Afrodad launches reality of aid Africa edition at regional workshop

MEDIA STATEMENT

AFRODAD LAUNCHES REALITY OF AID AFRICA EDITION AT REGIONAL WORKSHOP

"Without good governance, we cannot eradicate poverty; for no corrupt
government is interested in the eradication of poverty; on the contrary, and
as we have seen in many parts of Africa and elsewhere, widespread corruption
in high places breeds poverty".

Julius Nyerere, Former President of Tanzania

HARARE - The African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD)
will on 19 and 20 May, 2004 host a workshop for its affiliates and
stakeholders to discuss the contents of their latest publication, Reality of
Aid, Africa Edition 2003/4, which will be launched at the same event in
Pretoria, South Africa.

The theme for the workshop will be: "Governance & Promotion of Rights in
International Cooperation and Aid" and will provide a space for the 18
participants to review the findings contained in the Africa Edition of the
Reality of Aid publication, as well as come up with recommendations for the
way forward.

The Africa Edition of Reality of Aid is a culmination of various workshops
and meetings between AFRODAD affiliates and organisations working on debt
and aid in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe as well as contributions from
other African countries, which allowed for a truly African perspective of
the issues. Workshop participants have always included high-level government
officials, donors, civil society and grassroots organisations and members of
the general public, in an effort to articulate genuine African views and
opinions on the performance and effectiveness of development aid and to
ensure that it benefits all.

The UN Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey in March 2002
elicited pledges to increase official Overseas Development Assistance (ODA)
over the medium term from its current level of US$ 50 billion for all
aid-recipients. Promises from the EU and USA alone would generate an extra
$12 billion a year from 2006 onwards for all developing countries but this
falls far short of the amounts required to meet the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), worse still with the continuous resource out flows from the
South to the North through huge debt serving obligations and trade losses.
The actual reality of aid is that " roughly 80 cents on every dollar that
flows into Africa from foreign loans flows back out as capital flight and
debt servicing. Capital flight over the past 27 years has amounted to about
US$ 187 billion" UNECA Economic Report 2003.

The World Bank and IMF remain the dominant drivers and gatekeepers of donor
policy in Africa. Their assigned position gives them an added role as
instruments of governance at the global level, even when this has no
legitimacy. "They continue to put pressure on African governments, through
their conditionalities, to adopt neo-liberal policies. Under Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and Poverty Reduction Growth Facilities
(PRGF), they continue to entrench their market driven policies, which
undermine people's rights and the sovereignty of the African State -
therefore governance", reads the book in part.

AFRODAD finds the Reality of Aid as a cross cutting issue in development
work and therefore the need and importance of analyzing it and its impact as
it leads to more complex problems like undermining ownership, increased
dependency and indebtedness, among others.

The fundamental question therefore remains as to whether Africa needs Aid or
not? If so what aid should it be, and how should it be managed and for whom
should it be? If not, what are the real and tangible alternatives to
development aid?

The regional workshop will seek to analyse some of these issues in depth and
also look at governance structures at international, regional and national
levels and how different policies, interests and actions violate human
rights in the name of globalisation, personal and corporate interests and
the security agenda.

-ends-

For more information, contact the Secretariat at;
31 Atkinson Drive, Hillside, P.O.CY1517, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel: 263-4-778531/778536 Fax: 263-4-747767
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] or visit our
website: www.afrodad.org