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Baobabconnections hereby sends you the second position for the online
debate SHAPING A NEW AFRICA.
Come and join the debate. We look forward to seeing you online.
To go straight to the debate:
http://www.baobabconnections.org/forum.php?mag=6
Greetings,
The Baobabconnections team.
POSITION 2: Good Governance
The Africa policy paper focuses too much on good governance at the national
level, while African forms of democracy are mostly developed at the local
level.
INTRODUCTION TO POSITION 2
Promoting socially responsible governance in Africa is a noble mission.
Without effective and democratic governance, efforts with regard to
development and poverty eradication are indeed, doomed to fail. Good
governance is however, increasingly becoming a major buzzword in
development assistance policy and thinking of the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and rich donor countries. The important
question remains: what is the most appropriate strategy to address the
current governance problem in Africa?
Even though the Africa policy paper questions the applicability of Western
models of democracy and Rule of Law in African circumstances, the paper
pays insufficient attention to the fact that better governance can only
realistically be established in Africa if the process is guided by local
realities and priorities. Moreover, at the local level, and in traditional
societies, there have always been inclusive decision making mechanisms.
Although these may not be democratic in the Western notion, they are
effective in the sense that they involve participation by a larger number
of people from a community. These traditions can be used as building blocks
for democratisation.
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REACTION OF THE MINISTER VAN ARDENNE TO POSITION 2:
Deficiencies in state formation and governance
The Africa paper does acknowledge the deficiencies in state formation and
governance in Africa. In fact this is considered to be one of the root
causes of the disappointing development results on the continent. The issue
of governance and its relation to society and culture presents serious
dilemmas in Africa and the paper does not pretend to offer any ready-made
solutions. After all, decision making processes in Africa have also been
subject to change and adjustments due to internal en external
circumstances, which have unfortunately not always resulted in -inclusive
decision results-. Along the lines of tribe, kinship, sex, age, occupation,
ethnicity and religion one was attributed a heavier or a lighter vote in
the decision making process.
Yet, even though the outcome of traditional decision making might be a
result of a concerted process there would always be those who ended up with
less benefits than others. Any new answers to this dilemma will have to
come from within African societies. We are eager to hear of positive
examples.
We are well aware of the challenges and thus the paper offers the basis for
a new attitude towards positive initiatives that originate within African
society. This new attitude is linked to the concept of partnership that
forms the basis for Dutch development policies in the coming years.
Partnership does not signify a blind acceptance of everything that is
happening in Africa. It means that we look for a dialogue based on mutual
respect, obligations and accountability. In this dialogue we will present
our own experience and lessons learnt when it comes to governance issues.
We are convinced that some general principles such as checks and balances,
a strong civil society and transparancy are just as crucial for African
society as for any other.
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AN OVERVIEW OF THE EVENT: SHAPING A NEW AFRICA
Online debate for youth in Africa and The Netherlands
Seven topics, seven weeks, seven opportunities to influence Dutch policy on
Africa.
November 5th - December 19th 2003
Join our African debate at www.baobabconnections.org
Do you know that the Dutch government takes decisions that directly affect
Africa? Most of the time we only hear one side of the story. Not anymore!
Get in touch with Baobabconnections and find out what young people in
Africa and The Netherlands think about the Dutch policy towards Africa. Do
you agree with them?
JOIN OUR ONLINE DEBATE
Baobabconnections invites you to take part in an online debate on the New
Dutch Africa Memorandum. Starting on November 5th 2003, we will host an
international forum on our website where youth from Africa and The
Netherlands will share ideas and opinions on seven different topics,
concerning the Dutch Africa policy. Every week for a period of seven weeks
we will launch a new topic on our website and we invite everybody to take
part in our online discussion. The most creative and innovative responses
will be discussed with the Minister of Development Cooperation at the
Africa Conference in April 2004.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Africa is in the process of reshaping itself, refinding and expressing its
strength. Africa is exploring the road towards African unity, preparing
itself for a stronger global political presence.
At the same time the current Dutch political debate on development in
Africa is increasingly dominated by gloom and doom. The image people have
of Africa is one of starvation, poverty and HIV/Aids. Many Dutch people can
only think that government policies and development efforts have failed
completely in Africa.
These two viewpoints are rather conflicting and stress the need to have
African and Dutch people share their views. SHAPING A NEW AFRICA wants to
establish such a dialogue and stimulate an open-minded debate on
alternative policies towards Africa.
Finally, through the use of the internet, Africans can have a say in
policies that directly influence The Continent. So it is time to let your
voice be heard and take part in this dialogue.
We need to do this together!
ABOUT BAOBABCONNECTIONS
Baobabconnections is a website on globalization where young people from
Africa and The Netherlands meet each other and share ideas. Currently we
have over a thousand members in 80 countries and our online community is a
truly global network. Baobabconnections organizes this online debate in
cooperation with NCDO, the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NiZA)
and SAHAN Consultancy.
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