News Article by ANS posted on October 24, 2000 at 01:16:59: EST (-5 GMT)
How the U.S. Can Support Peace and Democracy in the Horn of Africa
Africa News Service
Durham, NC
October 23, 2000
An Appeal to the New Clinton Administration from U.S.
Non-Governmental
Organizations
With public attention focused on Somalia, a group of about
40
American-based humanitarian, development, religious and relief
groups
has issued an appeal to the incoming Clinton administration
for an innovative
policy toward the Horn of Africa. The region
encompasses the nations of
Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan,
as well as the self-declared Republic
of Somaliland in the north of
Somalia and the territory of Eritrea, which is
to become an
independent state in April.
The statement by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), reprinted
below,
calls for a combination of relief, peace, reconstruction and
political
initiatives.
T hese are the worst of times and the best of times in the Horn of
Africa,
a region which includes Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti,
Somalia and the
unrecognized Republic of Somaliland. Twenty-three
million residents of the
Horn are at risk of starvation; 7 million have
been uprooted due to violence
and famine, and 7,000 are dying each
week as a result. A complete breakdown
in many places of both
traditional and state structures has made Somalia the
worst
humanitarian crisis in the world today. Egregious human
rights
violations, religious and ethnic persecution, and severe famine in
the
south and west are witnessed with increasing frequency in
Sudan,
wracked by civil war since 1983. Even Djibouti is beset by
civil
conflict.
On the other hand, two of the world's most brutal dictators have
been
overthrown in the past two years in Ethiopia and Somalia. One of
the
world's longest wars has ended in Eritrea. Local reconstruction
has
begun in some areas. Post-war Ethiopia and Eritrea are just
beginning
efforts at democratization.
Even as the world searches for new ways to provide emergency
assistance to
the 23 million people in the Horn who are at risk of
starvation, a parallel
effort must be undertaken to support the fledgling
attempts throughout the
region at reconstruction and popular
participation in decision-making.
In that spirit, the Coalition for Peace in the Horn of Africa, an ad
hoc
collaboration of U.S.-based non-governmental organizations
(NGOs),
presents a series of principles and initiatives designed to feed
the
Horn's most vulnerable, prevent future holocausts from recurring
and
build a sound basis for sustainable peace in the region.
In April 1992, the U.S. Congress passed the Horn of Africa Recovery
and
Food Security Act. Bread for the World, the Center of Concern
and scores of
other humanitarian and religious organizations, as
partners in the Coalition
for Peace in the Horn of Africa, supported this
bill. In previous decades,
U.S. policy emphasized military and
economic aid to despotic regimes
perceived to be useful in the
context of the Cold War. The new law mandates
an active U.S. role in
peace-making and directs U.S. aid to grass-roots
development
programs.
Thus far these legislative objectives have had little impact on
the
executive branch. ...
The NGOs and the individuals listed at the end of this document
support
the following principles and initiatives for the new
administration to pursue
in the areas of humanitarian relief, peace,
reconstruction and
democratization.
Humanitarian Relief
Assistance should be made available to all vulnerable people in the
Horn
of Africa, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender,
political
orientation or geographical location.
The United States, in conjunction with a revitalized United
Nations,
should work assiduously to achieve cease-fires, safe
passage
agreements and corridors of tranquillity for relief supplies.
Warring factions should not be allowed to exercise veto power
over
humanitarian operations.
The United States should encourage the international donor
community to
involve all fragments of civil society in planning and
implementing aid
programs. Local NGOs and community structures
should be strengthened and
empowered to participate fully in the
delivery of relief supplies.
In situations of genocide or mass starvation such as Somalia, or
in
situations where active diplomacy has failed to encourage the
free
passage of aid as in the case of Sudan, the UN Security
Council
should deploy armed escorts to protect relief supplies. But
even
limited armed intervention must be planned very carefully with
clear
humanitarian objectives.
Peace Initiatives
Either acting with its allies or through the United Nations and/or
the
Organization of African Unity, the United States must
energetically
pursue all diplomatic channels to end war and war-induced
famine in
the Horn. The wars raging in Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti have
not
been the focus of sustained, high-level efforts at conflict resolution.
The
same diplomatic vigor which accompanied the creation of the Gulf
War
coalition should be employed in the quest for peace in the Horn of
Africa.
Further, the United States must place greater emphasis on the
prevention
of conflict and humanitarian crisis. The horror of Somalia
should not detract
from a fundamental lesson: Had there been
intervention to assist Siad Barre's
early departure and a subsequent
political process, a much less violent
transition may have resulted.
Preemptive diplomacy, such as U.S. involvement
in Ethiopia's
transition in 1991, is critical.
The peace-making efforts of NGOs and indigenous groups should
also be
respected and supported. Locally initiated peace processes
have generated
positive results during the last few years among militia
leaders in Darfur
(western Sudan), community leaders in the
unrecognized Republic of
Somaliland, clan elders in certain areas of
Somalia, and local councils in
Ethiopia.
The United States should contribute its agreed-upon share of financial
and
other support for UN peacekeeping operations. Peacekeeping
funds should be
drawn from the defense budget.
The UN Security Council must proactively move to staunch the flow
of
weapons into the Horn. Iran and China have publicly provided arms
to
the government in Sudan, but numerous countries privately give
weapons
to that regime as well as to some of the Somali combatants.
Certain Middle
Eastern allies of the United States should be particular
targets of a
campaign of regional nonproliferation of weapons.
Reconstruction
The United States should make a long-term commitment to
support
reconstruction in the Horn. Reconstruction is an imperative
component
of reconciliation and democratization. For areas that are
relatively
tranquil and for emerging governments that develop
participatory
processes, outside aid is critical.
Reconstruction aid should be geared toward grass-roots,
sustainable,
people-centered development. Projects and programs should
involve
local communities, indigenous NGOs and local government
structures
in planning, implementing and managing projects. Otherwise,
the
activities will not be sustainable.
More resources need to be channeled through international NGOs
in
supporting local efforts and forming equal partnerships with
local
groups. Indigenous religious entities, relief and
rehabilitation
organizations, and other local groups have carried out locally
defined
development activities even in conflict areas. International
NGOs,
many of which are based in the United States, have been helpful
in
assisting local development efforts of indigenous groups, as well as
in
initiatives of their own. More assistance for local
institution-building
would be useful.
The United States should urge the World Bank and International
Monetary
Fund to be flexible in negotiating economic reform programs
with Horn
governments. The World Bank and other major donors are
supporting a
structural adjustment program in Ethiopia. There are
profound social impacts
to this difficult restructuring period. It is
important not only to provide
programs to soften the impact on the
poor and vulnerable, but to ensure that
sufficient investments are
made in these groups in order to lay the
foundation for sustainable
economic development. The United States should be
supportive of
adjustment programs that emphasize food security and access
to
productive resources for small farmers and pastoralists and which
are
formulated through a democratic process.
The United States should quickly launch a bilateral aid program in
Eritrea
and urge other donors to do the same. While awaiting a
referendum on
independence, Eritrea remains unrecognized as a
nation, a status that has
deprived it of most of
government-to-government aid. After 30 years of war,
reconstruction
needs are enormous and require a rapid response.
The United States should provide assistance to international
and
indigenous NGOs capable of responding to the massive
reconstructive
needs in the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland,
even if the territory's
political status is unresolved.
Given the region's 1.5 million refugees and 6 million
internally
displaced, lasting peace, reconstruction and nation-building
require
well-planned and properly funded repatriation programs
when
conditions in the Horn permit.
Democratization
The United States should recognize and support the numerous
fledgling
attempts at democratization throughout the Horn. Many are
locally rooted
movements for self-determination and greater popular
control of processes and
systems that affect people's lives. These
have taken a variety of forms, some
based on religion, some on racial
or ethnic identity, some on ideology, and
still others on geographic
location. The important policy implication here is
to remain flexible in
assessing the different manifestations of democracy
which might
emerge in response to the Horn's unique history.
Because the process of and results from regional elections in
Ethiopia
were not universally accepted inside or outside the country, the
United
States should expand its aid program in order to assist the
transitional
government in building a more broadly based coalition in
preparation
for national elections. The United States was slow to support
the
election process. The more the United States and other
donors
constructively support the process of including all segments
of
Ethiopian society in the democratization process, the better
the
prospects are for success.
Both directly and through the United Nations, the United States
should
support the referendum process in Eritrea through financial
and
technical assistance. After 30 years of armed struggle, Eritreans
have
won their right to self-determination. By April 1993, an
internationally
monitored referendum allowing the people to decide their own
future
will be completed.
The United States should work diplomatically and financially to
isolate
the government of Sudan. The U.S. Congress has clearly stated
that
no government that is systematically abusing human rights
and
repressing international dissent is eligible for U.S. non-emergency
aid.
The Congress has further legislated that the United States not
support
any multilateral aid as well, including World Bank and
International
Monetary Fund credits. These laws clearly apply to the current
regime
in Sudan, which has ruthlessly repressed basic human rights
along
religious and racial lines. The United States should further
encourage
other donor governments to withhold non-emergency aid to Sudan
and
encourage the situation to be taken up at the level of the UN
Security
Council.
The United States should promote greater utilization of the UN
Human
Rights Commission for the purpose of investigating and
publicizing
human rights abuses in the Horn and developing recommendations
for
the international community to deal with egregious
violators.