FROM: SEATINI bulletin 7.01, www.seatini.org

Declaration on Civil Society Participation in the United Nations System

We, of African civil society organisations that were invited to the “African Regional Consultations on UN-Civil Society Relationships” (Cardoso Panel) in Johannesburg, 25-26 November 2003, wish to thank the UN Secretary-General for this initiative to dialogue with us. We deliberated on the issue on the agenda for two days and have made our suggestions. However, the dialogue and our participation are meaningful only in the context of the reform of the UN system. Accordingly, in addition to the suggestions we have made on UN-civil society relations, we feel that our views on the reform of the UN system should also be considered, and we are pleased to record that the Panel reporting to the Secretary-General have agreed to attach this declaration as appendix to their report. The concerns expressed below do not exhaust our ideas about the reform of the UN system, and we do understand that they are not achievable in the short run, but we would urge that this is the general direction in which the UN should move.

1. Noting that the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), and its other manifestations such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) pressed by the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs), have misled our governments towards adopting economic strategies that have failed to work over the last twenty-five years, and that have been one of the principal reasons for the increasing impoverishment of the people of Africa, we urge the Secretary-General not to give the moral authority of his office to these policies, and ask him to advocate coherence of BWIs policies to a human rights oriented genuine development of our people.

2. Recognising that the UN system has itself weakened in the contemporary unipolar world, and that the UN Charter is often torn apart by the unilateral action of some powers, we welcome the efforts of the SG towards multilateralism, and urge him to vigorously defend the Charter and international law, and maintain the high moral authority of his office.

3. Noting that many of the specialised agencies of the UN, such as the UNCTAD, the ECA and the UNDP, have also weakened and are being overshadowed by the BWIs and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), we recommend that they be strengthened and made responsive to the developmental needs of the developing countries. For example, UNCTAD should resume its original mandate as conceived by Raul Prebisch, especially in the areas of commodity price stabilisation, technology transfer, and the monitoring of the Transnational Corporations; and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UNDP offices in our countries should open space for a meaningful dialogue with African civil society for alternatives to Africa’s development other than through SAPs, uncritical market liberalisation, privatisation, and deregulation. In this context we strongly urge that these agencies and their activities be adequately funded from the regular budget of the UN, and not be made hostage to ad hoc programme funding by donors.

4. We have always welcomed the efforts of the UN system to create space for civil society in UN Conferences such as on Sustainable Development and Finance for Development. We wish to record, however, that our participation has often been co-opted by the UN system to legitimise predetermined processes and outcomes, and our recommendations are seldom taken seriously, whilst creating the impression that the civil society has been consulted in the building of “consensus”.

Once again, we do understand that the realities of power politics at the global level may not allow some of the above recommendations to be implemented immediately. However, we hope that the Secretary General will give his moral weight and authority to moving generally in the direction indicated above, and on our side, the civil society organisations in Africa undertake to give our support to the UN and the Secretary General to the realisation of the above objectives.

(Editor: Several peoples’ movements, Non-Governmental and Civil Society Organisations and individuals have already endorsed and signed the above Declaration. If you wish to add your name to the list please send an email to [email protected])