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Kananaskis summit - 2002
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G8 Africa action plan |
1. We, the Heads of State and Government of
eight major industrialized democracies and the Representatives of the European
Union, meeting with African Leaders at Kananaskis, welcome the initiative taken
by African States in adopting the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD), a bold and clear-sighted vision of Africa's development. We accept the
invitation from African Leaders, extended first at
Genoa
last July and reaffirmed in the
NEPAD, to build a new partnership between the countries of
Africa and our own, based on mutual responsibility
and respect. The NEPAD provides an historic opportunity to overcome obstacles to
development in
Africa. Our Africa Action Plan is the G8's initial
response, designed to encourage the imaginative effort that underlies the NEPAD
and to lay a solid foundation for future
cooperation.
2. The case for action is compelling. Despite
its great potential and human resources, Africa continues to face some of the world's greatest
challenges. The many initiatives designed to spur Africa's development have failed to
deliver sustained improvements to the lives of individual women, men and
children throughout Africa.
3. The New Partnership for
Africa 's Development offers something different. It
is, first and foremost, a pledge by African Leaders to the people of
Africa to consolidate democracy and sound economic
management, and to promote peace, security and people-centred development.
African Leaders have personally directed its creation and implementation. They
have formally undertaken to hold each other accountable for its achievement.
They have emphasized good governance and human rights as necessary preconditions
for Africa 's recovery. They focus on investment-driven
economic growth and economic governance as the engine for poverty reduction, and
on the importance of regional and sub-regional partnerships within
Africa .
4. We welcome this commitment. In support of
the NEPAD objectives, we each undertake to establish enhanced partnerships with
African countries whose performance reflects the NEPAD commitments. Our partners
will be selected on the basis of measured results. This will lead us to focus
our efforts on countries that demonstrate a political and financial commitment
to good governance and the rule of law, investing in their people, and pursuing
policies that spur economic growth and alleviate poverty. We will match their
commitment with a commitment on our own part to promote peace and security in
Africa, to boost expertise and capacity, to encourage
trade and direct growth-oriented investment, and to provide more effective
official development assistance.
5. Together, we have an
unprecedented opportunity to make progress on our common goals of eradicating
extreme poverty and achieving sustainable development. The new round of
multilateral trade negotiations begun at Doha, the Monterrey meeting on
financing for development, this G8 Summit at Kananaskis and the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, are key milestones in this
process.
6. NEPAD recognizes that the prime
responsibility for
Africa
's future lies with
Africa
itself. We will continue to support
African efforts to encourage public engagement in the NEPAD and we will continue
to consult with our African partners on how we can best assist their own
efforts. G8 governments are committed to mobilize and energize global action,
marshal resources and expertise, and provide impetus in support of the NEPAD's
objectives. As G8 partners, we will undertake mutually reinforcing actions to
help
Africa
accelerate growth and make lasting gains
against poverty. Our Action Plan focuses on a limited number of priority areas
where, collectively and individually, we can add value.
7. The African peer-review process
is an innovative and potentially decisive element in the attainment of the
objectives of the NEPAD. We welcome the adoption on June 11 by the NEPAD Heads
of State and Government Implementation Committee of the Declaration on
Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance and the African Peer
Review Mechanism. The peer-review process will inform our considerations of
eligibility for enhanced partnerships. We will each make our own assessments in
making these partnership decisions. While we will focus particular attention on
enhanced-partnership countries, we will also work with countries that do not yet
meet the standards of NEPAD but which are clearly committed to and working
towards its implementation. We will not work with governments which disregard
the interests and dignity of their people.
8. However, as a matter of strong
principle, our commitment to respond to situations of humanitarian need remains
universal and is independent of particular regimes. So, too, is our commitment
to addressing the core issues of human dignity and development. The Development
Goals set out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration are an important
component of this engagement.
9. At Monterrey, in March 2002, we agreed to
revitalize efforts to help unlock and more effectively utilize all development
resources including domestic savings, trade and investment, and official
development assistance. A clear link was made between good governance, sound
policies, aid effectiveness and development success. In support of this strong
international consensus, substantial new development assistance commitments were
announced at
Monterrey
. By 2006, these new commitments
will increase ODA by a total of US$12 billion per year. Each of us will decide,
in accordance with our respective priorities and procedures, how we will
allocate the additional money we have pledged. Assuming strong African policy
commitments, and given recent assistance trends, we believe that in aggregate
half or more of our new development assistance could be directed to African
nations that govern justly, invest in their own people and promote economic
freedom. In this way we will support the objectives of the NEPAD. This will help
ensure that no country genuinely committed to poverty reduction, good governance
and economic reform will be denied the chance to achieve the Millennium Goals
through lack of finance.
10. We will pursue this Action Plan in our
individual and collective capacities, and through the international institutions
to which we belong. We warmly invite other countries to join us. We also
encourage South-South cooperation and collaboration with international
institutions and civil society, including the business sector, in support of the
NEPAD. We will continue to
maintain a constructive dialogue with our African partners in order to achieve
effective implementation of our Action Plan and to support the objectives of the
NEPAD. We will take the necessary steps to ensure the effective implementation
of our Action Plan and will review progress at our next Summit based on a final
report from our Personal Representatives for
Africa.
11. To demonstrate our support for
this new partnership, we make the following engagements in support of the NEPAD:
I. Promoting Peace and
Security
Time and again, progress in Africa
has been undermined or destroyed by conflict and insecurity. Families have been
displaced and torn apart, and the use of child soldiers has robbed many
individuals of the opportunity to learn, while also sowing the seeds of
long-term national disruption, instability and poverty. Economic development has
been deeply undermined as scarce resources needed to fight poverty have too
often been wasted in deadly and costly armed conflicts. We are determined to
make conflict prevention and resolution a top priority, and therefore we commit
to:
1.1 Supporting African efforts to
resolve the principal armed conflicts on the continent including by:
Providing additional support to efforts to
bring peace to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and
Sudan
, and to consolidate peace in
Angola
and
Sierra Leone
within the next year;
Assisting with programmes of
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration; at the appropriate time,
Taking joint action to support post-conflict
development in the Great Lakes Region and
Sudan ; and,
Endorsing the proposals from the
UN Secretary-General to set up, with the Secretary-General and other influential
partners, contact groups and similar mechanisms to work with African countries
to resolve specific African conflicts.
1.2 Providing technical and
financial assistance so that, by 2010, African countries and regional and
sub-regional organizations are able to engage more effectively to prevent and
resolve violent conflict on the continent, and undertake peace support
operations in accordance with the United Nations Charter including
by:
Continuing to work with African
partners to deliver a joint plan, by 2003, for the development of African
capability to undertake peace support operations, including at the regional
level;
Training African peace support
forces including through the development of regional centres of excellence for
military and civilian aspects of conflict prevention and peace support, such as
the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre; and,
Better coordinating our respective
peacekeeping training initiatives.
1.3 Supporting efforts by African
countries and the United Nations to better regulate the activities of arms
brokers and traffickers and to eliminate the flow of illicit weapons to and
within Africa including by:
Developing and adopting common
guidelines to prevent the illegal supply of arms to Africa; and,
Providing assistance in regional
trans-border cooperation to this end.
1.4 Supporting African efforts to
eliminate and remove antipersonnel mines.
1.5 Working with African
governments, civil society and others to address the linkage between armed
conflict and the exploitation of natural resources including
by:
Supporting United Nations and
other initiatives to monitor and address the illegal exploitation and
international transfer of natural resources from Africa which fuel armed
conflicts, including mineral resources, petroleum, timber and water;
Supporting voluntary control efforts such as
the Kimberley Process for diamonds, and encouraging the adoption of voluntary
principles of corporate social responsibility by those involved in developing
Africa
's national resources;
Working to ensure better accountability and
greater transparency with respect to those involved in the import or export of
Africa
's natural resources from areas of conflict;
Promoting regional management of
trans-boundary natural resources, including by supporting the Congo Basin
Initiative and trans-border river basin commissions.
1.6 Providing more effective
peace-building support to societies emerging from or seeking to prevent armed
conflicts including by:
Supporting effective African-led
reconciliation efforts, including both pre-conflict and post-conflict
initiatives; and,
Encouraging more effective
coordination and cooperation among donors and international institutions in
support of peace-building and conflict prevention efforts particularly with
respect to the effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former
combatants, the collection and destruction of small arms, and the special needs
of women and children, including child soldiers.
1.7 Working to enhance African capacities to
protect and assist war-affected populations and facilitate the effective
implementation in Africa of United Nations Security Council resolutions
relating to civilians, women and children in armed conflict including by
supporting African countries hosting, assisting and protecting large refugee
populations
II. Strengthening Institutions and
Governance
The NEPAD maintains that
"development is impossible in the absence of true democracy, respect for human
rights, peace and good governance". We agree, and it has been our experience
that reliable institutions and governance are a precondition for long-term or
large-scale private investment. The task of strengthening institutions and
governance is thus both urgent and of paramount importance, and for this reason,
we commit to:
2.1 Supporting the NEPAD's
priority political governance objectives including
by:
Expanding capacity-building
programmes related to political governance in Africa focusing on the NEPAD
priority areas of: improving administrative and civil services, strengthening
parliamentary oversight, promoting participatory decision-making, and judicial
reform;
Supporting African efforts to
ensure that electoral processes are credible and transparent, and that elections
are conducted in a manner that is free and fair and in accordance with the
NEPAD's commitment to uphold and respect "global standards of democracy";
Supporting African efforts to
involve parliamentarians and civil society in all aspects of the NEPAD process;
and,
Supporting the reform of the
security sector through assisting the development of an independent judiciary
and democratically controlled police structures.
2.2 Strengthening
capacity-building programmes related to economic and corporate governance in
Africa focusing on the NEPAD priority areas of implementing sound macro-economic
strategies, strengthening public financial management and accountability,
protecting the integrity of monetary and financial systems, strengthening
accounting and auditing systems, and developing an effective corporate
governance framework including by:
Supporting international and
African organizations such as the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
and the African Regional Technical Assistance Centres (AFRITACs) initiative of
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in expanding regionally-oriented technical
assistance and capacity-building programmes in Africa; and,
Financing African-led research on
economic governance issues (through the United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA), sub-regional and regional organizations, and other African
institutions and organizations with relevant expertise).
2.3 Supporting African peer-review
arrangements including by:
Encouraging cooperation with
respect to peer-review practices, modalities and experiences between the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the ECA,
including the participation by the ECA in the OECD Development Assistance
Committee (DAC) peer-review process where the countries under review so agree;
Encouraging, where appropriate, substantive
information sharing between
Africa and its partners with respect to items under
peer-review; and,
Supporting regional organizations
in developing tools to facilitate peer-review processes.
2.4 Giving increased attention to
and support for African efforts to promote and protect human rights including
by:
Supporting human rights activities and
national, regional and sub-regional human rights institutions in
Africa ;
Supporting African efforts to
implement human rights obligations undertaken by African governments; and,
Supporting African efforts to
promote reconciliation and to ensure accountability for violations of human
rights and humanitarian law, including genocide, crimes against humanity and
other war crimes.
2.5 Supporting African efforts to
promote gender equality and the empowerment of women including by:
Supporting African efforts to
achieve equal participation of African women in all aspects of the NEPAD process
and in fulfilling the NEPAD objectives; and,
Supporting the application of
gender main-streaming in all policies and programmes.
2.6 Intensifying support for the
adoption and implementation of effective measures to combat corruption, bribery
and embezzlement including by:
Working to secure the early
establishment of a UN Convention on Corruption, and the early ratification of
the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime;
Strengthening and assisting the
implementation and monitoring of the OECD Convention on Bribery and assisting
anti-bribery and anti-corruption programmes through the international financial
institutions (IFIs) and the multilateral development banks;
Intensifying international
cooperation to recover illicitly acquired financial assets;
Supporting voluntary
anti-corruption initiatives, such as the DAC Guidelines, the OECD Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises, and the UN Global Compact;
Supporting the role of
parliamentarians in addressing corruption and promoting good governance; and,
Assisting African countries in
their efforts to combat money laundering, including supporting World Bank/IMF
efforts to improve coordination in the delivery of technical assistance to
combat money laundering and terrorist financing in African countries.
III. Fostering Trade, Investment,
Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
Generating economic growth is central to the
NEPAD's goal of mobilizing resources for poverty reduction and development. A
comprehensive effort is required to stimulate economic activity in all
productive sectors while paying particular attention to sustainability and
social costs and to the role of the private sector as the engine for economic
growth. In this context, the particular importance of infrastructure has been
emphasized by our African partners including as a domain for public-private
investment partnerships, and as a key component of regional integration and
development. In order to achieve adequate growth rates,
Africa must have broader access to
markets. The launch of multilateral trade negotiations by World Trade
Organization (WTO) members in
Doha
, which placed the needs and
interests of developing countries at the heart of the negotiations, will help
create a framework for the integration of African countries into the world
trading system and the global economy, thus creating increased opportunities for
trade-based growth. We are committed to the
Doha
development agenda and to
implementing fully the WTO work programme, as well as to providing increased
trade-related technical assistance to help African countries participate
effectively in these negotiations. With these considerations in mind, we commit
to:
3.1 Helping Africa attract
investment, both from within Africa and from abroad, and implement policies
conducive to economic growth including by:
Supporting African initiatives
aimed at improving the investment climate, including sound economic policies and
efforts to improve the security of goods and transactions, consolidate property
rights, modernize customs, institute needed legal and judicial reforms, and help
mitigate risks for investors;
Facilitating the financing of
private investment through increased use of development finance institutions and
export credit and risk-guarantee agencies and by strengthening equivalent
institutions in Africa;
Supporting African initiatives
aimed at fostering efficient and sustainable regional financial markets and
domestic savings and financing structures, including micro-credit schemes
while giving particular attention to seeing that credit and business support
services meet the needs of poor women and men;
Enhancing international
cooperation to promote greater private investment and growth in Africa,
including through public-private partnerships; and,
Supporting the efforts of African
governments to obtain sovereign credit ratings and gain access to private
capital markets, including on a regional basis.
3.2 Facilitating capacity-building
and the transfer of expertise for the development of infrastructure projects,
with particular attention to regional
initiatives.
3.3 Providing greater market
access for African products including by:
Reaffirming our commitment to
conclude negotiations no later than 1 January 2005 on further trade
liberalization in the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations taking full
account of the particular circumstances, needs and requirements of developing
countries, including in Africa;
Without prejudging the outcome of
the negotiations, applying our Doha commitment to comprehensive negotiations on
agriculture aimed at substantial improvements in market access, reductions of
all forms of export subsidies with a view to their being phased out, and
substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support;
Working toward the objective of
duty-free and quota-free access for all products originating from the Least
Developed Countries (LDCs), including African LDCs, and, to this end, each
examining how to facilitate the fuller and more effective use of existing market
access arrangements; and,
Ensuring that national product
standards do not unnecessarily restrict African exports and that African nations
can play their full part in the relevant international standard setting systems.
3.4 Increasing the funding and improving the
quality of support for trade-related technical assistance and capacity-building
in Africa including
by:
Supporting the establishment and expansion of
trade-related technical assistance programmes in Africa ;
Supporting the establishment of
sub-regional market and trade information offices to support trade-related
technical assistance and capacity-building in Africa;
Assisting regional organizations
in their efforts to integrate trade policy into member country development
plans;
Working to increase African
participation in identifying WTO-related technical assistance needs, and
providing technical assistance to African countries to implement international
agreements, such as the WTO agreement;
Assisting African producers in
meeting product and health standards in export markets; and,
Providing technical assistance to
help African countries engage in international negotiations, and in
standard-setting systems.
3.5 Supporting African efforts to
advance regional economic integration and intra-African trade including
by:
Helping African countries develop
regional institutions in key sectors affecting regional integration, including
infrastructure, water, food security and energy, and sustainable management and
conservation of natural resources;
Working towards enhanced market
access, on a WTO-compatible basis, for trade with African free trade areas or
customs unions;
Supporting the efforts of African
countries to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers within Africa in a
WTO-consistent manner; and,
Supporting efforts by African
countries to work towards lowering trade barriers on imports from the rest of
the world.
3.6 Improving the effectiveness of
Official Development Assistance (ODA), and strengthening ODA commitments for
enhanced-partnership countries including by:
Ensuring effective implementation
of the OECD/DAC recommendations on untying aid to the Least Developed Countries;
Implementing effectively the OECD
agreement to ensure that export credit support to low-income countries is not
used for unproductive purposes;
Supporting efforts within the DAC
to reduce aid management burdens on recipient countries and lower the
transactions costs of aid;
Taking all necessary steps to implement the
pledges we made at
Monterrey
, including ODA level increases and
aid effectiveness; and,
Reviewing annually, within the DAC
and in coordination with all relevant institutions, our progress towards the
achievement in Africa of the Development Goals contained in the United Nations
Millennium Declaration.
IV. Implementing Debt
Relief
4.1 Our aim is to assist countries through the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative to reduce poverty by enabling
them to exit the HIPC process with a sustainable level of debt. The HIPC
Initiative will reduce, by US$19 billion (net present value terms), the debt of
some 22 African countries that are following sound economic policies and good
governance. Combined with traditional debt relief and additional bilateral debt
forgiveness, this represents a reduction of some US$30 billion about
two-thirds of their total debt burden that will allow an important shift of
resources towards education, health and other social and productive uses.
4.2 Debt relief alone, however, no matter how
generous, cannot guarantee long-term debt sustainability. Sound policies, good
governance, prudent new borrowing, and sound debt management by HIPCs, as well
as responsible financing by creditors, will be necessary to ensure debt
sustainability. We are committed to seeing that the projected shortfall in the
HIPC Trust Fund is fully financed. Moreover, we remain ready, as necessary, to
provide additional debt relief so-called "topping up" on a case-by-case
basis, to countries that have suffered a fundamental change in their economic
circumstances due to extraordinary external shocks. In that context these
countries must continue to demonstrate a commitment to poverty reduction, sound
financial management, and good governance. We will fund our share of the
shortfall in the HIPC Initiative, recognizing that this shortfall will be up to
US$1 billion. We call on other creditor countries to join us. Once
countries exit the HIPC process, we expect they will not need additional relief
under this Initiative. We
support an increase in the use of grants for the poorest and debt-vulnerable
countries in IDA 13, and look forward to its rapid
adoption.
V. Expanding Knowledge: Improving
and Promoting Education and Expanding Digital
Opportunities
Investing in education is critical to economic
and social development in
Africa, and to providing Africans with greater
opportunities for personal and collective advancement. Education also holds the
key to important goals such as achieving full gender equality for women and
girls. Yet most African countries have made poor progress towards the attainment
of the Dakar Education for All (EFA) goals. In addition, the capacity of
information and communications technology (ICT) to help
Africa exploit digital opportunities, has
not yet been realized. ICT has been identified by the NEPAD as a targeted
priority for economic and human development in Africa. With this in mind, we
commit to:
5.1 Supporting African countries
in their efforts to improve the quality of education at all levels including
by:
Significantly increasing the
support provided by our bilateral aid agencies to basic education for countries
with a strong policy and financial commitment to the sector, in order to achieve
the goals of universal primary education and equal access to education for
girls. In that regard we will work vigorously to operationalize the G8 Education
Task Force report with a view to helping African countries which have shown
through their actions a strong policy and financial commitment to education to
achieve these goals; and to encourage other African countries to take the
necessary steps so that they, too, can achieve universal primary education by
2015;
Supporting the development and
implementation by African countries of national educational plans that reflect
the Dakar goals on Education for All, and encouraging support for those plans
particularly universal primary education by the international community as an
integral part of the national development strategies;
Giving special emphasis and
support to teacher training initiatives, in line with the NEPAD priorities, and
the creation of accountability mechanisms and EFA assessment processes;
Working with IFIs to increase
their education-related spending, as a further supplement to bilateral and other
efforts;
Supporting the development of a
client-driven "Education for All" Internet portal;
Supporting programmes to encourage
attendance and enhance academic performance, such as school feeding programmes;
and,
Supporting the development of
community learning centres to develop the broader educational needs of local
communities.
5.2 Supporting efforts to ensure
equal access to education by women and girls including by:
Providing scholarships and other
educational support for women and girls; and,
Supporting African efforts to
break down social, cultural and other barriers to equal access by women and
girls to educational opportunities.
5.3 Working with African partners
to increase assistance to Africa's research and higher education capacity in
enhanced-partnership countries including by:
Supporting the development of
research centres and the establishment of chairs of excellence in areas integral
to the NEPAD in Africa; and,
Favouring the exchange of visiting
academics and encouraging research partnerships between G8/donor and African
research institutions.
5.4 Helping Africa create digital opportunities including
by:
Encouraging the Digital
Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force) International e-Development Resources Network
to focus on Africa, and supporting other DOT Force initiatives that can help to
create digital opportunities, each building wherever possible on African
initiatives already underway;
Working towards the goal of
universal access to ICT by working with African countries to improve national,
regional and international telecommunications and ICT regulations and policies
in order to create ICT-friendly environments;
Encouraging and supporting the
development of public-private partnerships to fast- track the development of ICT
infrastructure; and,
Supporting entrepreneurship and
human resource development of Africans within the ICT Sector.
5.5 Helping Africa make more
effective use of ICT in the context of promoting sustainable economic, social
and political development including by:
Supporting African initiatives to
make best use of ICT to address education and health issues; and,
Supporting African countries in
increasing access to, and making the best use of, ICT in support of governance,
including by supporting the development and implementation of national
e-strategies and e-governance initiatives aimed at increased efficiency,
effectiveness, transparency and accountability of government.
VI. Improving Health and
Confronting HIV/AIDS
The persistence of diseases such as malaria and
tuberculosis has remained a severe obstacle to
Africa's development. To this burden has
been added the devastating personal and societal costs resulting from AIDS, the
consequences of which stand to undermine all efforts to promote development in
Africa. The result has been a dramatic decrease in
life expectancy in
Africa and a significant new burden on African health
systems and economies. Substantial efforts are needed to confront the health
challenges that Africa faces, including the need to enhance immunization efforts
directed at polio and other preventable diseases. Therefore, recognizing that
HIV/AIDS affects all aspects of Africa's future development and should therefore
be a factor in all aspects of our support for Africa, we commit
to:
6.1 Helping Africa combat the
effects of HIV/AIDS including by:
Supporting programmes that help
mothers and children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, including children
orphaned by AIDS;
Supporting the strengthening of
training facilities for the recruiting and training of health professionals;
Supporting the development,
adoption and implementation of gender-sensitive, multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS
programs for prevention, care, and treatment;
Supporting high level political
engagement to increase awareness and reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS;
Supporting initiatives to improve
technical capacity, including disease surveillance;
Supporting efforts to develop
strong partnerships with employers in increasing HIV/AIDS awareness and in
providing support to victims and their families;
Supporting efforts that integrate
approaches that address both HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis; and,
Helping to enhance the capacity of
Africa to address the challenges that HIV/AIDS poses
to peace and security in Africa .
6.2 Supporting African efforts to
build sustainable health systems in order to deliver effective disease
interventions including by:
Pressing ahead with current work
with the international pharmaceutical industry, affected African countries and
civil society to promote the availability of an adequate supply of life-saving
medicines in an affordable and medically effective manner;
Supporting African countries in
helping to promote more effective, and cost-effective, health interventions to
the most vulnerable sectors of society including reducing maternal and infant
mortality and morbidity;
Continuing support for the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and working to ensure that the
Fund continues to increase the effectiveness of its operations and learns from
its experience;
Supporting African efforts to
increase Africa's access to the Global Fund and helping to enhance Africa's
capacity to participate in and benefit from the Fund;
Providing assistance to strengthen
the capacity of the public sector to monitor the quality of health services
offered by both public and private providers; and,
Supporting and encouraging the
twinning of hospitals and other health organizations between G8 and African
countries.
6.3 Accelerating the elimination
and mitigation in Africa of polio, river blindness and other diseases or health
deficiencies including by:
Providing, on a fair and equitable
basis, sufficient resources to eliminate polio by 2005; and,
Supporting relevant public-private
partnerships for the immunization of children and the elimination of
micro-nutrient deficiencies in Africa.
6.4 Supporting health research on
diseases prevalent in Africa, with a view to narrowing the health research gap,
including by expanding health research networks to focus on African health
issues, and by making more extensive use of researchers based in
Africa.
VII. Increasing Agricultural
Productivity
The overwhelming majority of
Africa's population is rural. Agriculture is therefore the principal economic
preoccupation for most of Africa's people. Agriculture is central not only to
the quality of life of most Africans, but also to the national economy of nearly
all African states. Increased agricultural production, efficiency and
diversification are central to the economic growth strategies of these
countries. In support of the NEPAD's growth and sustainable development
initiatives on agriculture, we commit to:
7.1 Making support for African
agriculture a higher international priority in line with the NEPAD's framework
and priorities including by:
Supporting the reform and financing of
international institutions and research organizations that address
Africa
's agricultural development priority needs;
Supporting efforts to strengthen agricultural
research in Africa as well as research related to issues and
aspects that are of particular importance to Africa ; and,
Working with African countries to
improve the effectiveness and efficiency of ODA for agriculture, rural
development and food security where there are coherent development strategies
reflected in government budget priorities.
7.2 Working with African countries
to reduce poverty through improved sustainable productivity and competitiveness
including by:
Supporting the development and the
responsible use of tried and tested new technology, including biotechnology, in
a safe manner and adapted to the African context, to increase crop production
while protecting the environment through decreased usage of fragile land, water
and agricultural chemicals;
Studying, sharing and facilitating
the responsible use of biotechnology in addressing development needs;
Helping to improve farmers' access
to key market information through the use of traditional and cutting edge
communications technologies, while also building upon ongoing international
collaboration that strengthens farmers' entrepreneurial skills;
Encouraging partnerships in
agriculture and water research and extension to develop, adapt and adopt
appropriate demand-driven technologies, including for low-income resource-poor
farmers, to increase agricultural productivity and improve ability to market
agricultural, fish and food products;
Working with African countries to
promote property and resource rights;
Supporting the main-streaming of
gender issues into all agricultural and related policy together with targeted
measures to ensure the rights of women for equal access to technology, technical
support, land rights and credits;
Working with African countries to
support the development of agricultural infrastructure including production,
transportation and markets; and,
Working with African countries to
develop sound agricultural policies that are integrated into Poverty Reduction
Strategies.
7.3 Working to improve food security in
Africa including
by:
Working with African countries to
integrate food security in poverty reduction efforts and promote a policy and
institutional environment that enables poor people to derive better livelihoods
from agriculture and rural development;
Working with appropriate international
organizations in responding to the dire food shortages in
Southern
Africa this
year;
Working with African countries to
expand efforts to improve the quality and diversity of diets with
micro-nutrients and by improving fortification technologies;
Supporting African efforts to
establish food safety and quality control systems, including helping countries
develop legislation, enforcement procedures and appropriate institutional
frameworks; and,
Supporting efforts to improve and
better disseminate agricultural technology.
VIII. Improving Water Resource
Management
Water is essential to life. Its
importance spans a wide range of critical uses from human drinking water, to
sanitation, to food security and agriculture, to economic activity, to
protecting the natural environment. We have noted the importance of proper water
resource management. We note also that water management is sometimes at the
centre of threats to regional peace and security. We also appreciate the
importance of good water management for achieving sustainable economic growth
and development, and therefore we commit to:
8. Supporting African efforts to
improve water resource development and management including
by:
Supporting African efforts to
promote the productive and environmentally sustainable development of water
resources;
Supporting efforts to improve
sanitation and access to potable water;
Mobilizing technical assistance to
facilitate and accelerate the preparation of potable water and sanitation
projects in both rural and urban areas, and to generate greater efficiency in
these sectors; and,
Supporting reforms in the water
sector aimed at decentralization, cost-recovery and enhanced user participation.
