FW: African Social Forum

[pacedifesa <perugia at pacedifesa.org>]

Inoltro per conoscenza. Dalle Nonviolent Peaceforces, fondate lo scorso
novembre/dicembre in India.
Saluti,
Sandro Mazzi
CSDC
---------------------------------
Centro Studi Difesa Civile - CSDC
www.pacedifesa.org

Sede operativa Perugia
C/o Auoc, Via della Viola, 1 - 06122 Perugia
T.fax 075.572.66.41 - perugia at pacedifesa.org

----- Original Message -----
From: John Stewart <mailto:afsc at ecoweb.co.zw>  
To: npigc <mailto:npigc at yahoogroups.com>  ; Young Kim
<mailto:ykstorytelling at hotmail.com>  ; Tim Wallis
<mailto:twallis at peaceworkers.org.uk>  ; Renad Qubbaj
<mailto:pngonet at p-ol.com>  ; Ramu Manivannan
<mailto:ramu_manivannan at hotmail.com>  ; Rabia Roberts
<mailto:rabiaroberts at earthlink.net>  ; Phil Ritter <mailto:philr at sonic.net>
 ; Omar Diop <mailto:omardiop3 at yahoo.fr>  ; Michael Pokawa
<mailto:michael at nonviolentpeaceforce.org>  ; Mel Duncan
<mailto:mel at nonviolentpeaceforce.org>  ; Lynn Adamson
<mailto:ladamson at idirect.com>  ; John Stewart <mailto:novasc at ecoweb.co.zw>
 ; Akihiko Kimijima <mailto:kimijima at elsa.hokkai-s-u.ac.jp>  ; Chaiwat
Satha Anand <mailto:chaiwatna at yahoo.com>  ; Claudia Samayoa
<mailto:cvsjrh at intelnet.net.gt>  ; Donna Howard
<mailto:donna at nonviolentpeaceforce.org>  ; Francesco Tullio
<mailto:psicosoluzioni at francescotullio.it>  ; Gustavo Cabrera
<mailto:jeguma at racsa.co.cr>  
Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 5:13 PM
Subject: African Social Forum

Dear Colleagues

please find attached the draft report on the African social forum working
group on Peace, conflict and security

note under number 6b the reference to an Africawide consultation, very
positively received here

any further news on Porto Alegre???

all best wishes from Addis Ababa


John

------ End of Forwarded Message



Draft

African Social Forum: "Another Africa is possible!"

Workshop Peace, Conflict and security

An Africa with peace and security for all is possible!

Economic justice for the people is incompatible with wars and violent conflict!


1. The workshop met on 6 January 2002. The list of participants is
attached. The workshop was facilitated by Bakary Fofana (Guinea) and Manal
Abdel Halim (Sudan), and rapporteurs were Marie Edith Douzima-Lawson
(Central African Republic) and John Stewart (Zimbabwe).

2. The participants heard presentations about conflict, violence and
peacemaking in Africa. These included overviews and analyses, descriptions
of experiences and situations of war and conflict, and examples of
initiatives to prevent, resolve or recover after wars and conflicts.
Presentations made on specific cases  included the  following: Central
African Republic, Congo, Angola, Algeria, northern Uganda, South Africa,
Togo.  [Papers by the presenters will be separately available]

3. It was noted that war or violent conflict has affected every single
continental country in Africa; but that peace and security is an essential
prerequisite for progress towards dynamic human development so that
people's livelihoods and rights are met. It was also recognised that the
continuation of conflicts in Africa serves to weaken Africa, and so
perpetuates its subservient position in the world economy. Expenditures on
weapons have been made at the expense of human security; and such
expenditures have also served to enhance Africa's debts. The costs of such
conflicts have seldom been realistically counted, and thus accountability
in terms of reparations and reconstruction are seldom attributed and
followed up.

It was also noted that the majority of conflicts in Africa have been
intra-national conflicts, which often have effects across borders: and that
therefore formal state-level diplomatic processes to resolve such conflicts
are often inappropriate. It was clearly stated that civil society and
social movements have a significant role to play resolving conflicts and
dealing with their effects, but that this has not occurred sufficiently,
due to inadequacies in the civil society sector as well as the resistance
of states and political actors to accept such intervention. 

It was further noted that conflict in itself is not negative, and indeed is
the motor of social change; but that people's energies and creativity needs
to be channelled through strong organisations and movements which can
interact and campaign to enable social change to take place without
violence. It is particularly important that youth in Africa be enabled to
see that their instrumentalisation in violent activities is destructive of
their own future.

The workshop noted that it was important to plan, carry out and strengthen
activities which deal with the various stages and situations of violent
conflicts, in particular, the ranges of strategies and actions to prevent
and minimise the likelihood of conflicts degenerating into violence; the
strategies and activities required to manage, resolve and end conflicts;
and the activities for post-conflict reconstruction and the consolidation
and maintenance of peace.

4. The workshop recognised the multiple causes and factors of the violent
conflicts that have occurred and continue to occur in the continent,
including the following:

- the crisis of the legitimacy of governance and the weakness of the state;
the inadequacies, failures and distortions of the democratic process; the
crisis of legitimacy of governments and rulers and the authoritarianism and
the denial of human rights practiced in many states; which has been given a
new lease of life in the name of the war on terrorism (but which is itself
terror); power struggles that have led to coup d'etats, mutinies,
rebellions and mobilizations of militias

- the weaknesses and institutional crises caused by the imposition of
inappropriate and socially destructive policy options through
conditionalities for multilateral and bilateral aid and development
cooperation

- the issues of poverty, wealth divisions, class interests, and the effects
of the global economic processes on impoverishment of the African people
and their institutions, exacerbating their weaknesses

- the power struggles over the control of natural resources and wealth,
such as diamonds, and the implications in fuelling the trade in and
widespread availability of light weapons  

- the corruption that has ravaged both the public and private sectors (and
to some degree the civil society sector)

- the ways in which factors such as ethnicity, religion, unemployment and
poverty have been manipulated to mobilize support for violent factional
interests

- the fragmentation and even antagonisms within civil society and between
the social movements, resulting in the ineffectiveness of civil society
initiatives, or in worst cases their active participation in the course of
conflicts. In this regard it was noted that the phenomenon of
state-sponsored civil society is one that needs particular
attention         


- the interplay between internal factors and external factors, both of
which need to be taken into account in order to effectively resolve the
conflicts

- the inappropriateness of many attempts to resolve conflicts including the
use of diplomacy and inter-state mechanisms for intra-state conflicts, as
well as the frequent absence of women from the peace negotiations
processes. In addition, African civil society capacity has usually been
overlooked, and work has been carried out by professionals from other parts
of the world, with the usual cultural inappropriateness and dislocations.

5. The workshop noted the effects of war on violent conflict which include
the following, all of which need to be overcome in post-conflict
reconstruction:

- economic dislocation and the diversion of capital and resources for
non-productive or destructive purposes; including the rendering
non-productive of agricultural land due to the presence of landmines, or
population displacements, the disruption or destruction of transport,
energy and communications infrastructures, and the exacerbation of poverty,
marginalisation and the fragility of survival

- social and humanitarian costs, of refugee and internally displaced
population, the destruction of health, sanitation and education
infrastructures and the increase in demand for health and social services
by the wounded, amputees, traumatized people, orphans, and the increased
demand for health services due to the spread of diseases such as malaria,
tuberculosis, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic

- the culture of impunity, the demoralisation and dispersal of political,
judicial and social institutions and the absence of the rule of just laws,
and the absense of social regulation mechanisms, which allow for the
continuation of violence and armed conflicts

6. Strategies for an alternative Africa were agreed as follows:

a) The African Social Forum will set up an Africa-wide monitoring and
review mechanism ("observatoire") on the issues of conflict, social
tension, wars and militarisation, and strategies for peace-making and the
consolidation of peace and security. This will be a research network,
comprised of technical experts, researchers and social movement activists,
focussing on issues such as the nature, causes and costs of violent
conflict, human rights abuses, economic crimes and corruption. It will also
be an advocacy and campaigning network, to exert pressure on civil society,
governments and other institutions (such as the African Union) for policies
and activities to prevent, manage, resolve and deal with the consequences
of violent conflicts and wars.

It was agreed that this mechanism should operate at national, sub-regional
and continental level. It was recognized that initiatives already exist in
some countries and some regions which need to be supported and
strengthened; it was agreed that an audit of organisations, networks and
initiatives working in the field of peace and security will be carried out
in order to draw in the potential richness of African capacities.

A working committee for the establishment and initial operation of this
"observatory" will be established at the Addis Ababa meeting.

b)  The African Social Forum will facilitate the continued communication
and exchanges of perspectives, analyses, experiences and strategies between
the participants concerned
with conflicts, peace and security. This would have the  following
objectives: that a common understanding and collective policy may be
developed; that expertise may be recognised and drawn on from within
Africa; that intra-African solidarity and support, from within civil
society and social movements may be expanded and strengthened. In this
light the ASF notes that the Nonviolent Peaceforce intends to hold an
Africa-wide consultation during 2003, to explore means of strengthening and
increasing civilian participation in peacemaking, peacekeeping,
peacebuilding and non-violent social change.

c) The African Social Forum resolves to take up the following  campaigns:

- in relation to governance, it affirms the need for constitutionally
guaranteed separation of powers, in particular with an independent,
credible, and functional judiciary, so that the rule of just laws may
operate; and with the effective operation of parliaments as oversight
mechanisms for the Executive. At the continental level the ASF resolves to
campaign for the establishment of the African Court of Justice, to replace
the African Commission on Peoples and Human Rights (and in the interim will
campaign to ensure that the Commission shall have the powers to enforce its
findings). A key provision for the African Court of Justice shall be its
right to enter into investigation and process without the invitations of
governments. The ASF recommends that the "peer review mechanism" be built
into the founding act of the African Union, and be enforceable both
politically through the AU and juridically through the African Court of
Justice

- in relation to the strengthening of democracy, the ASF resolves to
campaign for increased social movement and civil society monitoring of
election processes, both nationally and by international exchanges; to
strengthen and support citizen and voter education processes and
activities. The ASF affirms the need for strong independent and responsible
media as necessary for the strengthening of democratic process, and
resolves to encourage social movement participation in campaigns for such
independent media  

- in relation to stability and security, the ASF affirms the need of
integration for long term stability and security, at both the sub-regional
and continental levels. The ASF resolves to campaign for regional
integration that is based on the interests and perspectives of socials
movements and people's interests, so that regional and continental
initiatives for conflict prevention and peace-building are much more
effective. In particular, the ASF resolves to facilitate civil society and
social movement solidarity and collective initiatives towards policy
campaigns at the sub-regional and continental levels. Substantive sectors
to be addressed include: the light weapons trade; reduction and
redeployment of military budgets; demobilisation and reintegration into
civilian society of former combatants; peace education and peace
mobilisation initiatives; regionalization of conflict transformation skills
and competences training.

- in relation to disarmament, the ASF resolves to facilitate the increased
participation of social movements and civil society in the campaigns and
initiatives to end the arms trade, and in particular the trade in light
weapons and small arms that sustains many conflicts in our continent,
noting such initiatives as the International Action Network on Small Arms.
It further resolves to campaign to develop and support measures to end the
corrupt and exploitative use of Africa's natural and mineral resources
(whether diamonds and oil, cattle, forests, or medicinal plants) for the
waging of wars and the continuation of violent conflicts,   through such
initiatives as the Kimberly process. Another aspect of the campaign will
focus on the reduction of military expenditure by states.

- in relation to social and economic conflicts, the ASF resolves to
campaign to strengthen non-violent skills within community and popular
organisations and social movements, for effective campaigning  and for
handling disputes through mediation, negotiations and arbitration. Such a
campaign will also work to increase the availability of such professional
but accountable skills, drawing for training from within Africa's wealth of
experience and competence, to be operational at all levels including at the
national, regional and continental levels. Indigenous and traditional
mechanisms for handling and resolving conflicts shall be recognised and
validated by such a campaign. It shall be demanded that the African Union
institutionalise and make effective and accountable processes to carry out
arbitration, mediation and negotiation activities professionally and
dispassionately, and to recognise and support civil society and social
movement initiatives in this regard.

- n relation to youth and violence, the ASF resolves to campaign for
support for activities and initiatives to enable youth to appropriate and
develops non-violent skills and skills for social and economic development.
A networking of existing initiatives will be carried out with a view to the
sharing of experiences and the development of new activities and
initiatives. 

- in relation to human and people's rights, the ASF resolves to campaign to
support and strengthen social movement and civil society organisations that
defend and protect human rights, in relation to abuses of power, the
culture of impunity, torture and organised violence, including through the
ratification and operation of international legal conventions and
instruments that protect rights (particularly those of workers, rural
people, women, children, refugees and displaced people, and other
marginalized or vulnerable people.) The campaign shall work to support and
strengthen national healing and reconciliation processes, including
initiatives for truth, memory, dignity and justice for victims and
survivors of violence.

- In relation to post-conflict reconstruction, the ASF resolves to campaign
for just reparations and appropriate accountability mechanisms so that the
human and material destruction caused by the conflict can be repaired and
healed, in all countries struggling to recover from wars and violent
conflict     


d) the ASF resolves to campaign to denounce the politics of war and terror
practised by the United States and Britain, and more generally the
countries of the North, in particular in terms of the so-called war on
terror - recognising the link between such militarism and the maintenance
of the current exploitative world order which sustains the neo-liberal
world economic system. The ASF rejects and refuses the war on Iraq,
recognising that it is part of the strategy to control global natural
resources. At the same time it denounces the war against the Palestinian
people, and calls for a just peace, based on self-determination for the
Palestinian people.


The African Social Forum resolves to make the following recommendations:

I) to social movements and civil society in Africa: that there is urgent
need for the social movements and civil society to focus on and develop and
strengthen their skills and capacity to participate in activities to
prevent the degeneration of social process into armed conflicts by
developing skills for non-violence;

II) to the African Governments and the African Union: that an Africa-wide
treaty be established, with urgency, to ban and eliminate the trade in
light weapons from the African continent; and to enforce and implement the
International Treaty to Ban Land Mines

III) to the African Governments and the African Union: that the African
Court of Justice be established with urgency, with effective rights of
entry, investigation and enforcement, to protect and defend peoples
economic, social and human rights