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Africa: ECA African Women Conference, 2
Africa: ECA African Women Conference, 2
Date distributed (ymd): 980508
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +gender/women+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains the opening address by Executive Secretary K. Y.
Amoako, at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) 40th anniversary conference,
on the theme "African Women and Economic Development: Investing in
our Future," held in Addis Ababa from April 28 through May 1. The
previous posting contains a concluding press release from the conference,
as well as pointers to additional information.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Opening Plenary Address
"African Women and Economic Development: Investing in our Future"
by K. Y. Amoako
Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Africa Addis Ababa, 28 April
1998
Your Excellency, Mr. Meles Zenawi,
Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Your
Excellency, Mr. Richard Kaijuka, Chairman of the Bureau of ECA's Conference
of Ministers and Minister of Planning and Economic Development of Uganda,
Honourable Ministers, Distinguished speakers, Civil Society leaders, United
Nations Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Most of us are old enough to fully appreciate what is means to have
a 40th birthday as ECA now celebrates: old enough to bear the burden of
responsibilities, young enough to accept the responsibilities with joy.
In many ways it is a very good time. In fact it feels just right.
We in ECA greet each of you warmly and with thanks for your being here.
It is an important occasion, which we celebrate with the intellectual fireworks
of this audience. We celebrate by reflecting on the past, looking towards
the future and rededicating ourselves to the people of Africa.
ECA was founded 40 years ago almost to the day. It is rightly seen throughout
this continent as being Of Africa, By Africa, and For Africa.
My five predecessors in office, including some of the great names of
African development--along with many other prominent Africans who served
on our staff, our Bureau and in partner organizations all around the continent--have
all added to this institution. I honour their contributions to ECA and
to Africa's development.
Now, Africa is experiencing a renaissance and so are we. ECA is in the
midst of major reforms to serve Africa better.
I know we have achieved a great deal, but I also know we have a long
way to go until ECA lives up to its full potential.
Given the dynamic nature of Africa's development, it can be expected
that our member States will ask ECA to shift its emphases over time as
the environment for development evolves. But we are agreed upon the enduring
fundamentals: peaceful cooperation; development of Africa's economies;
loyalty to the well-being of every African.
This conference is a hallmark not only of our 40th anniversary, but
of our reform. It is structured to highlight forward-looking issues, to
bridge sectors, to foster results-oriented discussions, and to share joy
in our work together.
The topic of the conference was chosen carefully.
The issue of gender and African development goes back to the early years
of ECA's work. In response to a groundswell of African women seeking gender
equality, ECA began its first formal women in development program in 1971.
At that time it was not obvious that major institutions working for
Africa's progress should devote a lot of their energies to gender issues.
In later years gender did become an obvious issue.
In the late 1970s it was not obvious, as it was in ECA, that Africa's
rising debt should become a priority. In later years debt did become an
obvious issue.
In the mid-1980s it was not obvious, as it was in ECA, that economic
reforms should be so tightly woven with governmental reform and reform
with a human face. In later years, broad-based reforms safeguarding the
human condition did become an obvious issue.
In the early 1990s it was not obvious, as it was to virtually the entire
United Nations family, that human rights are necessary both for peace and
development. Now it is obvious.
Today, it is not obvious, but it soon will be, that we are entering
into a very opportune era to advance the social conditions of Africa's
peoples. Social development in Africa, on an unprecedented scale, will
entail major advancement in the well being of all people, particularly
the poor.
These advances will be brought about through concerted efforts in education,
health and pro-poor economic policies.
We can reach universal basic education, still the best development investment
for women and for our societies, in less time than most think possible.
We will also need a resurrection and expansion of Africa's secondary and
higher educational systems. Many of the needed tasks are increasingly doable.
We will see major expansion of the health systems in Africa, at long
last creating the horizontal base of community health, so necessary for
sustainable maternal and child health and normal preventive health systems.
And we will see more progress than most can imagine in the spread of
pro-poor economic policies such as micro credit, support of small scale
enterprises, attention to employment and protection of the poor in times
of economic disruption.
As I say, it is not obvious that bold advances in the social condition
of Africa's peoples are on the horizon. Indeed, the advances I have just
outlined seem completely counter-intuitive at a time when many social indicators
are in decline in Africa. So for the moment, please have a willing suspension
of belief, while I spell out what I believe to be a compelling rationale
for this optimism.
In fact, there are five fundamental developments which are creating
new opportunities of historic dimensions for social development.
The first fundamental development we should note is the spread of the
information revolution throughout Africa. From our groundbreaking work
starting in 1979 through to our current service as the secretariat for
Africa's Information Society Initiative we have been amazed at the spread
of information and communications, particularly in recent years.
In just a few years, Internet service has jumped from 4 countries to
46; computer services are popping up all over; and costs are starting to
decline. Development information spread through radio and television will
pick up markedly with the rise of regional satellites. Make no mistake
about it: Africa will enter its own information age in the decades ahead
where we will see far more widespread communications and information as
part of our lives.
There are dramatic implications for social development:
Distance education services will grow markedly;
Regional radio will be a powerful non-formal educator;
Basic education will be furthered, as ECA, the World Bank and USAID will
explore in an important conference here next month;
Tele-medicine systems will grow. The early work is impressive as is now
demonstrated in Mozambique;
Telecenters, starting this year, will be established to serve the information
needs of poor communities in the rural and urban areas;
Sales of products of the poor will be enhanced as in a new virtual souk
selling women's handicrafts in North Africa; and
Virtual conferencing and networking, such as was used to prepare for this
conference, will link people as never before.
Such information and communications developments open up major opportunities
for Africa's social development.
The second fundamental factor altering the possibilities for Africa's
social development is the promise of major health improvements. New medical
products and biomedical advances relevant to us can be expected as the
world turns more serious attention to diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis
and polio. A lot of innovations will take place to lower the cost of health
systems. Over time health services should be more reliable as systems are
better established and more widespread. Reproductive health components
will increasingly be integrated into health sector reforms and primary
care.
A more vibrant private health system will use advertisements and more
widespread distribution of health products. Nutrition education will be
more available through mass media and educational systems.
One major threat to these promising prospects is the HIV/AIDS pandemic
which, unless checked, will have very negative consequences for Africa's
prospects in the decades ahead. We will need to sharply increase population
education and programs. And we would do well to join the call of the Secretary
General.
Recently he urged the pharmaceutical industry to work with African countries
and the World Health Organization; the goal would be to set a timetable
for achieving more affordable access by Africa to life-saving and life-enhancing
drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and other pervasive diseases. The point
is that we must seize the many opportunities which will open up to improve
health. If we act on these opportunities there will not only be more years
of life for Africans, but far more productive years during life.
A generation ago, it was not part of our planning to expect lifespans
to increase 25%, but it happened. Are our current planning projections
so static that we cannot foresee significant health gains on this continent
in the next few decades? Indeed, we should have a very positive future.
The third fundamental reason we can envision enormous social progress
in the years ahead is the positive changes in governance now underway on
this continent. Over the long haul there is a trend to more democratic
governments and such governments tend to respond more to the public demands
for basic services, of which education, health and sanitation services
are at the top.
We also know that more transparent and accountable public services means
that social services can be expected over time to be more effectively delivered.
And populations which are better connected to the world and learning to
voice their concerns will only sharpen their demands for social services.
Meeting these demands in an era of improving governance will increasingly
be a political imperative.
The fourth fundamental shift favorable for social development is the
rise in partnership possibilities in the delivery of social development.
The dramatic growth of Africa's organized civil society means that there
are many more potential organizational resources for the tasks of social
development and these civil society institutions can be very innovative.
They also allow the state to share the risks of social interventions. The
dramatic growth in Africa's organized capital markets, particularly in
North Africa and Southern Africa, means that there are an increasing range
of possibilities for public-private partnerships in financing social development.
For example, if Africa follows other parts of the world, we will see the
floating of long-term bonds for social development.
Because of their high potential for Africa's development, ECA is turning
into an important meeting ground for the non-profit and the profit sectors.
The fifth fundamental shift is the gender cause itself. Those working
to fully include women as equals in Africa's development have an agenda
which is very pro-social development.
They are educating policy makers to the need to advance the well-being
of girls and women. And their research has proven that as women progress
economically, and there has been progress, they spend more for the social
betterment of their families, which, of course, adds to the demand for
social services.
But, the fact is that you cannot isolate progress for girls and women
from progress for society as a whole. For example, you cannot just demand
access to basic education for girls: both genders move ahead when you widen
opportunities for girls. Politically you can't create community health
services which just cater to maternal and female child health needs: everyone
in the community must have access. So in a very real sense, the advocates
for gender progress are advocates for general social progress.
Information and communications, health systems, more responsive governance,
more opportunities for partnership, gender advocacy: Five strong fundamental
shifts all of which are gaining momentum in Africa. These shifts make it
far more likely that Africa will have its "golden age of social development"
in the decades ahead.
That golden age is likely, but not inevitable. It will happen when leaders
and policy-makers consciously build on the opportunities I have outlined.
There are choices to be made.
There is serious work to do in implementing the agreements made at the
World Summit for Social Development. To focus on these implementation issues
ECA in tandem with UNDP will sponsor late this year in Nairobi a regional
follow-up meeting to the Summit. There we could usefully focus on implementation
of basic education, basic health and anti-poverty measures, many of which
are being assisted by the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative
on Africa. The meeting also might consider other measures African nations,
alone or in partnership, can take to accelerate social development.
The choices before us regarding the future of social development on
this continent will become much more clear so that we will be entering
a time when our leaders and our partners will increasingly be held to the
test of whether they are enhancing the well being of our peoples at the
community, municipal and national levels. If, as research shows, two-thirds
of a nation's wealth is contained in human capital, leaders will increasingly
be challenged to reflect this in budgets.
With the climate for social development now turning so favorable, this
is a time for boldness, for vision and for optimism for the well being
of Africa's peoples in the decades ahead. It is within this context of
sharply enhanced prospects for the social development of our peoples, a
not now obvious opportunity which is about to become obvious, that we can
face with optimism a New Era for Africa's Women. It is why we can hold
this conference with such confidence.
A new era of gender integration and equity for women is not dependent
on following the current international consensus on the requirements for
progress:
- Progress for women can be helped, but does not intrinsically require,
multiparty elections and Westminster democracies. All governments, all
political systems can and should be held to the tests of gender integration
and equity.
- Progress for women can be helped, but does not intrinsically require,
fully liberalized markets and fully adjusted macro-economic policies. All
economies, all economic systems, can and should be held to the test of
gender integration and equity.
But progress for women does require the fair and widespread promotion
of human rights, for if the rights of a bit over half of society are not
an issue in human rights, then the term 'human rights' is meaningless.
Historically, progress for women does require space for and understanding
of dynamic tensions with civil society. For while all of us, including
governments, like to think of ourselves as enlightened on all issues, on
this issue it most often takes the ideas, pressures and cooperation of
civil society.
And a final factor, progress for Africa's women requires something the
international consensus on progress does not speak about: it is the requirement
of people who know that their self-interest and their self-worth requires
progress for Africa's women.
I speak of women willing to change. The good future of African women
in development will not take place just because the rhetoric is sweet.
The good future depends upon women who see a different future for themselves,
with real opportunities, and with the odds shifting more in their favor.
I speak of men willing to change. Men who value gender partnership,
who see that when women meet their full potential, societies will be better
off, communities will be a better place to live, families will be more
prosperous, and children will have a far brighter future.
We know that an engendered society requires leadership from all sectors:
from corporate leaders and the small business owners, from heads of state
to heads of government sections, from presidents of civil society organizations
to community leaders, and from cultural icons to media editors. Leaders
who understand the stakes for their constituencies know that this is an
issue they must face. They know that change can be postponed, but it cannot
be thwarted. They know that a new Africa requires a new gender partnership.
It is with this perspective in mind that ECA has chosen Africa's gender
issues as the single greatest cross cutting issue for our work. We will
be close listeners to this conference. We expect to learn a lot for our
substantive work. So my first hope for this meeting is that ideas will
be translated into actions.
My second hope is that there will be new synergies and opportunities
discovered to strengthen support of Africa's policy-makers as they grapple
with the implications of the rich agenda before you.
And my third hope is that we will work together for expanded partnerships
within Africa and between Africa and its friends abroad to hasten a new
era for women in Africa and to exploit and make far more obvious the enormous
opportunities for social development of all Africans.
If we can accomplish these things, what better way to celebrate ECA's
40th birthday?
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen of a new era of gender and social progress,
We are so pleased that each of you is here. We are particularly grateful
to the heads of state and government who will be with us; to the leaders
of civil society; to our international partner organizations who so generously
enabled this conference to take place; to the pioneers and the youth, the
future pioneers of social progress in Africa, who will enrich this conference;
and for all those throughout Africa whose enormous human potential inspires
our deliberations and our confidence in the future.
Thank you.
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups individuals.
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