace, cause massive human dislocation and suffering, perpetuate instability and divert resources from long-term development."
Only the third time that the Security Council has ever met at the foreign minister level, the session also examined ways of strengthening collaboration between the UN and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on conflict prevention and resolution.
Initiated by the US, and chaired by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the open meeting was attended by foreign ministers of the other four permanent and the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, as well as representatives of observer governments and UN agencies and organizations.
Photo: UN / Milton Grant
In his speech, Secretary-General Annan acknowledged the consensus that the solution to Africa's problems rests "with Africans themselves." But this recognition also challenges the international community "to think precisely how best we can accompany the Africans on their path to lasting peace, stability, justice and sustainable development."
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, the current OAU Chairman, in turn noted that the session was being held against the backdrop of a "perceptible African renaissance, a rebirth and a renewal" which is reshaping not only African societies, but also Africa's relations with the rest of the world.
Many countries have adopted political and economic reforms, free and fair elections are being held and the continent is taking greater responsibility for the resolution of its crises, the OAU Chairman noted. In order to resolve conflicts, regional mechanisms have been activated, as well as the OAU itself, through the Central Organ of the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution.
But peace and security cannot be attained in "the conditions of abject poverty that are prevalent in Africa today," Mr. Mugabe said. "Security is no longer confined to preventing invasions," agreed Mr. Annan, but is built on "a firm foundation of sustainable development."
OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim noted that the issues of peace, security and development need to be addressed simultaneously. Conflicts have caused "irreparable loss, damage and destruction to our continent and peoples" and "acute humanitarian tragedies," with far-reaching implications for Africa's stability.
Member states should draw lessons from past crises, the OAU Secretary-General said, including the failure to anticipate and prevent the genocide in Rwanda and the Security Council's "inability to respond appropriately" to the crisis in eastern former Zaire.
Mr. Salim called for a new partnership between the UN and the OAU to deal with current conflicts in Africa. Cooperation should also focus on preventive diplomacy and on forging a joint capacity for post-conflict peace-building and reconstruction. Recent initiatives by external partners to strengthen African peace-keeping capacity are also welcome, the OAU Secretary-General added.
But regardless of the level of cooperation between the OAU and UN, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Moussa, successful preventive diplomacy, peace-keeping and peacebuilding depend on the political will of the parties to a conflict, as well as on the support of UN member states, especially the Security Council. The primary responsibility for international peace and security rests with the international community, Mr. Moussa insisted.
Photo: UN / Milton Grant
Japanese Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi pointed out that success in resolving Africa's problems would be "a test of the effectiveness" of the Security Council. He stressed, however, as did many other speakers, that peace and development "are two sides of the same coin -- without development the causes of conflict will not be eliminated and without peace the conditions for development will not be met."
Continuing to reduce aid flows will "raise the spectre of increased tension and further crises," said French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine. Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lena Hjelm-Wallén, noted that in contrast to the international trend, Sweden's aid budget -- the largest part of which is allocated to Africa -- will increase substantially over the next three years.
"It need not surprise us that the continent with the least economic progress has produced also the greatest conflicts," said Mr. Robin Cook, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom. He said his government is committed to reversing the decline in British aid and it also has announced a new initiative on debt relief for the poorest countries.
While acknowledging that there is a "good that only aid can do," said Mrs. Albright, the "primary impetus" for economic growth must come from the private sector through strategies that "make indigenous investment rewarding and foreign investment welcome."
President Mugabe noted that in the past, Africa had been "dictated to" and was unable to define its own priorities. Today, Africa is not asking for "charity, but for a new partnership which is mutually beneficial." But for this partnership to be "credible," he called for urgent action on debt relief and on stemming the decline in foreign aid.
Many UN initiatives on Africa have "foundered and collapsed" for lack of requisite resources, he warned. In the meantime, over half the population of sub-Saharan Africa continues to live in "absolute poverty" on less than $1 a day. "The credibility of international cooperation is obviously at stake in the face of such damning and distressing statistics," the OAU chairman concluded.
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US highlights Africa's achievements
The US, which held the rotating presidency of the Security Council in September, initiated the ministerial session "to recognize and support a new quality in Africa's relations with the world," US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said. In many nations, she noted, "difficult reforms are producing economic growth and progress towards democracy."
Nonetheless, US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson
told Africa Recovery, 65 per cent of the debates in the Security
Council focus on Africa -- and usually its crises. It was rather "to
highlight what is happening in a positive sense...democratization, elections,
market economies, peaceful resolution of disputes," that the US convened
the ministerial session. 
The objective, Ambassador Richardson said, was to talk about sources of conflict, development, and nation-building and develop strategies for a peaceful and more prosperous Africa. But more important is that the meeting produce some follow-through and not end as another "public relations effort," he added.
The Security Council has discussed with the Secretary-General the importance of the report that he is to prepare by February, which will be a "very serious, substantial effort," the Ambassador said. It should address how a reformed UN, with a strengthened Security Council, can better address African problems.
Mr. Richardson credited the Organization of African Unity with conducting effective -- and largely "unsung" -- mediation in African crises. The US has provided over $10 mn over the past five years to strengthen the OAU's conflict management centre, and also supports peace-keeping "for Africa by Africans," he said, noting that it is among the donors that are funding the training of an African Crisis Response Force in six countries.
The US will be devoting further high-level attention to Africa, Ambassador Richardson said, with a visit by President Bill Clinton in 1998. During the Security Council meeting, Secretary of State Albright also announced that she plans to visit Africa before the end of this year.
