NATIONAL SUMMIT ON AFRICA: TOP TEN PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS
During the National Summit, delegates deliberated and adopted the following
10 priority recommendations (two for each of the National Summit on
Africa's five themes) for immediate action, and to serve as the anchors to
the National Policy Plan of Action for U.S.-Africa Relations in the 21st
Century.
Economic Development, Trade and Investment, and Job Creation:
1. The U.S. should take the lead in providing
prompt and meaningful debt relief for Africa by forgiving all Africa public
sector debt owed to the U.S. The U.S. should also support and encourage the
favorable renegotiation, restructuring or cancellation of African debt held
by private and multilateral creditors, as well as that held by other
creditor nations.
2. It is absolutely necessary for the U.S. to
stimulate direct trade and investment between Africa and the U.S. because
without it democracy will fail and the human needs of the people cannot be
met. This should be done with particular emphasis on small- and medium-sized
businesses between Africans and African-Americans. There must be support for
the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act in order to foster trade and
investment in Africa and enable African countries to develop mutually
beneficial partnerships with the U.S. so as to accomplish these goals.
Sustainable Development, Quality of Life, and the Environment
3. In the interest of sustainable development
and the goals of self-sufficiency and economic independence in Africa, the
U.S. should support and strengthen access to potable water and waste
management; the prevention, control, and eradication of infections and
diseases through the use of non-traditional, traditional, and herbal
medicines. Prevention of all major diseases in Africa should be supported
in partnership with African governments, civil society and non-governmental
organizations, the private corporate sector and other multi-lateral and
bi-lateral donor agencies. Moreover, the U.S. must champion debt
cancellation so African governments can redirect those resources toward
these efforts. The U.S. should work collaboratively with organizations in
Africa to support efforts to provide disability, refugee, and mental health
services. HIV/AIDS should be given special emphasis. These collective
actions will also ensure the future of Africa's children.
4. The U.S. should invest in and support
African initiatives to provide basic necessities through the development of
sustainable infrastructure. Addressing these issues requires commitment to
human capital, gender issues (with emphasis on women), education, capacity
building, participatory development involving the inclusion of
non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, and reliance
on expertise from Africa, as well as establishing linkages with
African-Americans. All existing and future U.S. government projects, U.S.
non-governmental organizations and businesses should adhere to the same
environmental protection standards that they would need to meet in the U.S.
and should be required to sign on to a list of principles that promote
sustainable utilization of land, water, forest, wildlife, marine,
biodiversity, and coastal resources. The U.S. should strictly enforce the
prohibition of transporting, selling and dumping of toxic and hazardous
substances. Therefore, the U.S. through its Department of State, agencies,
and Congress can play key enhancing roles by: 1) increasing the foreign
assistance budget; 2) sustaining and expanding information technology
infrastructure 3) using its relational leverage with other donors to boost
the livelihood of grassroots communities; and 4) supporting efforts at land
reform which sustains small holder agriculture and food security.
Peace and Security
5. The U.S. should support United Nations and
regional organizations’ peacekeeping and conflict prevention efforts in
Africa, including timely financial and logistical support. The U.S. also
should fully pay, without conditions, its current United Nations dues and
arrears and its assessments for peacekeeping operations.
6. The U.S. should increase financial,
technical, and logistical support for African and multilateral initiatives
and institutions (including civil society) aimed at crisis prevention,
conflict resolution, peace enforcements, and humanitarian assistance. Any
action should incorporate an intensive education program. The U.S. should
increase efforts to enact the optional protocol on child soldiers; to
protect African citizens against conscription, to inform American consumers
of the origins of African products and resources in order to prevent the
sale of those products from financing war, conflict, and corruption. The
President should immediately sign, and the U.S. Senate should ratify, the
Treaty to Ban Landmines without reservation. The U.S. should expand
financial support for mine clearance, victim assistance and rehabilitation,
environmentally sensitive de-mining, and landmine awareness. The U.S. should
end all production and sales of landmines and should support international
initiatives to make producers of landmines financially accountable for
property and human losses therefrom.
Democracy and Human Rights
7. The U.S. government, public and private
sectors should make the promotion of democracy and respect for human rights
central to their policies towards Africa. The U.S. should increase support
towards existing and emerging institutions that do not violate human rights.
U.S. foreign assistance including trade benefits, security assistance,
finance, and logistics should be available on a preferential basis to those
that respect human rights. This assistance must include human rights
training. To this end, the U.S. should be committed to bringing all
Americans, particularly African Americans, to the forefront of discussions,
planning, and implementation of all initiatives.
8. To promote African democracy and human
rights in this era of globalization, the U.S. government should require
U.S.-based corporations and international finance institutions, particularly
the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization, to
advance these goals in policy and practice. A corporate code of conduct must
make democracy and human rights central to doing business in Africa. The
charters of international institutions should be amended so that they can no
longer offer support and legitimacy to illegitimate governments, and to
democratize the institutions to allow for more African representation. The
U.S. should support Africa's quest for a permanent seat on the UN Security
Council, should triple the number of African refugees admitted to the U.S.,
increase aid to 0.7% of GNP, and ratify all pending human rights
conventions.
Education and Culture
9. The U.S., including African-American
educational institutions, should seek equitable partnerships with African
professionals, institutions, and communities to include opportunities for
international exchange, training, research, technology, knowledge transfer,
information sharing, and arts and culture. The U.S. should fund and support
efforts of all countries to provide basic education, all types of literacy
programs, and HIV/AIDS education for children (particularly girls) adults,
and persons with disabilities.
10. It is imperative that action be taken
consistently and accurately to educate the U.S. public on Africa through
mass media, cultural institutions, and school curriculum. The U.S. must
encourage African ownership while discouraging multinational institutions
from destabilizing, displacing, or competing unfairly with indigenous media.
Policymakers must 1) promote change in American knowledge and attitudes
toward Africa; 2) emphasize Africa's role in the history of global
civilization.
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