With the growing number of conflicts, declining terms of trade, and growing influence of international powers in determining Africa's social and economic policies all eyes in Africa are focused on the Pan African Parliament and those elected representatives of the people who will meet this week in Addis Ababa. What will it be possible for the Pan African Parliament to deliver?

The first meeting takes place on the 10th anniversary of two historic events in Africa. One was the rise of the popular movements that led to the downfall of apartheid in South Africa. The other, a human catastrophe of immense proportions involving the massacre of nearly a million people in Rwanda in the space of a few months. If the one was achieved through the mobilisation of the majority for the goal of emancipation, the other was fuelled by pressures to comply with an externally defined agenda for social development. These events represent the extremes of hope and despair that came to characterise much of the continent in the closing years of the millennium. Every country in the region contains, albeit to varying degrees, the mixture of factors that can lead to either outcome – a future built on respect for human dignity, or one torn apart by conflicts such as those seen in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, Somalia, and which continue in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Can the Africa Parliament meet the challenge of building a democratic and just future?

Pambazuka News is Africa's widest circulation electronic newsletter on social justice, reaching more than 60,000 people every week. As a service to parliamentarians, and as a service to our readers, we have produced this special issue of Pambazuka News which will be provided in printed form to all those attending the Pan African Parliament this week. We think it is critically important for parliamentarians to be kept up to date with the latest developments in Africa. Pambazuka has become an important tool through which civil society in Africa disseminates information relevant to social justice. We believe that a dialogue between parliamentarians and civil society organisations is vital for development that ensures that the interests and the rights of the majority are protected.

This issue of Pambazuka News is dedicated to the cause of a Pan Africanism that is founded on social justice and respect for human dignity.