Arab Inter-parliamentary Union

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11th Afro-Arab Parliamentary Conference
Damasus, 22 - 24 July 2004

Item 5
Human Development in Africa and in Arab Countries:
Realities and Prospects

I – Strategic context and Realities

Human development seems nowadays a dynamic concept that places the man at the heart of development. In the beginning, human development was assessed through life expectancy, adult literacy, schooling rate and Gross Domestic Product per capita.

Today, development is also assessed through human rights.

In Africa, as well as in Arab countries, human development has made significant progress in terms of the increase in revenues per capita, the extension of life expectancy, the reduction of child mortality rate and the increase in adult education rate. Various countries have also adopted international standards in terms of human rights and public liberties.

However, this performance have not succeeded in alleviating human poverty, particularly in Africa. In some countries of the continent, the people are threatened by HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, environment difficulties and the worsening of poverty.

Noting this, UN member states and African Heads of state have clearly affirmed the significance of participation and partnership to improve human development outlooks. This assertion is stated both in the UN Millennium Declaration (September 2000) and in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

In the Millennium Declaration, the Heads of State and Government have adopted a programme which puts the emphasis on the collective responsibility as a way of achieving the 8 specific goals of human development, alleviating poverty and suppressing its causes and expressions by 2015 .

The NEPAD is a strategic framework for Africa’s renaissance. The 37^th Summit of the OAU in July 2001 adopted the strategic framework document. The main objectives of the NEPAD are to eradicate poverty, place African countries on the path of sustainable development, and promote the role of women in socio-economic development .

The NEPAD strategy should therefore ensure lasting improvement of the living conditions of the African peoples laying the stress on good governance and human rights as a basic condition for the implementation of the development policies focused on the human being.

It is true that some advances have been made at various levels in the promotion of human development, however, they are slow and unequal. At this rate, it would be difficult to attain the Millennium Development Goals and realize the NEPAD’ objectives. Priority should be given to the realization these objectives.

In this respect, it is necessary to promote democracy, good governance and human rights. In fact, democracy, human rights and good governance play a major part in the development process as it has always been said in inter-parliamentary and international conferences. The Millennium Declaration also states that the promotion of democracy, the strengthening of the Rule of Law as well as the respect of human rights and basic freedoms, namely the right to development, play a crucial role in the progress.

Furthermore, the implementation of any plan of development requires a system of government that is transparent, strict and participative, based on the rule of law, protecting civil, political, economic and social rights, relying on a public administration that is efficient, accountable of its action and that accepts the participation of all in the decision making process.

No progress can be made in the promotion of democracy, good governance, human rights and participation in the decision making process, if there is no integrated action to achieve simultaneously positive results in other areas, particularly in the field of education and in the fight against poverty.

Actions in favour of the least developed countries, two third of which are in Africa, should be undertaken in the framework of human development. Extreme poverty, the limited nature of human, institutional and productive capacities, the fragility of these countries when confronted with negative external economic situations, the level of the external debt, natural disasters and transmissible diseases are the factors that hinder the efforts aimed at improving the people’s lives. In this scheme, some countries are caught in the “trap of poverty” and no policy can by itself be good enough to enable them get out of it.

Hence there is need to establish a partnership with these least developed countries in order to help them overcome their specific difficulties. In this respect, a central position should be given to regional, inter-regional and international cooperation in the areas of trade exchanges, infrastructures, transports and energy policies. These areas are of a paramount importance for achievement of economic growth and alleviation of poverty.

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II – PROSPECTS

Be it the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) or the NEPAD objectives and principles, the partnership plays a major part in these strategic plans. African and Arab countries have a framework where they can implement human development through an Afro-Arab partnership in every area.

African and Arab countries should establish harmonious relationships that are mutually beneficial and likely to foster development and good governance.

Consequently, the following steps should be taken:

Cooperate in the legislative areas to promote the political, economic and social rights of the citizens.

Ensure that the governments, in Africa and in Arab countries, adopt strategies focused on human development founded on the respect of human rights, good management of public affairs and the fight against inequality and discrimination.

Take steps to promote women participation in political and economical life.

Strengthen the contribution of the civil society and the private sector in the development by involving them at every stage of the development process.

Draw development and investment strategies to attain the Millennium Development Goals and realize the NEPAD objectives by ensuring notably, an increase in the public sector investment, strengthening capacity and the mobilization of the resources at the national, regional and international levels.

Create an Afro-Arab cooperation in the areas of agriculture, water, industry, public health, education, environment, science, technology and infrastructures.

Target common actions aimed at reducing infant mortality, especially by improving access to clean water and sanitation.

Take part in the implementation of universal primary education by 2015 in order to break the vicious circle of passing poverty from generation to generation.

Promote Afro-Arab partnership in the area of health through technical assistance and training and helping the countries build capacity in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other endemic diseases.

Create a business propitious environment by instituting the rule of law, the fight against corruption so as to draw investments in both African and Arab countries.

Mobilize, imperatively, the necessary resources and establish a regional and international partnership in order to implement the programme of development.

Ensure, in the allocation of the available financial resources, that priority is given to projects that have an impact on human development.

Support trade exchanges between Africa and the Arab world to encourage economic growth.

Harmonize Arab and African stances in the WTO trade negotiations in order to adopt trade policies that are consistent with the national strategies aimed at poverty reduction and the realization of the MDGs.

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