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It was a beautiful morning when I arrived
at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, Liberia, on Jan. 29. A young
Liberian liaison officer named Mohammad kindly welcomed me and other
delegates to the third meeting of the UN High-Level Panel of Eminent
Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Mohammad was a smart and energetic young man. He represents Liberian youths
who are currently working hard in order to be part of the making of a
brighter future for Liberia.
A UN vehicle was driving all delegates from the airport to the city of
Monrovia. Along the road to and in the city, billboards were standing, on
which expressions such as “Ballots Not Bullets” and “Good Taxpayers are
Nation Builders” were brashly written.
Those messages on the billboards reflect a new reality in Liberia that
highlights the country’s active nation-building efforts and continued
consolidation of peace and stability after many years of internal
conflicts. To help ensure durable peace in the country, the UN maintains
its peacebuilding mission in the country under the UNMIL.
Like Liberia, many countries in Africa such as Burundi, Guinea-Bissau,
Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone are arising from conflict and instability.
Their priority is to lay a strong foundation for durable peace, social
progress and sustained prosperity. International support is critical to the
success of their post-conflict peacebuilding efforts. That is why, like in
Liberia, the UN maintains its presence in Burundi, Central Africa Republic,
Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and West Africa.
Africa is making notable progress in the early 21st century. It would be
inaccurate to imagine Africa today as it was in the 1980s, which was marked
by the great famine in Ethiopia that prompted Bob Geldof’s Live Aid
concert.
According to a recent report of the African Development Bank Group, Africa
has achieved growth rates of above 6 percent in the past 10 years. The
continent is regarded as one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
Sub-Saharan countries such as Angola, Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda and
Mozambique have joined the club of the world’s fastest growing economies.
Angola’s annual average gross domestic product (GDP) growth between 2001 —
2010 reached 11.1 percent, and Rwanda’s reached 7.6 percent. In the past,
both countries experienced prolonged devastating civil war.
Africa’s commitment to conflict resolution has been very strong. African
leaders are well aware of the paramount importance of peace and stability
for achieving social and economic progress.
In view of this, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and members of
the High-Level Panel from Africa consistently stress the significance of
the interconnectedness between peace, security and the post-2015
development agenda.
Regional and sub-regional organizations in Africa such as the African Union
(AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Southern
African Development Community (SADC) play a critical role in creating a
peaceful and stable Africa. African states are willing to take any
necessary measures to restore peace and prevent gross violations of human
rights in the future, including the choice of intervention into one
country’s territory.
Under its Constitutive Act, in particular Article 4, African states
authorize the AU with the right to intervene in the territory of a member
state in cases of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Under the same article, a member state also has the right to request such
intervention. This bold adoption of such a controversial right reflects the
resolute commitment of African countries to prevent the same mass
atrocities from recurring in the future.
The AU has even gone one further step by including in the Union’s 2003
Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act “a serious threat to
legitimate order to restore peace and stability to the member state” as an
additional circumstance under which an intervention can be legitimately
exercised.
Like other regions, despite the aforementioned progress, Africa continues
to face various challenges. It remains a challenge for Africa to expand
investments, generate middle-class growth, create jobs and alleviate
poverty. Africa still needs to create high-value growth in order to attain
a sustainable economy.
The continent is also still pestered by developments that are undermining
peace and stability. The recent example is the situation in Mali. While the
situation in the country has been generally stabilized by the presence of
French troops, creating durable peace in the country remains a daunting task.
Still, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, continued fights between
the government and the March 23 Movement (M23) have made it difficult to
create a strong foundation for durable peace in the country.
Despite this mixed picture of optimism and concerns, one cannot deny that
Africa today is being transformed. This transformation opens new
opportunities for global and inter-regional partnerships.
The UN continues to be a critical partner of Africa in attaining peace and
stability as well as social and economic progress. Since 1948, there have
been more than 40 UN peace missions in Africa.
Like in the past, Asia can support Africa in seizing the opportunities
offered by the 21st century. Both can collaborate to serve as engines of
global growth.
In response to my question on what Africa expects from Asia, Remi Sogunro,
advisor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia on the Post-2015
Development Agenda, said that Asia could be a better partner of Africa,
compared to other regions. He believed that Asia could understand Africa
better because both continents shared past experiences of struggle against
colonialism and of tackling poverty.
In fact, Asia-Africa cooperation dates back to the 1955 Bandung Conference.
Its cooperation was made deeper by the 2005 New Asian-African Strategic
Partnership (NAASP). With Asia and Africa making progress, there are now
more reasons for both continents to build greater collaboration under such
a partnership.
For its part, Indonesia attaches particular importance to Africa. Contacts
between the archipelagic nation and Africa had occurred far before the
Bandung Conference.
Indonesia’s commitment to deeper cooperation with Africa has been
reaffirmed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his recent visit to
Liberia and Nigeria.
With new developments on the continent as described above, and considering
Indonesia’s new posture in international relations — as a regional power,
an emerging economy, and a growth market, there are new opportunities in
the 21st century for Indonesia to engage with Africa in a strategic way.
Technical cooperation remains an essential instrument of Indonesia’s
foreign policy toward Africa. But we can go beyond this kind of foreign
policy instrument. The NAASP Plan provides a road map for Indonesia’s
engagement with Africa with a variety of instruments and avenues. ●
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