Confronting the Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century

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Regional Workshops - Africa

• Elections are conflict prone and continue to divide communities, particularly in Sierra Leone. More emphasis should be placed on addressing the conflicts rather than on their consequences, as is usually the case.
• Women are continually marginalized, especially in the peace process. Participants emphasized the need for civil society to ensure women's participation in the democratic and human rights agenda, particularly in conflict resolution and management. Successful experiences in Burundi and Somalia testify to the role women can play.
• Participants recognized the diversity of democratic experiences in the Africa region, and the need to take the special features of individual situations into account when addressing democracy in Africa.
• The emergence of dictators and coup makers in the least expected countries has continued to plague the continent, the latest example being the Ivory Coast. These people are enemies of democracy and should be treated as such.
• Military leaders should be restricted to military roles and should not occupy civilian positions.
• While globalization has some adverse consequences, such as, among others, eroding national sovereignty and increasing the technological divide, there are also positive aspects that cannot be ignored, such as greater respect for human rights and gender equality. Its economic consequences, however, also need to be reviewed.

• The Africa-wide network, Africa Democracy Forum, launched in Abuja, Nigeria, in October 2000, should be strengthened. Networking is necessary for the consolidation of democracy and as a means for bridging the gap between the grassroots and the elite. A strong, viable network in Africa is thus crucial. A regional democracy network of African civil society organizations within the World Movement for Democracy, with the main objective of promoting and protecting democracy in Africa, will provide opportunities for democrats to speak with one voice as well as a platform for mutual support and the sharing of resources. Fostering collaboration and solidarity among democratic groups, the network would be focused in particular on countries at various points of transition to democracy. The need to work with governments and intergovernmental institutions was also emphasized. Sharing information and documenting experiences in various countries can be useful in bringing pressure to bear on repressive regimes.
  
  Proposed activities of the Africa Democracy Forum should include:
  • monitoring democracy
  • working to protect democrats
  • providing support for the development of information technology in Africa
  • sharing advocacy skills
  • training network members
  • establishing and maintaining dialogue with state leaders and empowering people at the grass-roots.
  • Civil society in countries of conflict should use the Africa Democracy Forum to seek support, especially in repressive regimes.

• Carine Bapita-Buyangandu (Democratic Republic of Congo)
• Helder de Barros (São Tome)
• Margaret Dongo (Zimbabwe)
• Ayesha Imam (Nigeria)
• Livingstone Sewanyana (Uganda)
• Agostinho Zacarias (Mozambique)

• Dictators and coup makers should be isolated and the regional and international communities should support local efforts to achieve this objective.
• Concerning globalization and democracy, emphasis should be given to activities that encourage the accountability of local and national governments, which should be compelled to carry out only genuine mandates derived through democratic processes.
• There is a need to engage trade unions in the review of economic policies, concentrating more on domestic fronts and highlighting those global policies that exploit national values.
• Globalization is impeding democratic progress, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The international community should therefore assist in the reconstruction process in that country to enable it to evolve into a democratic society.
• The "culture of impunity," which curtails speech and press freedoms and the right to one's opinions, is incompatible with democratic principles. Therefore, all perpetrators should be held accountable for the violations they commit.
• The international community should support and assist in the establishment of truth commissions, criminal courts and/or tribunals to dispense justice.
• Civil society should empower people with respect to their rights and should urge the international community to support efforts to bring rights violators to justice.
• Since resisting oppression and the desire to bring about change has resulted in many conflicts, the international community should support the empowerment of civil society groups to enable them to confront the challenges of empowering and organizing citizens at the grassroots.
• Given that all levels of society should be involved in creating a democratic environment in any given country, the press, judiciary, political parties, and NGOs should be empowered to work together continually to maintain the checks and balances necessary in a democracy.
• The participants proposed that the World Movement for Democracy hold its next Assembly in Africa.