The AU Monitor and the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) invite research papers for the forthcoming publication “African Perspectives on Aid in Africa” to be published in September 2008. While Africa is the biggest recipient of aid globally, the terms, conditions and principles upon which aid is delivered are rarely defined by the people of Africa for whom, at least rhetorically, this aid is supposed to create positive change. Indeed, recent analysis from Third World Network, highlights the “effect of circumscribing national sovereignty and country autonomy over development policies” “contrary to the stated principles of country ownership and mutual accountability” of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. In light of the September 2008 high-level meetings on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana, Fahamu and AFRODAD seek to publish a comprehensive volume on Aid in Africa from the diverse perspectives of African civil society, social commentators, policy makers, academics and citizens. The “African Perspectives on Aid in Africa” book will uniquely seek to explore the very premise and foundation upon which the concept of aid is based, the history and context of aid, how the emergence of new global powers such as Venezuela and China are redefining aid, related power dynamics and its relation to development, all from the perspectives of Africa. The deadline for submission is May 30, 2008. Please contact us via email at [email][email protected] and [email][email protected] with a one page abstract for your paper and for further information by April 25th, 2008.

In this week’s AU Monitor, we bring you news from the extraordinary summit of heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss the “deepening tensions in neighbouring Zimbabwe”. The summit, which was attended by eight SADC heads of state, concluded that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should announce the results as guided by the country’s laws and expressed support for the continued mediation of President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. However, both civil society and the opposition party have expressed disappointment at the outcome claiming that the summit almost endorsed the ZEC’s delay in announcing the election results, failed to denounce rising violence, the closure of the ZEC command centre and the ban on rallies or to pronounce on the failure of President Mugabe to attend the summit.

As Zimbabwe’s electoral crisis continues, Bronwen Manby analyses the Kenyan post-election crisis in light of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) report of 2006, noting that “had the problems the APRM report then highlighted been tackled, it is possible that the violence and distress of the 2008 crisis could have been avoided”. Indeed, the APRM eminent persons noted “the role of prominent members of the ruling party and high ranking government officials in fuelling the so-called ethnic clashes” with impunity and called for leadership which “recognises the need for dramatic change in a society” that “entails not simply directing change but managing it in a way that ensures broad ownership, legitimacy and self-directed sustenance and replication of change in all associated systems.” Highlighting areas of weakness of the APRM report and process that contribute to the lack of implementation of its decisions, the author notes that the report “does not identify the issues relating to the independence of the Electoral Commission of Kenya” but focuses rather on “the simple fact of holding elections”. Further, she stresses “the gap between the country review report and the programme of action”, the lack of monitoring on reporting related to implementation of the recommendations and the lack of sanctions for failure to act, concluding that without “integration into other national planning systems, debates and oversight mechanisms, the APRM process seems doomed to become little more than a cosmetic exercise without effect in the real world of policy and decision making”.

The Delhi Declaration, adopted at the end of the India-Africa summit, stresses the need for strengthened ties not only at the bilateral level but through India’s strengthened “partnership with the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities of Africa”. Notably, the declaration also urges “the international community to give real and immediate effect to commitments on climate change, especially in the areas of technology transfer, financing and capacity building. There is also need for a closer look at the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime to ensure cost-effective transfer of appropriate and advanced clean technologies to developing countries.” The Declaration also stresses the importance of the development dimension of the Doha Round of trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation and welcomes “the strengthened engagement, solidarity and cooperation among developing countries in that process”, while Peter Draper claims that “the Doha Round is likely to result in a host of opt-outs for the majority of African states, meaning they will benefit from free trade by being able to export goods more easily to developed countries, but will be protected to a degree from having to reciprocate by opening their markets in a way which would damage them”. The next Africa-India Summit will be held in 2011 in Africa. Meanwhile, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) council, will host the Europe Africa Business Summit on April 28-30, in Hamburg, Germany, “aimed at providing a critical assessment of the current state and future of the European African economic relationships.”

Also this week, representatives of African civil society organisations, regional economic communities, gender experts and policy makers convened to finalize the draft African Union Gender Policy aimed at accelerating “the execution of mandates of the AUC and its organs to promote the social, economic, political and cultural development for continental cooperation and integration”. The final draft of the policy will be submitted to another experts group meeting prior to the joint Economic Commission on Africa/AU Ministers of Gender Conference scheduled for June and will be submitted for adoption by heads of state and government during the June-July AU Summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Finally, a stakeholder consultation was held last week by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission to improve intra-Community movement of citizens and reduce the harassment at the borders. Participants called for “the operationalisation and reinforcement of the pilot committees set up in eight Member States and meant to improve the circulation of citizens and stem their harassment at the borders”. Meanwhile in East Africa, civil society organisations concluded that “the African Court of Justice has failed to make an impact on human rights abuses on the continent, two years after its inception” at the close of a roundtable held in Arusha, Tanzania.