Conference on Africa's needs shows will to meet emergency.

Representatives of 127 Governments and some 30 non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations participated in the two-day Conference on the Emergency Situation in Africa, held in Geneva on 11 and 12 March.

The meeting was convened by the Secretary-General. A report by the United Nations Office of Emergency Operations for Africa (OEOA) presented to the meeting outlined needs for an additional $1.7 billion to meet the immediate requirements of 20 African nations most critically affected by ravages of drought and famine.

In opening the Conference, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said many countries in sub-Saharan Africa were experiencing a disaster of tragic proportions, with 30 million men, women and children facing the grim reality of debilitating malnutrition, starvation and, in many cases, death. Thousands had already perished, others were slowly dying and uncounted more were sick, ravaged by disease born of slow starvation.

"The war we wage on famine in Africa today threatens more lives than ever have been lost in any war in history. We have the ingenuity and the resources to win. What we need is the political will."

While appeals for aid had resulted in increased food aid to Africa, "the response has clearly fallen short of the growing needs", he said. The entire international community must be mobilized on a scale "far exceeding anything done up to now".

At the conference's conclusion, Goshu Wolde, Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, speaking on behalf of the African Group, said the price to be paid for delay in action was nothing but the loss of millions of lives. He appealed to the entire international community to match its commitments and zeal wit immediate, predictable and continuous action.

"I think it is fair to say that the challenge was met", said Bradford Morse, Executive Director of the OEOA, after the Conference.

"The Conference has helped us identify the resources to meet emergency needs as we know them now. The political will to avert a greater tragedy was profusely evident at Geneva, and the international community mobilized to help meet Africa's unique challenge."

Mr. Morse stressed it had not been a pledging conference; rather, its purposes were to heighten public awareness of the situation in Africa, facilitate the mobilization of funds, and give donor Governments the opportunity to "look at the United Nations system in their own efforts at co-ordinating support for the stricken African countries".

An "important deficiency", he said, had been that contributions announced by the Governments had dealt principally with food aid and the transport of such aid. There were urgent continuing needs in the area for "agricultural inputs"--tools, seed, fertilizer and livestock vaccine; basic health requirements; survival items, including blankets and tents; water projects; and capital inputs for logistics, including port equipment and trucks. Those requirements were assessed in an OEOA report (SG/CONF. 2/1 and Corrs. 1 and 2) issued in mid-February (see UN Chronicle, 1985, No. 2).

"Country-specific" meetings for the most severely affected countries--Ethiopia, Chad, Sudan, Mozambique, Niger and Mali--had been held after the Conference, at which representatives of Governments met with United Nations personnel and representatives of interested non-governmental organizations. The needs of a country were then matched to indications of what was immediately available and would be forthcoming.

Similar meetings were scheduled in April for Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde (in Dakar), the United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and Somalia (in Nairobi), Botswana, Lesotho, Angola, and Zambia (in Lusakar), and Burkina Faso (no venue set yet).

Two other countries originally on the list of 20 most severely affected nations had decided that because of developments they did not need the aid. Zimbabwe reported it had had rain and conditions there had improved; Kenya stated its large food deficit had been met almost entirely from its own resources.

During the debate, Djibouti, Sao Tome and Principe, Gambia and Uganda drew attention to severe drought conditions in those countries, and indicated their wish to be included in the group of countries requiring emergency assistance.

Mr. Morse said Italy had pledged nearly $1 billion, about half of which was new money, and the United States had confirmed its commitment to meet 50 per cent of what was required. That would mean the target for urgent needs was "already in sight", he said.

Secretary-General's statement

In his opening day statement, the Secretary-General said the meeting was "testimony to the global concern for the plight of the African people." He was convinced that each State represented would help affected countries "save lives and end suffering without any regard to political considerations."

Drought alone was not the sole cause of "this terrible situation", he went on. Lands, already arid and fragile, had been subjected to the mounting pressures of growing numbers of people seeking the bare necessities of life. Per capita food production for domestic consumption had been declining. On top of all of this was the negative impact of adverse international economic conditions.

Affected African countries had made valiant efforts under extremely difficult circumstances, and had "paid a heavy price in terms of their development aspirations".

United Nations efforts would continue. The establishment of the OEOA provided "a unique and encouraging example of how the United Nations family can move in unison", he said. Each country would be assisted in developing a framework for coordination for emergency efforts.

Despite the "grim picture" presented, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said there was cause for encouragement and hope. There had been "great expression of concern and support by people throughout the world"--including generous contributions by many Governments, including some developing countries, efforts by hundreds of voluntary organizations and agencies from all parts of the world which were providing essential services to victims of the disaster, and "a remarkable outpouring" of aid from people the world over and from all walks of national life--trade unions, religious groups, schools, colleges, the entertainment world, business organizations and concerned individuals.

Morse statement

Mr. Morse, Executive Director of the OEOA, said at the opening meeting that the situation "requires the kind of response, both from the African nations and the international community, which only a wartime mobilization has previously achieved".

The Conference proved that Governments and people throughout the world shared the agony which the tragedy was inflicting on African peoples and nations. African countries faced the enormous task of rehabilitation and resuming sustained and sustainable development to enable the African people to realize their aspirations for a better life.

"We know that you have the potential to turn this night of sorrow into a morning of hope. We know that your people have the toughness and determination to convert that potential into reality", he said.

Co-operation within the United Nations system had resulted in what might be appropriately called the "United Nations African Emergency Response System", which would ensure the most effective use of United Nations resources. The OEOA would not take on the functions of other organizations, but would help them to mobilize additional resources and strengthen their capacities to perform their functions more effectively within the framework of this System.

"The needs which are before you must be measured not in terms of a deficit in resources available, but in terms of human suffering and of human lives which may be lost unnecessarily", Mr. Morse concluded. "We dare not fail. We must not fail."

At the closing session, Mr. Morse said the Conference had affirmed its solidarity with the Governments and peoples of Africa affected by the devastating drought and famine afflicting that continent. It had also affirmed the commitment of the international community to co-operate with and support those Governments and peoples and their regional organizations in sharing the heavy burdens the emergency imposed on them.

"The highest priority continued to be accorded to identifying the urgent human needs, monitoring those needs, bringing them to the attention of donors, mobilizing the additional resources required, and ensuring the deployment and delivery of emergency assistance on a timely, effective and co-ordinated basis and in collaboration with the Governments of the affected countries," he continued.

Further, the Conference had affirmed the important role of the United Nations in addressing that emergency, co-ordinated through the OEOA. Concrete measures taken to alleviate the current emergency would, with the necessary external support, facilitate the recovery, rehabilitation, and long-term development of the affected countries.

African Governments, which bore the principal responsibility for dealing with the emergency and its consequences, should be fully supported by the international community in their efforts to take appropriate measures necesary to develop their own food production capabilities and achieve self-reliance in meeting the food needs of their people, he said.

Regional statements

On 11 March, representatives of intergovernmental African organizations took the podium, including: Julius K. Nyerere, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and the current Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU); Major General Seyni Kountche, President of Niger, and the Chairman of the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS); and representatives of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development in Eastern Africa.

President Nyerere, speaking on behalf of the OAU, said African States were desperately concerned about their people's plight, and doing what they could to deal with it within their own nations--sometimes also helping neighbours even worse off than themselves.

In efforts towards regional co-operation regarding the situation, the OAU had in November 1984 set up a Special Fund for Famine Relief. It had also decided its next meeting would deal with longer-term problems related to the current emergency, with special emphasis on the rapid attainment of food self-sufficiency on the African continent.

President Kountche, speaking for the CILSS, noted he had come to the Conference on behalf of 35 million Sahelians. Most of the countries of the Sahel were least developed, and more than half were land-locked. Moreover, those countries had been severely affected by the world economic crisis, and development plans had been revised and lowered. In that set of circumstances, the Sahel had been struck by a most severe drought.

The countries of the Sahel needed 1,750,000 tons of food for the year 1985; up to now, commitments of 1,278,000 tons of food had been made. So far, about 30 per cent of commitments had been realized. Problems of logistics and communications had to be addressed. Efforts of beneficiaries, donors and countries of transit required efficient co-ordination.

The drama of the Sahel, and the drama of Africa, would last as long as the combat against the drought would be considered the problem of one country, or of one group of countries, he said. The drought had assumed dimensions which would jeopardize the global balance.

Mrs. Gaositwe K.T. Chiepe, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Botswana, addressed the Conference on behalf of the Chairman of the SADCC, Quett K.J. Masire, President of Botswana.

That organization, which comprised nine independent States of southern Africa, had been established in 1980, with the twin objectives of promoting regional development through coordinated collective action and reducing member States' dependence, particularly, but not only, on South Africa.

In the past three years, the region had been in the grip of the severest drought in the recorded history of most member States, the message read. At its annual conference in Lusaka, Zambia, in January 1984, the SADCC had launched a special appeal for drought relief.

What was needed now was a concerted collective effort on the part of African nations with the help of the international community to implement those measures. Areas for action included: improved food production techniques aimed at achieving greater yields per unit area planted; improved services to the farmer, especially the small peasant farmer, who needed advisory and extension services; marketing and transport services, financial resources and appropriate delivery systems for certified seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and other inputs; bringing into production more land while at the same time taking great care to maintain the environment and ecological balances; and appropriate social and economic policies as well as institutions.

The affected African States looked to the international community generally, but more especially to the industrialized countries of North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Pacific for a substantial contribution.

Moumin Bahdon Farah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Djibouti, delivered a message from the chairman of the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development in Eastern Africa.

He said the Authority had been established in February 1984 at a meeting of countries of the sub-region, in accordance with provisions of General Assembly resolution 38/216, which had urged completion of the necessary arrangements for the Authority. Located in Djibouti, its founding members area: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and Sudan.

Its aim is to co-ordinate and substantiate efforts to combat the effects of drought and other catastrophes; to facilitate medium-term and long-term efforts; to make the international community aware of the very grave drought problems; to mobilize resources for urgent programmes, and to finance such operations through sub-regional co-operation; and to identify sub-regional projects and help member States define programmes of action.

At present, 34 African countries were affected by the drought. At the beginning of the 1970s, only eight countries were affected.

Debate themes

During the two-day Conference, statements were made by more than 80 representatives of Governments and organizations.

Many speakers referred to the need for effective co-ordination of international relief efforts for Africa, emphasizing that short-term emergency measures had to be integrated with medium- and long-term efforts for the continent's development.

A number of nations emphasized that the causes of the crisis included: deteriorating global economic conditions, balance-of-payments deficits, the collapse of commodity prices, stagnation in official development assistance, a dramatic increase in Africa's external debt, rising interest rates and increased protectionism. Also cited were the widespread, severe and persistent drought which caused serious food shortages, the problem of refugees and displaced persons, and the rapidly growing population.

Some countries felt past colonial exploitation and neo-colonial dependency had resulted in a burdensome economic structure for African countries, and were underlying deep-rooted causes of the current crisis. The general crisis embracing the world capitalist economy had also significantly contributed to it, they felt. The establishment of a new international economic order would help resolve the current situation, they said.

One nation referred to attempts to use the critical economic situation of a number of African countries to exert political and economic pressures, to impose models of economic development irrelevant to their national interests and to make out of assistance a tool for interference in domestic affairs.

The view was expressed that assistance should be provided under full agreement with the Government of concerned countries, and not indirectly through numerous "co-ordination" bodies.

The need to reinforce Africa's production capacities, especially agricultural and food production, was stressed, as was attaining the goal of food self-sufficiency. Considered particularly important were: development of agricultural infrastructure, land reclamation, water supply and soil conservation, and improvements in distribution and food storage facilities. Farmers should be given proper incentives and efficient services to allow them to do their utmost to grow a surplus for sale or storage.

Also called for were granting of credits under favourable terms to help meet investment needs, and more technical assistance, training facilities and assistance in the transfer of technology. Pre-disaster planning and prevention was needed, said some. Short-term preventive disaster relief had to be more closely related to longer-term development assistance.

Some nations were insistent that appropriate domestic policies conducive to economic growth and production had to be adopted by African countries as an essential step for long-term development. The view was expressed that difficult eocnomic conditions in recent years had led many African Governments to make painful adjustments in their economic policies, and that sensible use of foreign assistance combined with improved internal structural conditions would ultimately secure sufficient domestic food production.