Studying the Draft Outcome Document (August 5th) within the context of the political, cultural economic context of Africa in 2005, it is clear that the document does not as yet present a credible agenda for the bold overhaul of the multi-lateral system and the realisation of human rights and the MDGs in Africa.

Over the next four weeks, there is still time to change this.

We, members of the civil society in discussions with representatives of Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), East African Community (EAC), East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) and African Embassies based in Nairobi, identify the following key issues to be of relevance to Africa.

We call on national delegations, regional inter-governmental organisations and civil society organisations to strengthen the draft text in the following manner;

Security and Global Governance:

We note that the issue of human insecurity is related to the abuse of power and human rights violations. Half a century after its inception, the performance of the UN in keeping peace and intervening in situations of emergencies and food insecurity has been wanting. Without regulating the production and trade in arms, placing people’s security over the security of national states and increasing cash support for regional peace initiatives, Africa will not be able to capitalise on the important gains of the last five years.

Consequently, we call for:

 Explicit recognition in the text that the primary focus of state security and human security is to ensure protection of citizens and peoples;
 The proposed ten year programme of support to strengthening the African peace-keeping should go beyond technical assistance and training to provide actual finances to African Governments to underwrite stand-by operations;
 OECD countries to prioritise financing for development over military spending and desist from including military spending in the same category as development assistance;
 A standing Panel of Experts should complement the proposed Peace Building Commission with mandate over issues of conflict and emergencies. These two entities should be put in place to strengthen existing Early Warning Mechanisms. Their mandate should include independent investigation and verification of incidents. Further, there is need for clarify the criteria of membership, roles and responsibilities of the Peace Building Commission;
 The UN Observer and Peace Keeping mandates should be broadened to allow UN forces to disarm combatants and to protect civilians.

The current discourse on UN Reforms needs to be seen in the broader questions of global governance. We share our Governments concerns that African states are under-represented in key decision-making structures such as the Security Council. We share the view also that the Security Council should be expanded to ensure equal geographical representation, transparency and accountability.

Nevertheless, national delegations need to address with the same degree of urgency as the Security Council, important issues of global financial and economic governance. Negative policy conditionality from the international finance institutions continue to impact on the productive capacity of our economies to grow and diversify in an equitable manner, guarantee domestic savings, employment and basic social services. In the last year, we have seen important recognition placed on the removal of fees for education and education, trade tariff and fiscal and budgetary ceilings as ways of halting the deepening of poverty in Africa and decimated capacity of African states to deliver quality public services.

Reforms to the multi-lateral system must establish mechanisms that ensure state accountability to the citizenry and multi-laterally agreed international norms and standards. Reforms to the multi-lateral system will have very little relevance to Africa, unless stronger mechanisms for regulating multinational non-state actors such as corporations, international financial institutions and trade institutions are instituted.

For the proposed UN reforms to be meaningful;

 African representatives in the expanded Security Council must reflect Africa’s interests rather than narrow national interests. Mechanisms should be established to increase the accountability of African Security Council members to regional, sub regional and national legislatures;
 The multilateral system must go beyond mere token consultation to facilitate the full participation of CSOs in the UN reform process.

Human Rights, Justice and Reconciliation:

While recognizing the critical role of UN System for establishing impressive rights norms in the areas of global security, ecology, democracy, human rights and development, there has been inadequate credible enforcement of these norms. As an example, UN expenditure on human rights remains unbelievably low.

The draft text should:

 Retain the clear link between the implementation of the MDGs and the international human rights framework developed by the UN and existing regional human rights instruments, especially the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights;.
 Urge the UN to strengthen the International Criminal Court, the office of the High Commission for Human Rights(OHCHR) and the Human Rights Council with a view to making them more effective in acting in cases where states violate human rights;
 Reaffirm the supremacy of the UN in the multilateral financing, investment and trading system by ensuring that there is put in place enforcement mechanisms to protect and promote human rights.
 Transitional justice mechanisms that seek to balance justice and reconciliation should be strengthened. In both post and pre-conflict societies there must be a deliberate effort to address questions of justice, reparations and rehabilitation as the foundations for sustainable peace. In particular transitional justice process should aim to address ethnicity, racism and the concept of inclusivity across all forms of social stratification. Africa is a leader in this respect, having excellent examples from Rwanda, South Africa and Sierra Leone that the entire international community could learn from.

It is important to:

 Specifically re-affirm the linkage between sexual violations during times of conflict and the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Comprehensive mechanisms must be put in place to prevent and eradicate these tendencies and vigilance in the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators on one hand and compensation and rehabilitation of survivors on the other.

Socio-Economic Development:

African Heads of State and national delegations must not lose the opportunity to press for greater policy space and freedom from external conditionality in areas such as privatisation of basic services that have had adverse effects on African citizens. Specifically, the draft text should:

 Explicitly acknowledge the failure to meet the first target for the MDGs namely gender parity in primary and secondary education this year;
 Should not allow for African governments which have already set higher development goals to adjust them downward to meet the minimalist framework contained in the MDGs;
 Accelerate the UN’s work with African countries to address the problems of food insecurity, conflict and emergencies in a comprehensive way;
 Recognise that MDGs remain unachievable unless industrialised nations remove subsidies that they give to their farmers. These agricultural subsidies have and continue to impact negatively on Africa’s agricultural development and food security;
 Explicitly recognise the odious nature of debts owed by some Governments to bi-lateral institutions. These should not be repaid while others should be totally written-off to release funds for development;
 Mandate the UN to establish a multi-lateral framework that allows for the return of funds and other assets siphoned by corrupt African leaders held in European and other foreign countries without conditionalities.

Environmental Governance:

We stress the importance of ensuring sound ecological governance policies. There is need to recognise the interrelationship between natural resource management external interests that often lead to protracted conflict within Africa. The UN must ensure therefore that these conflicts do not occur and where they do, that the capacity of African states is built so that they can respond in a timely and effective manner. Further environmental governance within the UN system must specifically address the question of toxic waste dumping particular northern governments must sign relevant international instruments regulating environmental protection.

Women’s Rights:

The full participation of women in all aspects of development is important in the promotion of women’s rights. The draft text should assert:

 The primacy of women’s participation in politics and decision-making, particularly in peacemaking and peace building processes;
 Women’s ownership of and control over, property and other productive resources should be included as indicators of poverty eradication in the MDGs;
 That sexual offences against women and girls in situations of conflict, peace-keeping and military operations (training) are crimes against humanity at all stages and should be treated as such in terms of investigation, prosecution and reparations;
 Women’s universal access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, expanded use of effective drugs for HIV and AIDS and national campaigns to stop violence against women are critical strategies for comprehensively addressing the impact of HIV and AIDS on African women.