|
1. This New Partnership for Africa's Development is
a plecige by African leaders, based on a common vision and a firm
and hared conviction, that they have a
pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their
countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of
sustainable growth and development, and at the same time to
participate actively in the world economy and body politic. The
Programme is anchored on the determination of Africans to extricate
themselves and the continent from the malaise of underdevelopment
and exclusion in a globalising world.
2. The poverty and backwardness of Africa stand in
stark contrast to the prosperity
of the developed world. The continued marginalisation of
Africa from the globalisation process and the social exclusion of
the vast majority of its peoples constitute a serious threat to
global stability.
3. Historically accession to the institutions of
the international community, the credit and aid binomial has
underlined the logic ot African development. Credit has led to the
debt deadlock, which from instalments to rescheduling, still exists
and hinders the growth of African countries. The limits of this
options have been reached. Concerning the other element of the
binomial — aid — we can also note the reduction of
private aid and he upper limit of public aid, which is below the target set in the 1970`s.
4. In Africa, 340 million people, or half the
population, live on less than US $ 1 per
day. The mortality rate of children under 5 years of age is
140 per 1000, and life expectancy
at birth is only 54 years. Only 58 percent of the pooulation have
access to safe water. The rate of illiteracy for people over
15 is 41 percent. There are only 18 mainline telephones per 1000
people in Africa, compared with 46
for the worid as whole and 567 for high-income countries.
5. The New Partnership for Africa's Development
calls for the reversal of this
abnormal situasion by changing the relationship that
underpins it. Africans are appealing
neither for the further entrenchment of dependency through aid, nor
for marginal concessions.
6. We are convinced that an historic opportunity
presents itself to end the source
of underdevelopment that afflicts Africa. The sources,
including capital technology and human skills, that are required to
launch a global war on poverty and underdevelopment exist in
abundance, and are within our reach. What is required to mobilise
these resources and to use them properly, is bold and imaginative
leadership that genuinely commited to a susained human
development effort and poverty eradication, as well as a new
global partnership based on shared responsibility and mutual
interest.
7. Across the continent, Africans declare that we
will no longer allow ourselves to
be conditioned by circumstance. We will determine our own
destiny and call on the
rest of ihe world to complement our efforis. There are already signs
of progress and hope. Democratic regimes that are committed to the
protection of human rights, people-centred development and
market-oriented economies are on the increase. African peoples have
begun to demonstrate their refusal to accept poor economic and
political leadership. These developments are, however, uneven and
inadequate and need to be further expedited.
8. The New Partnership for Africa's Development is
about consolidating and accelerating these gains. It is a call for a
new relationship of partnership between Africa and the international
community, especially the highly industrialised countries, to
overcome the development chasm that has widened over centuries of
unequal relations.
Please consult the following website for more information on the African
Union and its
implementation programme — New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD).
http://www.dfa.gov.za
|
