Submission to the Commission for Africa from members of the Evangelical
Christian Community in Africa – facilitated by Tearfund1
Introduction
In Africa, faith is important to nearly everyone. Whether they are followers of forms of
Islam, Christianity or a traditional religion, people's faith provides a set of values that
underlie their behaviour and action.
As a contribution to the Commission for Africa's Objectives 1 (To generate new ideas
and action) and 5 (...listening to Africans), Tearfund is committed to giving a voice to the
evangelical Christian constituency within Africa. Estimated at around seventy million
people, this is a significant minority with sizeable institutions: the Kale Heywet church in
Ethiopia has over 5 million members whilst there are over 12 million Anglicans in
Nigeria. It has national alliances in 38 African countries.
As an initial step, Tearfund has sought to give a voice to a panel of leaders from the
evangelical constituency. These were chosen through consultation with Tearfund
stakeholders relating to Africa. The selection criteria required that they were well
connected to ordinary, poor, people whilst being able to think internationally. There was
a deliberate intent to have a spread by geographical origins, European language
spoken, gender, and occupation.
The panellists were contacted by e-mail, and sent the Commission's July 2004 policy
work programme. Seventeen that could be contacted were then interviewed by 'phone in
late July and early August. The interviews focussed on what the panellists knew about,
and thought of the Commission; key issues that they wanted to tell the Commission
about; key recommendations for action that the international community could take to
response to the issues; and what else the panellists would like to do in relation to the
Commission.
The panellists gave a frank analysis of issues facing Africa, with some imaginative
responses. This document is a collection of their thoughts to inform the Commission.
1
Tearfund is a Christian relief and development agency working through local partners
to bring help and hope to communities in need around the world. Last year Tearfund
supported over 500 projects in 90 countries.
List of Participants contacted
Dr. Agnes Abuom, Consultant, Kenya
Mrs Rachel Beassemda, Co-ordinator of the Women’s Department of the Evangelical
Church, Chad
Daniel Bourdanne, Regional Secretary (for French-speaking Africa) of the International
Federation of Evangelical Students, based in the Ivory Coast
Mr. Sadiki Byombuka, Project Co-ordinator for CELPA (Communaute des Eglises Libres
de Pentecote en Afrique), Democratic Republic of Congo
Mr. Ndaba Mazabane, Chairman of the International Council of the World Evangelical
Alliance, President of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa and a Regional
Representative of Focus on the Family, South Africa
Archbishop Donald Mtetemela, Tanzania
Mr. Jephias Mundondo, Executive Director of the Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT),
Zimbabwe
Ms. Jocelyn Muraya, Tearfund’s Children at Risk Facilitator for the Great Lakes Region,
based in Kenya
Ben Mussanzi, Founder of the Centre for Conflict Resolution in Democratic Republic of
Congo. Currently working on peace and reconciliation issues with African diaspora in
the UK
Bishop Paul Mususu, Executive Director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia and
Co-Chair of the Oasis Forum, Zambia
Mr. Gracewell Mwansa, Board Member of the Jubilee Centre and businessman with a
longstanding interest in the mining industry, Zambia
Bishop Bernard Ntahoturi, Diocese of Matana, Burundi
Mr. Antoine Rutayisire, Director, African Evangelistic Enterprise (and member of the
Peace and Reconciliation Committee), Rwanda.
Mr. Dennis Tongoi, Chair of Christians for a Just Society, Kenya
Ms. Edith Wakumire, Executive Director of Uganda Women Concerned Ministries,
Uganda
Dr. Tesfaye Yacob, General Secretary of the Kale Heywet Church, Ethiopia
Mrs. Florence Yeboah, Development Worker, Ghana
Executive Summary
Our consultation process has revealed that there is currently very little knowledge about
the Commission and its work among those working with poor communities in Africa. It is
essential that the Commission seeks to engage with these people as a matter of
urgency, as they will be vital for implementing the Commission’s recommendations.
Effective change will have to come from the bottom up, and unless people from the
grassroots are consulted then the current development paradigm will not be challenged.
This report highlights the importance of faith to African people and the key role that the
Church can play in assisting development in poor communities; from providing education
and supplementing the state in health service provision, to holding the government to
account and providing a space for people to debate and learn. The importance of the
Church within civil society should be recognised by the Commission in both their
consultation process and in their final report and extra assistance should be provided by
the international community so that the Church can continue to play this vital role.
The report also stresses the need for more just trade rules in order to restore dignity to
African countries, and urges African countries to remove some of the barriers put up
between themselves. The importance of business to the African economy is recognised
but this report calls for tougher regulations to hold businesses and banks to account, as
well as incentives to encourage businesses to source locally and to invest in training,
and research in Africa.
Empowerment is a key theme of this report. African education systems should place
more emphasis on empowering people and African leaders should be empowered to
play a more active role in the global arena. The need for more practical education in
agriculture, politics and financial management was also stressed, with more measures
put in place for those outside of the formal education system. This report recognises
that women are the most important agent of change in Africa and suggests that they
should be singled out for support. However, the approach of singling out individual
countries within Africa for extra support was criticised as, particularly in the area of
conflict, the fate of African countries is highly interrelated.
This report suggests that aid conditionality can be a good thing. However, conditions
should be set by the intended beneficiaries rather than the international community, so
that there is more ownership and participation within Africa. The bottlenecks in the
distribution of HIV/AIDS assistance are also highlighted and the Commission is urged to
recommend that more funding be provided to faith-based organisations as these best
represent the “real people on the ground” and are crucial for finding effective delivery
mechanisms.
General thoughts on the Commission
The first question asked of the panellists was whether they had heard about the
Commission already. Their responses revealed that knowledge of the Commission
among Africans active in civil society is, at best, patchy. Press coverage had been seen
in Ethiopia, Zambia and South Africa, although rarely any detailed articles. Participants
elsewhere were only vaguely aware, if all, that the Commission existed before Tearfund
contacted them. This will obviously be an issue that the Commission will want to address
in the next phase of the consultation process.
It was noted that in several countries in Africa, such as Zimbabwe and Somalia, most
people do not have access to mainstream media sources making it very difficult for
knowledge of the Commission’s work to reach civil society groups there. Although this
will clearly be difficult to overcome the Commission will have to bear in mind that the
people these countries will be much harder to reach and may want to look for alternative
means of raising awareness among civil society groups - the BBC World Service radio
being one option.
Gracewell Mwansa, who is currently in the UK and attended the Birmingham diaspora
meeting, noted that the Commission are working to a very tight schedule with very little
time for reflection. He suggested that this could be because the Commission have
already decided on their own agenda.
The panellists all felt that the Commission for Africa could be a useful initiative if it
mobilises the international community to action on African issues. One of the participants
used an African metaphor to encapsulate the situation - “When a house is on fire, the
people on the outside can do more to help than the people on the inside” - and it was
acknowledged that the international community has a vital role to play in helping Africa
to develop. However, many panellists stressed that the Commission must look for
distinctly African solutions - they cannot assume that policies that have worked in other
parts of the world can easily be adapted to African nations.
The strongest message to the Commission from the participants, repeated many times
over, was the need to really connect with the grass roots in Africa. They felt passionately
that effective solutions must be bottom-up rather than top-down, as when initiatives start
at the top “only the crumbs from the table reach those at the bottom.” The Commission
will only be considered a success if the changes it recommend have an impact on the
poorest in society. Civil society groups can most accurately reflect the real-life situations
experienced in poor communities and therefore have to be fully engaged in the
consultation process. The support of civil society will also be important in implementing
change, so again they need to feel that they have some ownership of the Commission’s
report and recommendations.
It was noted that the African members of the Commission are not directly accountable to
African people in their role as Commissioners, which again reinforces the need to
consult widely in Africa. Holding a series of seminars and workshops was suggested as
one way of doing this – both now and also after the report is published.
African youth were singled out as a constituency that the Commission should really seek
to engage with in their consultation and feedback processes. This would help to
empower young people to engage in the decision-making process in future. It was
suggested that consultation events could be held in African universities. A number of
participants felt that they might be able to help the Commission to engage with youth
audiences, as well as with other representatives of poor communities.
Another message that came through strongly was that the Commission needs to
empower Africans to make a change for themselves, as well as to change perceptions of
Africa in the rest of the world. As one person put it, “there needs to be a complete
change to an empowerment paradigm from what is currently an exploitation paradigm.”
Another metaphor used was that of African people being like an eagle in a cage. “They
are currently prisoners of their own way of thinking and are too scared to fly.” The
Commission has to seek to address this problem and seek ways to build capacity and
confidence in both the grassroots and at an institutional level in Africa.
Gaps identified in the work-plan
Based on the latest document available from the Commission, the Work Plan published
in July 2004, we asked the participants what they thought of the Commission’s policy
analysis, and whether they felt that there were any gaps or flaws. Although most felt that
the analysis was generally sound, a number of omissions were highlighted that have
been listed below:
•
The paper makes no mention of colonialism or neo-colonialism. These concepts
resonate very strongly with African society, are considered by most to be an integral
part of Africa’s current condition. By ignoring their existence the Commission are
ignoring the context within which they are working, and will find it more difficult to
engage with many Africans.
•
The paper does not place enough emphasis on climate change. Changing weather
conditions are felt acutely on the ground in Ethiopia and climate change should be
presented more strongly as one of the factors that limit Africa’s growth. The capacity
of Africans to mitigating climate change and to deal with its consequences needs to
be built up.
•
The psychological trauma experienced by so many in Africa due to conflict and
instability needs more recognition. The Commission should encourage more
financial support for post-conflict reconstruction programmes, as traumatised
societies will find it very difficult to rebuild their livelihoods.
•
The Commission’s work plan assumes that most initiatives will work through African
government and too many of the ideas generally put forward are top-down rather
than bottom-up (a legacy from the colonial era). More emphasis should be placed on
empowering Africans to take action themselves, providing them with access to
education and to micro-finance etc.
•
The work plan does not pay nearly enough attention to the non-African partners in,
and beneficiaries of, corruption. Many reports on African governance ignore those in
the West who are complicit in corruption, in arms sales, the illegal exploitation of
mineral wealth, etc. The Commission needs to redress this imbalance.
•
As one of our participants said, “Genuine transformation can only come with a
complete change of heart.” Many of the contributors to this submission commented
that the Commission’s work plan does not recognise the spiritual dimension of life,
which is so important to the majority of Africans. They cited the growing emphasis
that society is placing on the amassing of wealth and the role of society in nurturing
an environment where corruption is unacceptable as areas that the Commission
examine, and stressed that Africa’s spiritual resources should be taken seriously in
the development debate.
•
The work plan does not make reference to the multitude of bilateral relationships
between western powers and African countries. It is not just a simple case of the
West’s relationship with Africa, but each power is closer to some African countries
than others in terms of trade, aid, politics etc. For example, Daniel Bourdanne was
surprised that the Africa Commission was a UK initiative rather than a French one,
because of his experience of France’s relationship with the Ivory Coast. This
complexity needs to be taken into account when considering action by the
international community.
•
The paper does not do enough to balance the need to attract new investment with
the need for good governance, and in fact the latter should be prioritised. Many
examples of wealth being squandered by bad governance were given and it was
stressed that this will happen again unless the governance problems are addressed
before additional investment is sought.
•
More emphasis on capacity building of African society is required as this is the most
important way of ensuring that any benefits are felt by the poor.
•
The paper does not emphasise enough how closely HIV/AIDS and poverty are
interrelated. An important part of the Commission’s work should be to carefully
examine the links between the two and to suggest changes that will urgently address
the needs of poor people in relation to HIV/AIDS.
•
The work plan also needs to take into account much more explicitly the reasons why
African women are more likely to be poor than African men, and the broader
consequences of gender inequality in poor communities.
•
It was suggested that the Commission should look carefully at how they measure
development in their work. One participant stressed that many of the material things
considered essential for development in the West would not be considered so in
Africa, and the most important priorities for ordinary families are access to food and
good health. They are focused on “surviving against the odds.”
•
It was also noted that the Commission does not indicate which issues it considers
are most urgent in its work plan. Although this may become clearer later on in the
Commission’s work it is important to remember that radical change will not be
possible across all areas simultaneously, and that at some point some areas will
have to be given priority over others.
Recommendations for the Commission
A. Governance and effective states
Key recommendation: "The international community can do more to support civil
society within African countries, providing them with encouragement and support
and helping them to have the muscle to ensure that laws which exist on paper are
actually enforced. While African voices can have an impact, they often need
international support to really bring about change."
Perhaps the strongest set of messages coming from the panellists concerned deep
dissatisfaction with national leadership. There were widespread perceptions that leaders
lacked integrity, and stole wealth whilst doing little for their countries which faced crises,
especially HIV/AIDS. There was a concern that the Commission's work plan assumes
that most initiatives will work through African government and too many of the ideas put
forward are top-down rather than bottom-up.
"We are tired of corrupt leaders who steal the people's money."
"Africa is poor because of lack of integrity on the part of leaders. Leaders are entrusted
with wealth but haven't been caring."
“Leaders serve themselves…”
Many respondents talked of the need to make governments more accountable. They
felt that government didn't listen - a panellist described himself as "a voice in the
wilderness" - and a surprising number asked for pressure from the international
community. This would include giving more power to parliament but in particular, many
respondents wanted the international community to strengthen civil society, as "this is
the most important way of ensuring that any benefits are felt by the poor.” Leaders
should engage more fully with civil society. Funding should be delivered more to civil
society groups, who in turn should be encouraged to be accountable and transparent.
One person noted that the South African President has monthly breakfast meetings with
religious leaders in order to hear about their real life experiences. It was recommended
that other leaders should be encouraged to do the same to encourage more dialogue
between government and civil society.
"The international community can also do more to support civil society within African
countries, providing them with encouragement and support and helping them to have the
muscle to ensure that laws which exist on paper are actually enforced. While African
voices can have an impact, they often need international support to really bring about
change."
"African democracies are still in their infancy in many cases, corruption is widespread,
and the international community should force African leaders to listen to their people
more. In this way, some aid conditionality can be good."
However, one panellist advocated that leadership should be strengthened across all
sectors - government, business, and civil society:
"Africa is facing a crisis of leadership, both in Government and in civil society, due to
long history of instability and of bad models of governance. Africans have to ask
themselves what kind of leaders they want. Accountable, visionary leaders are required
at all levels of society. The work plan needs to focus more on developing leadership
skills in all areas - government, business, and civil society."
It was also noted that democracy is not just about elections but it is also about debate
and participation, which are often lacking even in an apparent democracy. People need
the skills and information required to hold their government to account.
“The Commission should call for increased investment in education, health and housing.
These key areas have the power to bring back people’s dignity and give them the
confidence to participate in civil society. Without this participation, democracies cannot
function.”
B. Opportunities for growth
(i) Trade
Key recommendations: “More just trade rules are urgently required, to give
African countries their dignity. International relationships are currently
imbalanced and a change of mentality is required in both the North and the
South.”
“The WTO should consider special and differential treatment for Africa.”
Many of the panellists argued that the weaker position of Africa should be considered in
international trade agreements, and that preferential treatment is required to help Africa
to develop out of poverty.
“Trade cannot be fair, but it could be more fair.”
“If trade isn’t just, it discourages people who are trying to take the future in their hands.”
One person noted that international regulation regarding packaging, quality etc are too
strict, and argued that these should be re-examined and, where appropriate, help should
be given to African exporters to help them meet export standards. As well as
international trading rules, other problems were identified as hindering Africa’s ability to
prosper in trade. One participant recognised the prohibitively high costs of obtaining
visas in other African countries, and of air travel around the continent. He pointed out
that these internal barriers were a legacy of the colonial era.
“The Commission should encourage African countries to remove some of the barriers
that they have put up between each other because of the problems this causes for trade
if nothing else…Here also, African governments need to get their own act together.”
Other factors limiting Africa’s ability to trade, such as conflict and high levels of illiteracy
were noted, and the interconnectedness of the issues that Africa has to deal with was
stressed.
(ii) The Role of Business
Contextual quotes: “Foreign companies can often bring economic benefits to a
country. However, too often they ignore the culture that they are operating in and
its value system. This forces communities to make a trade-off between
development and their own culture rather than allowing them to be intertwined.”
“There is not a history of private sector philanthropy in Africa, and this should be
addressed. More legislation is required to hold business to account.”
All of the participants recognised that help can come to Africa not just from foreign
governments to African governments, but also from foreign businesses to African
businesses. They encouraged the Commission to examine ways in which foreign
businesses can help to deliver services on the ground and participate effectively in
community development. A number of concrete suggestions were put forward:
“Tax breaks should be offered on private sector scholarships and other investment
schemes”
“Companies should be given incentives to spend more of their research and
development budget in African universities”
“Supermarkets should employ field officers to work with local farmers to help them to
improve the quality of their product so that it fits their standards, and to encourage more
local sourcing of produce.”
“Companies also have a role to play in training their staff and developing the
management skills that Africa needs.”
However, there was also much criticism of the way that many countries currently
conduct business in Africa, and many panellists called for greater regulation of big
business at both a national and international level:
“Some banks have been allowed to have huge profit margins at the expense of the poor
when providing access to finance. This is immoral and should be stopped.”
“In Zambia, private investors took the rich pickings and then left the country in the lurch,
whereas some countries like Malaysia have been less vulnerable to this because of
government regulations.”
“Not enough is being done to ensure that the profits of trade are reinvested into African
infrastructure. African leaders should be allowed and encouraged to take a tougher line
on corporate accountability and on taxation so that ordinary people can feel the benefits
of increased trade.”
The issue of corruption was raised again, and it was stressed that foreign businesses
should be held to account as well as African governments, and that it was the
international community’s place to do this. The Democratic Republic of Congo was cited
as an example of where not enough had been done by the international community to
hold those responsible for trading in arms and exploiting natural resources to account.
One solution put forward was for there to be more devolved management of natural
resources – communities should be helped to take responsibility for the resources in
their own area rather than it being left to central government.
(iii) Other suggestions
The following comments on growth and resources in Africa were also made:
“Africa’s reliance on biomass is damaging to local environments and therefore
contributes to a cycle of poverty. Measures that encourage African Governments to
invest in alternative forms of energy, such as solar or hydroelectric energy should be
encouraged and developed wherever possible.”
“The National Banks of Africa should conduct a study to examine ways of preventing the
currency drain from Africa. Investment should be protected, and although investment
abroad shouldn’t be banned completely, it should be discouraged.”
C. Human development, culture and inclusion
(i) Empowerment
Key recommendation: "The Commission needs to empower Africans to make a
change for themselves, as well as to change perceptions of Africa in the rest of
the world. There needs to be a complete change to an empowerment paradigm
from what is currently an exploitation paradigm."
Panellists emphasised that Africans are still locked into a mentality of dependency.
They want to see an end to this. They called for strategies for empowerment. Education
was seen to be key.
"Africans are like an eagle in a cage. Even if the door is left open, they are prisoners of
their own way of thinking and are too scared to fly."
"There needs to be a complete change in the paradigm in Africa, from dependence to
independence in Africa, and the Commission needs to address this. We are starting to
be tired that it is other people's fault...
"Help African people to be able to build their lives themselves - don't depend eternally on
aid from abroad."
"More emphasis should be placed on empowering Africans to take action themselves,
providing them with access to education and to micro-finance etc."
It was also noted that African leaders also need to be empowered within the global
community.
“Africa is an important part of the international community and countries in the North
have to recognise that the well-being of Africa has an impact on the well-being of other
countries. The importance of Africa’s resources to the rest of the world needs to be
recognised ad African heads of state should not only be invited to the G8, but their ideas
and proposals should be taken seriously.”
(ii) Education
Key recommendations: "African education systems should place more emphasis
on empowering people to help themselves and to make a difference."
“Education is key. It needs to be universal, of high quality, and to cut across the
whole community - really reaching the grassroots.
Given the above analysis, panellists emphasised that education should be a tool for
empowerment. People should be given skills to participate in the wider world, with an
implied suggestion that current approaches are not appropriate:
"Africans need to be educated about international problems, economics etc, as well as
being taught to read and write, as educated participation is required in political affairs."
"African education systems should place more emphasis on empowering people to help
themselves and to make a difference. They should also be specifically tailored to the
needs of individual countries. For example, although coffee and cocoa are key
commodities in the Ivory Coast, there are no facilities there that actually teach relevant
agricultural skills for the production of either of these crops."
"There also needs to be much more training on financial management within poor
communities in Africa. Poor people need to be taught how to save and how to manage a
loan. This kind of education cannot be delivered overnight but there has to be a longterm investment in improving people’s skills in order to improve productivity.
Some panellists identified a need to make provision for those who had had difficulties
with attendance, for example, through poverty, or as street children.
"Credit schemes for disadvantaged children should be encouraged. This will allow them
to continue their education while doing some work (rather than having to work full time)
and will allow them to hope for a better future."
“Children who have dropped out of formal education should not be ignored. Centres that
provide practical education for street children have a key role to play in improving the
skills level in Africa. The work of FBOs in this area should be recognised and
supported.”
Finally, one panellist spoke despairingly of how poor governance had denied his
generation the opportunities that could have come through education:
" We were taught to read and write. We have degrees. But now we are down to nothing."
(iii) HIV/AIDS
Key recommendation: "In tackling HIV - more resources need to go to NGOs
because government is inefficient."
There was widespread concern that AIDS was having a devastating impact and
insufficient action was being taken, particularly at grass-roots level. There was a strong
sense that the crisis was not being treated as urgently as it should be. Respondents
wanted ways to be found around bottlenecks to providing funding to grass-roots
organisations.
"We are losing so many people... the cream of the nation is going."
"Nothing much is happening on the ground... HIV needs head-on action now."
"There must be a better way of helping to manage resources so that grass roots
assistance is realised."
There was support for the wider provision of anti-retrovirals as a key response,
particularly as this would enable parents to remain alive to care for their children for
longer:
"Poorer countries should be allowed and enabled to make ARVs in their own country"
"Small NGOs should be used much more in the distribution of ARVs. They have much
closer roots to communities than government bodies and would therefore be more
effective."
(iv) Gender
Key recommendation: "Gender inequality is also absolutely key. The women's
movement is the most organised movement on the whole continent and is crucial
for development. The gender equality principles have been recognised but not put
into practice. (The church is just as guilty here)."
Panellists agreed on the key role of gender inequality in poverty in Africa, and
challenged the Commission's work plan for its lack of analysis and application.
"The work plan also needs to explore more fully the reasons why women are more likely
to be poor than men, and the broader consequences of gender inequality (prostitution,
HIV/AIDS etc)"
“Efforts must be made to involve women at all levels in decision-making bodies.”
"Women are the most important agent of change in Africa and should be singled out for
support."
(v) Spiritual Values
Key recommendation: "The work plan does not recognise the spiritual dimension
of life, which is so important to the majority of Africans. Genuine transformation
can only come with a complete change of heart. For example, it doesn't recognise
the growing emphasis that society is placing on the amassing of wealth. Nor does
it examine how corruption can be discouraged or how society can reinforce the
fact that corruption is socially unacceptable."
Some panellists identified a significant gap in the Commission's work plan - the lack of
any analysis of the contribution of the spiritual, and how spiritual values may lead to
morality and constructive relationships. Some comments reflect the Christian
persuasion of the panellists; others make a more general observation about the
importance and value of faith:
"Spiritual resources and African heritage have not been taken seriously enough to date."
"The spiritual perspective has been missing from the development agenda."
"Development will remain hollow without a Christian perspective."
"National and International institutions should not be considered in the abstract – their
"souls" need to be changed.
"A renaissance in African institutions is important and is needed (echoing Mbeki) - there
is a spiritual dimension to this."
"FBOs are not just complementary to other organisations - they have something different
to offer."
D. Peace and Security
Key recommendation: "The continent will not move until the issue of peace and
security is really dealt with. A culture of peace needs to be nurtured across the
whole continent.”
All of the participants were acutely aware of the huge, negative impact that war has in
Africa:
“When war begins it destroys all development infrastructure.”
“Resources have become a curse rather than blessing. They divide the local community
and rule over them.”
Many also highlighted how war in one country can affect the development of all of its
neighbours.
The international community can’t just select some countries within Africa for extra
support and hope that the benefits will trickle through to others – the fate of African
countries is highly interrelated. This is particularly clear in the area of conflict. Even if
one country makes economic progress, it could be drawn into a dispute in a
neighbouring countries and lose it all.
They see the international community as having an important role to play in bringing
different parties together and in resolving conflict before it escalates into war. The
Commission should urge the international community to take this responsibility seriously
and to act quickly. It was argued by a small number of panellists that, in some cases,
the international community has relied too much on peace keeping. Angola, Uganda and
the DRC were given as examples of countries that could have been spared many years
of war and instability if the international community had taken stronger action against
their rebel groups. However, others stressed the importance of African countries policing
themselves:
“The West can often be seen as paternalistic if it intervenes in African conflicts. Instead,
the international community should help to strengthen NEPAD both with additional
funding and also in training and the provision of technology.”
As noted, the long term psychological effects of conflict were highlighted as a factor
which limits future development and an area that requires more international focus. It
was noted that churches and other NGOs have been doing some valuable work in this
area, mixing modern and traditional approaches.
E. Financing for development
Key recommendations:
"Faith based organisations often represent "the real people on the ground".
Therefore, donors should focus money on supporting them, building their
capacity, training their volunteers etc. so that the good work they are doing is
sustainable.... in Uganda, faith groups working on HIV/AIDS have been
marginalised when accessing the Global Fund."
"Aid is currently tied to conditions set by donors. Conditions should instead be
set by the intended beneficiaries so that there is more ownership of development
initiatives by African people and greater participation by people who really
understand the context within which initiatives will be working. The current
system merely acts to perpetuate the African "dependency syndrome."
Comments focussed on aid effectiveness. There were real concerns that aid was not
reaching grass roots agencies that could be most effective in responses, particularly to
HIV and AIDS.
"It is often small NGOs that have the strongest links to poor communities. However,
these organisations often find it hard to access funding from the international community.
The Commission should look at ways of easing access to funding for small NGOs (often
FBOs)."
“In order for financial assistance to reach the poor, it must be targeted at institutions and
NGOs that help the poor.”
"Much of the aid that goes directly to African governments often ends up being spent on
the machinery of government rather than on the needs of the poor (this is inevitable, it
happens globally among all governments). Therefore, money that goes directly to local
NGOs, with lower overheads and more connection with the real needs of the poor, is
often more effective."
"The commission can indeed contribute towards the promotion of grass root faith based
and community initiatives which are to prevent HIV/AIDS".
“FBOs often experience difficulty in accessing government funding, especially when
there are strings attached.”
Panellists agreed that aid should be subject to conditionality. However, the current
bases of conditionality are often inappropriate. Panellists wanted conditionality linked to
the intended benefits of the aid, with involvement of in-country stakeholders in setting
conditions and monitoring compliance.
"IMF and HIPC prescriptions are too generic. Some of the principles, such as fiscal
discipline and increased privatisation can be good, but they are forced through too
quickly without enough understanding of a country's history and current situation and this
can have very negative effects."
"Some conditions must be attached to aid to help ensure that it is spent effectively.
However, some existing conditions are unrealistic as national and regional differences
are currently ignored. Donors should not follow a "one-size-fits-all" approach. There
should be more openness and a relaxation of conditionality, but this is not the same as
complete freedom."
"All aid should be dependent on good governance. The money should be given, but
tracking methods, which help to improve governance, should be incorporated into every
programme. Shared responsibility for this tracking process between donors, African
Government and civil society can help to build partnerships and future capacity in
country."
Finally, there was criticism of the donor practice of off-loading underspends towards the
year end, which sent the wrong signals:
"Donor agencies are not always consistent, ....at the end of a financial year they are
often keen to get rid of a lot of money for the sake of it, without a lot of emphasis on
results and effects."
F. The role of the church
Understandably, many of the participants have been keen to stress the key role that
churches, and other faith-based organizations, can play in helping Africa to develop.
They are already carrying out a vast array of programmes, from caring for orphans with
HIV/AIDS to helping communities to recover from the trauma of conflict. They have
extremely good links with poor communities and, with more resources and
encouragement, feel that they are able to do even more. The following quotes give a
flavour of the panellists’ thoughts:
“The church can act as a ‘conservatoire’ for local culture and community. It can provide
an unrivalled space for people to debate and learn.”
“The ability of religious organisations to education communities, disseminate information
and to drive local economic development should not be ignored.”
“Churches are front-line workers in dealing with poverty. They have an important role as
a government watchdog as they are often the largest civil society group in a country.
They also offer a good mechanism of channelling funding within a country.”
“The Church is very committed to the MDGs and wants more assistance to be provided
so that they can be achieved.”
“ The Church is growing rapidly in Africa, and needs help in training its members so that
it can continue to be an effective body in society.”
“Where the church does take action (e.g. an inter-denominational letter to the
Government on governance issues in Chad) it needs international support to ensure that
it is not ignored by national government.”
“The church can help its members to be empowered if it itself is helped.”
“In a weak state, the church can do a lot to supplement the role of government. This
work should be recognised and supported.
“The Church has a big role to play in bringing about the social changes which in turn can
enable development.”