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Speech by the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of South Africa, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini
Zuma at the European Union Conference on Conflict Prevention:
Dublin, 2 April 2004
Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I would like to thank you for the invitation to address
this conference. This conference is a timely intervention
at this point in our history as peoples of the world,
since it provides a much needed opportunity to discuss
conflict prevention and to flesh out the role that civil
society should play in the prevention of armed conflict.
I have been asked to focus in my brief presentation
on outlining an African viewpoint: how as Africans we
are collectively working together to prevent conflicts,
what has been accomplished in recent times and what
can be done to ensure that our partners in Europe work
with us in this regard.
Clearly, at the outset it ought to be emphasized that
conflict prevention cannot be looked at in isolation.
Matters of conflict prevention, resolution, and peacekeeping
are inextricably tied to issues of entrenching peace
and stability, good governance, the deepening of democracy
and concrete efforts towards sustainable social and
economic development.
In fact, sustainable peace is only possible if there
is sustainable development. Moreover, the strengthening
of democratic governance is not simply a matter for
the state or about transformation of the state and the
parliamentary systems, but it is important for civil
society in its NGOs and organizations of the people
to ensure that democracy is a living reality and that
political freedom is a right that is protected and asserted.
In the study, Comprehending and Mastering African Conflicts:
The Search for Sustainable Peace and Good Governance,
(1999: 14-15) Adebayo Adedji makes the following pertinent
point. He writes:
"Wherever violent conflict exists, human poverty,
income poverty and social exclusion are on the rise
… in other words, poverty cannot be eliminated
without progress in conflict prevention. Conflict prevention
that is not based on full comprehension and mastery
of the fundamental long-term historical causes as well
as the short- to medium-term causes will invariably
prove abortive. Poverty and conflicts feed on each other
while both go hand-in-hand with bad governance…"
"More often than not the system of governance
in a conflict country manifests total disregard for
the protection of human rights as well as the marginalisation
of its people. The trampling upon the citizenry or a
substantial section of it, its suppression, coercion
and brutalisation are usually the significant factors
in the conflict…"
"Unfortunately, violent conflicts inevitably worsen
the governance situation. Wars do cause enormous damages
– physical, human, economic and social. After the
cessation of conflict, the country finds that the hands
of the clock have been turned back by at least one generation
and in some cases by two or more. The people are confronted
by all the different kinds of deprivation – income,
human, social, and, the worst of all, psychological."
Distinguished delegates,
From Adedeji’s words it is unambiguous that conflict
prevention in Africa can only be successful in the long-term
if there is a genuine transformation of a terrain of
conflict into one of sustained peace. This can only
be brought about through a thorough understanding of
the situation and through reducing and eradicating poverty,
working towards social and economic progress and the
empowerment of people through education.
Furthermore, if these issues are not understood as
inextricably connected, we shall continue to further
marginalize the most vulnerable of the population of
these areas, namely women and children, who are left,
deprived unprotected and prevented from living productive
lives.
The struggle to eke out a living under such conditions
denies freedom to think, to feel to nurture the young
and to grow individually and collectively through community
development.
Without economic and social progress and process of
unity that come from cultural understanding and tolerance
seen as part and parcel of conflict prevention and resolution,
we are indeed keeping a people, a nation and a continent
trapped in the backwardness of the past and preventing
progress and prosperity.
We need to ensure that indeed the clock that Adedeji
refers to does move forward and not back, that no generation
is lost or prevented from fulfilling its mission as
Franz Fanon would have said, or in broader terms, that
no-one is barred from furthering the development of
the African people. With this in mind, our focus has
been on strengthening the capacity of regional and continental
structures for conflict prevention and resolution.
President Thabo Mbeki, speaking in October 2000 on
peace and democracy to the Nigerian Institute of International
Affairs, explains this approach when he says that:
"We agree that one of the most important challenges
facing Africa today is to achieve a comprehensive and
sustained peace, and ensure that we arrive at an enduring
pax Africana, for democracy and sustained development
are possible only in conditions of peace and stability."
"It should also be one of our common goals tasks,
especially those among us who consider themselves as
progressives, to work together fro the entrenchment
of a culture of peace in our regions, countries, our
communities and our Continent. The resolution of conflict
can only be expedited if the whole of society and all
sectors mediate, and alongside their government, works
towards an enduring peace.
Accordingly, we have to strengthen our regional and
continental structures, so that we are able, ourselves,
to ensure that we bring to an end all these unnecessary
wars and conflicts and that the energies of our people
are directed at the questions of development and advancement
of our societies."
It is in this context of first and foremost strengthening
our regional and continental structures, to complement
United Nations initiatives, that as Africans we have
managed to make advances in recent times and to see
the fruits of our own labours.
The South African experience, and the role of women.
A concrete example of this is in 2003, when the African
Union authorised the deployment of its first peacekeeping
mission when it mandated the deployment of the African
Mission in Burundi (AMIB) on 2 April of that year. The
rapid reaction by the African Union through the deployment
of Ethiopian, Mozambican and South African soldiers
to AMIB reflected how seriously African leaders and
the AU regarded the situation in that country and the
importance of maintaining peace on the African continent
as a whole.
This was despite the fact that at the time the United
Nations argued that Burundi did not meet the criteria
for intervention. We demonstrated that it was important
for the peacekeeping mission to be deployed. The length
of time whereby it would take the United Nations to
enter the situation was a matter of grave discussion
and part of our critique of the United Nations.
The deployment of troops to Burundi was also an entry
point for the urgent need of a Peace and Security Council
within the African Union.
We are pleased that barely two weeks ago we have made
progress in this regard, when the African Union meeting
in Addis Ababa on 16 March elected members of its Peace
and Security Council. In accordance with the requirements
stipulated in the PSC Protocol, the organ is comprised
of 15 member states, the members of which are also representative
of each of the five regions of the African Union. The
current membership of South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria,
Ethiopia and Gabon were elected for three-year terms,
while Lesotho, Mozambique, Cameroon, Congo, Kenya, Sudan,
Libya, Ghana, Senegal and Togo, were elected for two-year
terms.
This was an important development since the Peace and
Security Council is expected to play a role in strengthening
the capacity of the African Union for conflict prevention,
management and resolution. This also entails a comprehensive
strategy that includes post-conflict peace-building
on the African continent.
The Panel of the Wise will be composed of five highly
respected African personalities from various segments
of society who have made outstanding contributions to
the cause of peace, security and development on the
continent.
The Peace and Security Council is the collective security
and early-warning arrangement to facilitate timely and
efficient response to conflict and crisis situations
in Africa.
Critical to early response by the African Union to
potential conflict situations on the continent is that
early warning systems be created and established at
the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa as well
as at the headquarters of the Regional Economic Communities
(RECs).
As Africans we believe we are succeeding in putting
the foundations in place for building an African security
architecture to enhance the existing institutions. In
this way, we are confident that the general state of
security and stability in Africa will be enhanced which
will be of immense benefit to the security of the African
people.
The African Union meeting last month in Addis Ababa
also saw the inaugural session of the Pan-African parliament.
The establishment of this key political organ of the
African Union is a crucial and necessary step towards
Africa taking control of its own political future. The
prioritization of the formation of this was because
once more we recognize that sustained development –
an improvement in the quality of our people’s economic
well-being – is inextricably linked to political
stability, democratic governance, conflict prevention
and resolution.
The Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC)
as a civil society organ of the African Union, can contribute
to peace-building.
Role of women in conflict prevention and management.
The establishment of the Peace and Security Council,
together with the first Pan-African Parliament and ECOSOCC
will go a long way to building African unity and improving
the security of Africa’s people coupled with creating
and sustaining conditions of political stability.
The African Union has also progressed beyond peace-keeping
and peace-making scenarios through involvement in conflict
resolution in Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Liberia, and post-conflict Sudan. There is progress
in the creation of an African Standby Force that is
to be comprised of an estimated 15 000 soldiers, policemen
and military observers, the core responsibility of which
will be to involve itself in peacekeeping endeavours
as mandated by the African Union.
African countries are also responsible for being part
of United Nations peace-keeping missions, with 24 African
states having almost 10 000 nationals serving under
the UN flag and constituting 26% of all UN peacekeepers
internationally. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa
are at present classified by the UN Department for Peacekeeping
Operations as being among the top ten contributing countries
to the United Nations.
Certainly, African countries are displaying stronger
determination to direct participation in the United
Nations in peacemaking, peace-keeping and peace enforcement
initiatives. This must also be seen as support for the
Brahimi Report released in 2000 by the UN Panel on peace
Operations, which provided the necessary, comprehensive
set of recommendations on improving UN peace-keeping.
It also comes from a realisation that the success of
the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD),
the African economic development strategy, is only possible
in conditions of stability.
African countries are in support of multilateralism
as a principled position with which to deal with international
conflicts and believe that it is important to participate
fully in multilateral fora such as the African Union,
the United Nations and in partnership with the European
Union, thereby emphasising in word and deed a collective
and enduring response to conflict in Africa and the
world.
We are glad that the European Union in particular has
been supportive of peacekeeping in Africa. We are grateful
that the European Union is supporting the Fund for peace-keeping
on the African continent. In this regard, the Peace
Support Operational facility will certainly contribute
much to Africa’s efforts to address conflict.
With the EU retaining two permanent members on the
UN Security Council, we would also like to see closer
co-operation with Africa in support of a far more responsive
UN when it comes to conflict prevention and resolution.
We believe that there is a need to strengthen multilateralism
as a means to address global issues, to entrench world
peace and stability, to bring about an end to poverty
and underdevelopment.
This is why we also look to the European Union as our
partners in expanding the frontiers of peace, democracy
and development on the African continent. We would like
to see the Bilateral Support Programme of the EU in
support of Africa to increase and move to a higher level.
What we want for our people and for the world is a
global reality in which both the difference and diversity
of people are acknowledged, and that the right to be
African is also the right to be equal to others as well
as to forge one’s own future. The ending of poverty
is one that should affect all in the world, European
and Africans alike. The prevention of conflict also
requires the citizens of the world to work and act together.
In South Africa we are celebrating 10 years of democracy,
of freedom, this year and in this very month. We attained
our freedom not only through our own efforts and that
of fellow African, but through the firm participation
of governments and people of the world in the global
ant-apartheid movement. Our brothers and sisters here
in Ireland were firmly behind our cause, our fight for
freedom.
Let us continue to work together as countries, continents
and as people of the world to prevent and to end conflicts,
to entrench peace, to eradicate poverty. Only in this
way will we be able to ensure that for all of humanity
the clock does move forward in time and we do succeed
in the fullness of this time in having a free people
living fulfilling lives in a free world.
I thank you.
Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001
2 April 2004
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