THE MICAH NETWORK
“What does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6.8
The Johannesburg Declaration of the Micah Network Africa
The Micah Network is a coalition of over 150 Christian organisations involved in relief,
development and justice from 72 countries around the world. It believes that Christians
everywhere are called to be agents of hope for and with the poor and to work with others to
hold national and global leaders accountable to securing a more just and merciful world. As
leaders of member organisations from 18 countries in Africa, over 100 of us met in
Johannesburg from 20-23 September 2004 to reflect on key issues affecting Africa.
We recognise that Africa’s destiny lies in African hands. The Church in Africa has a
significant role to play in working with governments, the AU and NEPAD secretariat. It is also
the most effective structure for reaching poor communities. Without a spiritual vision and
motivation, without moral authority, we will not break the hold of poverty on Africa’s poorest
people. We commit to working together with our leaders. Nevertheless, we recognise that
African problems are global problems and that action by other continents is necessary. We
therefore welcome the establishment of the Commission for Africa.
We note that the Commission aims to understand and help fulfil African aspirations for the
future by listening to Africans. In this regard, we, as African evangelical Christians from a
constituency of 70 million people, make the following recommendations to the Commission.
Furthermore, we commit ourselves to enable their implementation.
Governance and Effective States
• The Commission should support the AU and NEPAD, especially the peer review
mechanisms. We will complement this effort by encouraging our governments to sign up
to these mechanisms.
• African governments should respect the rule of law and human dignity. The international
community should make greater efforts to assist African civil society and faith-based
groups to hold their governments to account.
• The Commission should recognise that when international companies offer bribes this
fuels corruption. The Commission should urge the North to get tough on bribery and
publish a bribery index.
Opportunities for Growth
The present global trade system is built upon false assumptions and immoral double
standards. It benefits a rich minority and traps the poor. It needs a major overhaul.
• The Commission should lobby for special and differential treatment for Africa, to allow her
governments to support her producers and processors. International policies need to be
revised to promote local self-reliance.
• There is a need to tighten regulation of the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act)
initiatives to ensure that their objectives are achieved.
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NEPAD has an important role to play in economic growth but the international community
should help NEPAD to reflect the needs of poor people. There must be more space in
NEPAD for the voice of civil society and the Church.
Food security is essential for economic growth, therefore we urge the Commission to
encourage strategies to attain this. This should include support to sustainable agriculture,
which is the backbone of many economies. Food relief should be sourced locally or
regionally whenever possible.
Dialogue is needed on the complexities of land tenure in Africa. The Commission should
note our serious concerns over the assumed benefits of capitalisation and should seek
solutions to the land issue that benefit poor people.
AIDS is devastating our people and constraining growth. The international community
should enable an effective response to the pandemic including access to ARVs and other
essential drugs.
There should be incentives to encourage companies to invest in research and
development for, or transfer of, appropriate technology for Africa.
Human Development, Culture and Inclusion
• Faith is embedded in Africa’s values and culture. The Commission should specifically
seek to understand faith’s importance to Africa. If the Commission is to listen to the voice
of Africa, and those who care about Africa, it must listen to the Church.
• The Commission should support more education for all people at all levels.
• We uphold respect for African cultures and values and reject the negative consequences
of globalisation. The Commission should seek to protect these values in the
recommendations that it makes.
• We as Christians believe that all human beings are made equal and in the image of God
and so the disproportionate number of women enslaved in poverty is unacceptable. The
Commission should ensure that the different situations of women and men are
considered in all aspects of its work.
• Northern lifestyles result in excessive pollution that is leading to climate change. This is
adversely affecting Africa. The North should critically reduce its emissions, and bring
about a long-term global solution to climate change that is equitable. It should
compensate Africa, whose contribution is negligible.
• Governments in the North have a responsibility to examine ways to mitigate the impact of
the “brain drain” on African countries.
Peace and Security
As Christians working with poor people, we grieve at the consequences of conflict within our
continent and commit to continue to work for peace in our work.
• Conflict resolution is essential to create an enabling environment for economic growth.
Unless restorative justice is pursued after conflict, the seeds for future conflict will remain.
The Church has a key role to play in local conflict resolution.
• Too often, a reliance on peace-keeping has failed the poor. Proactive peace enforcement
should be carried forward in various ways, including African initiatives and international
interventions.
• The AU needs to be made more responsive to civil society concerns over human rights
abuses. However, human rights are universal and the rest of the world has a
responsibility to ensure that the rights of Africans are not abused.
• All members of the international community should make an immediate commitment to
prevent the sale of arms to conflict areas.
• Action should also be taken to prevent the abuse of natural resources that fuels conflict.
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Financing for development
Full debt cancellation should be implemented in Africa in a way that ensures that poor
people will benefit.
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Donors should commit more funding to disaster mitigation and long-term development
rather than to emergency relief.
Faith based organisations provide an effective means of reaching the poor in
communities. However, the current trend towards direct budgetary support via Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers can compromise the relationship between FBOs and
governments. To make aid more effective, donors should provide funds directly to FBOs
to complement funding for government, and enable PRSPs to reflect the priorities of poor
people.
In particular, the Church is critical in the effective response to AIDS at community level
but local structures receive little funding, information or support. The international
community must develop more effective mechanisms for responding to the opportunities
that such structures provide.
Donor agencies should be accountable to beneficiaries for the impact that they have.
Commitments should be long term and beneficiaries should be given a greater voice in
strategic decisions.
Micah Network Africa Workshop
20-23 September 2004