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Newsletter - May 2002
Newsletter, May 2002
Volume 5, No 2
On June 26 and 27, 2002, the G8 is meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada (in the Rocky Mountains, far from public scrutiny) and will be chaired by Canada. There are three main items are on the agenda:
- Combating "terrorist" financing
- Strengthening global economic growth
- Building a New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
This special issue of our World March of Women's Newsletter has been produced to spread information on this important meeting and to raise awareness on the urgency for action. We have chosen to focus primarily on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) since this is an issue of the utmost importance for African women and deserves special attention, given that very little information is available.
When this newsletter was written, a growing number of civil society organizations in African countries were mobilizing to make their voices heard by demanding that their governments put the concerns of people and human rights at the heart of their strategies and thus frame the NEPAD in a perspective of sustainable development.
The World March of Women calls upon women's groups, especially in Africa, to become involved in these struggles by emphasizing elements of a feminist analysis and the specific impact of the NEPAD on women. We are also asking women's groups in the G8 member countries to denounce the process and to let their political leaders hear their criticism of the content of the NEPAD. We call upon other nations around the world to act in solidarity with African women by organizing demonstrations, events or educational activities, especially during the week of the G8 summit (June 21-28).
We need to join forces to continue fighting against an international economic system that is profoundly unbalanced and inequitable, and which negatively impacts on the development of Africa and the South in general! We must stand up against all projects that ultimately erode women's rights and reinforce patriarchal values.
SUMMARY :
Newsletter, May 2002, Vol. 5, no 2
WHAT IS THE G8?
The G8 is the group of the 7 most industrialized countries on the planet (Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, United States). Since 1997, when Russia joined, it is now called the G8 even though Russia is not party to economic and financial discussions. Once a year, these leaders meet - among peers, i.e. between powerful, rich, and primarily white men! - to tackle major world issues. Yet no one in the international community has democratically entrusted these men with the world's fate: the G8 has no political legitimacy.
An "exemplary" track record!
Year after year, the appalling deference of these politicians to the very visible hand of the market becomes more apparent. For example, in 1994: the G7 came out in favor of employment "flexibility" and labor costs in keeping with the policies of the OECD (Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation: a club composed mainly of rich countries) and the big bosses of the global economy; in 1996: the G7 thrust the responsibility onto the Third World to create a "friendly environment" for investors; in 1997: the G7 claimed to be "concerned" about the debt of poor countries yet insisted that they pay back the loans in full; in 1998 at the height of a disastrous financial crisis, the G8 recommended strict compliance with the IMF's instructions, despite that Asian countries had been ruined by the IMF's decisions; in 1999: in Cologne, Germany, the G8, under pressure from an international petition signed by 24 million people, promised to cancel the public debt of the 41 poorest countries; in 2000: in Okinawa, Japan, the G8 acknowledged that they had not kept their word, and made the same promise to cancel the public debt of the poorest countries and in 2001: at the summit in Genoa, Italy, the G8 again admitted its inability (or rather its unwillingness) to reduce the debt of the poorest countries: only feeble advances were made. The African leaders who went to Genoa were met with an objection. While police killed a young demonstrator, the G8 leaders recited their mantra: Free trade and investment favors growth and reduces poverty in the world.
What about women?
For these men, women are clearly the least of their concerns! No serious commitments to women's issues have ever been made…unless it was to reinforce the notion that under neo-liberalism, it's "profitable" to invest in women! This is not surprising given that the G8 is the flagship of globalization as we know it today: capitalist, racist, sexist and destructive toward the environment (Final declaration of the People's Summit of the Americas, April 2001 in Quebec City). It is no more than a club of shareholders in the global economy, determined to protect their own interests; and it is the group of countries that strongly influences international financial institutions like the WTO, the WB and the IMF of whom the World March, in October 2000, demanded a change of course. It is up to us to carry on and force this change of course!
Newsletter, May 2002, Vol. 5, no 2
A NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT (NEPAD)… WITHOUT AFRICAN WOMEN!!! (1)
At their meeting in Kananaskis (Alberta, Canada) the heads of state of the G8 will "look into" the situation of Africa following a proposal for a New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiated by a select group African heads of state.
(1) Our analysis has been greatly inspired from the document written by Zo Randriamaro, The NEPAD, Gender and the Poverty Trap: the NEPAD and the challenges of financing for development in Africa from a gender perspective.
A modern version of colonialism
Although this initiative puts the "forgotten continent" into the international community's spotlight, we can't help remarking the extent to which the old paternalistic, colonizing habits of the North - male, rich and white - have come back in full force with the NEPAD.
For proof, look no further than the Prime Minister of Canada's recent African tour (he visited 6 of the 53 African countries in 9 days!) "As chair of the G8 this year I am committed to consulting Africans on the plan for Africa with a view to working with African governments who are determined to work for the good of their fellow citizens in order to establish lasting peace and security, to reinforce democratic governance, to tackle health and education issues and to liberalize trade and investment (...) Mr. Chrétien sent a message to his African counterparts to make them understand that the more they lean towards good governance, i.e. democratization and the respect for human rights, the more they will be rewarded through various social assistance programs that the G8 countries will set up." (La Presse, March 30,2002). Back in Canada, Mr. Chrétien unabashedly stated, "I was impressed with the cohesion of everyone (...) They all had exactly the same approach and spoke of what is needed to put Africa on the global agenda and to create a favorable climate for investment."
A "secret" process
The G8 is planning the future of Africa... without African men and women! In Africa, hardly anyone has heard of the NEPAD. They have not paid any attention to civil society organizations in Africa, the general population and women in particular from the outset of the process. Only a select few, close to the West, have been included. This significant shortcoming raises serious doubts as to the future of participatory democracy in this development plan that disregards the concerns of marginalized populations, including women. Decades of work by women's organizations in particular have been systematically overlooked...!
A development plan... that guarantees "underdevelopment"!
The NEPAD, like other development plans for Africa before it, doesn't take into account the real problems of African people, especially women. This shows to what extent the so-called "developed" nations are behind the NEPAD, which many consider a new form of exploitation for African people. It also shows how African leaders are opening the door to the world's powerful to shore up the neo-liberal globalization that is so roundly denounced by social movements. Here are a few aspects of this new plan:
Developing Africa... without African women!
The architects of the NEPAD have managed to propose a development plan for an entire continent... without looking at the problems created by gender inequality! Certainly, the NEPAD claims to intend to promote the role of women in all spheres of activity, yet women are not central to this document that claims to map out the future of the African continent.
Peace, an indispensable condition for the development of Africa
No development project can achieve its goals in a context of war, repression, corruption, arms trafficking, and without the accountability of political leaders. African women have been fighting for decades against the endless armed conflicts within nations, dictatorships and against the marginalization of women in all decision-making spheres for managing conflicts, many of which are fueled by the so-called great powers of the world to ensure better control of resources and thus keep African countries economically dependent.
Newsletter, May 2002, Vol. 5, no 2
PROPOSALS FOR CHANGING COURSE
In 2000, we had 2000 good reasons to march and to demand that our political and economic leaders embark on a true change of course in their orientation. Two years later, we have added other reasons including the policies put forth by the G8. We are calling on all women of the World March to carry on the struggle to demand:
1. A radical rethinking of international financial institutions (WB, IMF, WTO) and illegitimate "boys' clubs" (World Economic Forum, G8, G20, OECD) whose sole existence relies on the power of money and arms. Any international financial organization that claims to serve the people should be democratic, transparent, and accountable before legislative bodies, subject to charters, pacts, covenants, and international protocols that guarantee human rights and gender equality. These organizations must be set up under the UN but first the UN itself must be reformed, in particular its Security Council dominated by the same group of countries that have the power of veto.
2. A true partnership in solidarity with Africa that deconstructs unequal trade rules between rich countries and the African continent, that breaks with neo-liberal tenets, that puts an end to wars fed by arms merchants in G8 countries, that creates the prerequisite conditions for development based on gender equality, the respect of human rights, respect for the environment, alternative economic solutions brought forth by grassroots groups, mechanisms for fair access to economic resources, processes to reinforce participative democracy and good governance, an end to dictators that are propped up by great powers or to African leaders who take office by force, the assessment of women's the efforts and participation in the process of social, cultural and economic development and the reinforcement of women's involvement in their country's political life.
Any development plan must lay its foundation in the integration of a gender perspective in all sectors of life.
Among the immediate measures that could "liberate development" we propose: total and immediate cancellation of the debt that is the new face of colonialism in Africa. This debt is immoral, illegal, and illegitimate. The end of structural adjustment programs that keep countries under the yoke of policies set by rich countries, and that are a major cause of impoverishment. The effective liberation and investment of 0.7% of the gross national product (GNP) of rich countries for aid to developing nations... a promise made over 25 years ago!!!
3. States must safeguard the respect of human rights and the common good
Market interests have put their full weight behind efforts to reduce the role of States to a minimum since they believe States hinder free trade through legislation, regulations, and subsidies. They want weak States. But a society without a state, left vulnerable to the will of market forces, is condemned to a future of poverty and war, where only the strongest prevail. We want States that actively intervene to reinforce representative and participative democracy, to ensure equitable distribution of wealth, to instill and maintain quality public services that are universal, accessible, and free (in particular health and education), and to fight violence against women, to guarantee social pluralism.
4. Gender equality
We demand: that a gender-based perspective be included in all agreements and all trade policies; that the unpaid work women do - within the home, for example - be recognized as wealth and be computed as part of the GNP; that women's fundamental economic, social and cultural role in development be recognized; that urgent and energetic measures be taken to bring women and children out of poverty; that measures be introduced to facilitate women's priority access to education, day care services, technical training, credit and land; that measures be taken to ensure the participation of women and women's groups in political and economic institutions; that gender-specific index of the UNDP be used to measure progress made for the status of women.
5. An immediate measure for wealth sharing: a tax on financial transactions (in particular the Tobin Tax)
In itself, the Tobin Tax does not claim to solve forever the problem of speculation, even less so the problem of growing inequalities. But it can contribute to slowing down the well-tuned machine of financial speculation. It is part of a group of emerging proposals for the taxation of capital. It would generate a significant world fund dedicated to social development, managed democratically and to which women should have preferred access. This is a goal we can meet in the short term.
6. Specific measures to eliminate financial criminality
Financial criminality is incompatible with human development. It perverts trade and constitutes a form of legalized theft by allowing financiers, companies, political leaders, etc. to hide "their" money and to protect it from taxation, national laws and regulations... and this doesn't even include money laundering. We demand the end of tax havens and the end of banking secrecy.
7. The end of war policies
There can be no future for humanity in the development of war policies that, in the name of fighting "terrorism", in fact transform societies into battlefields or artificially protected fortresses. Women and children bear the heaviest burdens of war. We strongly favor political negotiation of conflicts, the end of the arms industry, and the development of a pacifist culture. Women must be present in all phases leading to the prevention and resolution of armed conflicts.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE NEPAD AND THE G8 SUMMIT
Activism:
http://www.g6bpeoplessummit.org/
http://www.g8.activist.ca
General information on the G8:
http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/
http://www.g8.gc.ca (Official site of the G8 summit)
Focus on the G8 Kananaskis Meeting
http://www.kairoscanada.org/english/programme/G8/index.htm
A few sites with information on the NEPAD:
Official site of the NEPAD: http://www.nepad.org/
Canadian Council for International Cooperation: http://www.ccic.ca/
The site of Match International has detailed information on women and the NEPAD:
http://www.web.net/~matchint/
Last modified 2006-03-23 03:08 PM
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