NEPAD : HERE'S WHY YOU SHOULD COME WITH US ON JUNE 27TH....

At first glance, NEPAD may seem like a landmark initiative to reduce poverty and address escalating crises in Africa. It is being touted by its supporters-including one of its foremost champions, Jean Chrétien-as a revolutionary scheme for global cooperation and international goodwill which will rescue millions of Africans from their desperate plight.

But not everyone agrees that this is the panacea to Africa's woes. Activists in Africa and around the world, including women's groups, anti-globalization activists, trade unionists, environmentalists and development organizations have denounced NEPAD. Why?

Can you spell S-A-P?
On the face of it, NEPAD seeks conditions for sustainable development, including peace, security and democracy. It focuses on priority development areas, including water, education, agriculture, infrastructure, the environment, culture, science and technology.

But the devil is in the detail. While the goals may look good, the methods for achieving them could spell disaster for the continent. Put simply, NEPAD is a continent-wide Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), the hard pill many African countries have been forced to swallow since the 80s to ensure their debt payments. For the last two decades, SAPs have literally sapped African countries of their wealth, administering a powerful dose of neo-liberal reforms, including the opening of markets, with attractive incentives for foreign investment, the promotion of exports (largely raw materials) and the privatization of the State sector.

Multinational corporations, knowing a good deal when they see one, jumped at the opportunity to make a quick buck in resource-rich, deregulated environments. Meanwhile, public sector cutbacks have further reduced Africans' access to essential services like health care, clean water and education.

History speaks for itself...
Africans can ill-afford to continue on this path. But NEPAD promises more-much more-of the same. NEPAD seeks to fully integrate Africa into the global economy by facilitating the flow of international capital into Africa and funneling resources out of Africa. NEPAD calls for massive infrastructural development, including roads, airports and ports-not to meet the people's basic needs, but to bolster the confidence of foreign corporations eager to reap the benefits of a resource-rich continent. And NEPAD seeks to reduce the State to a managerial role, stripping it of the power to address inequalities, ensure health and education for all, protect the environment and play other socially critical roles.

Under NEPAD, the market reigns supreme. Deregulating the economy and bringing down trade barriers to ensure a free market are touted as the magic development bullet. Nowhere does the document address putting people's needs first, in terms of food security, education, health, self-sufficiency… Rather, the same old trickle-down development theory that has prevailed since the 60s lives on, claiming that the benefits of a free market economy will eventually help the masses. The negative effect of 40 years of this approach speak for themselves…

Brought to you by the Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA).
For more information visit www.grila.com

Democracy on paper…
Of course, NEPAD could never have made its way onto the G8 table in its present form if citizens and activists had been involved in defining a "new partnership for Africa." NEPAD was drafted by Heads of State, - including Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, Olesegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Thabo Mbeki, of South Africa - all of whom failed to consult the people, flouting the most fundamental of democratic principles.

While supporters claim NEPAD is an African initiative, it was presented to the G8 before African citizens even had a chance to look at it, much less debate it, modify it, make it their own. This has generated a significant degree of grassroots dissent across the continent, and ultimately sown the seeds for confrontation down the road. So much for NEPAD's rhetoric on promoting democracy.

Gender-bender…
One of NEPAD's prominent long-term- but not immediate-objectives is to promote the role of women in all activities. Yet, women are largely absent from the blueprint, in flagrant disregard for the fact that they make up the large majority of Africa's poor. NEPAD also lacks any form of gender analysis-failing to address issues such as women and land tenure, access to education, reproductive rights, violence against women, and the eradication of sexist ideologies and policies.

A deal that's hard to swallow…
Nowhere does this so-called African Marshall Plan address food security and self-sufficiency. In fact, NEPAD's overwhelming emphasis on foreign investment and exports virtually guarantees that Africa's agricultural lands will continue to fall into corporate hands, sacrificing Africans' health for international profit.

Another vision…

Instead of NEPAD, we want…
· A new partnership plan forged out of a democratic process involving full popular consultations across the continent.
· An inclusive continental plan of African integration.

We want the G8 to:
· Cancel the debts of African countries
· Endorse a strong Kyoto Protocol
· Establish more equitable terms of trade
· Stop corporations from pillaging African resources
· Address the international dimension of conflict in Africa
· Monitor the illegal outflow of assets from Africa to G8 countries and ensure their repatriation
· Stem the flow of arms from G8 countries to Africa and enforce/respect international arms agreements
· Ensure respect for national sovereignty over corporate control granted though trade agreements

We want the international solidarity movement to:
· Support self-sufficient, self-directed panafricanist development, and the progressive forces in Africa that are struggling to achieve this goal

For a more detailed analysis of NEPAD, visit our website at www.grila.com, or give us a call at: 514.499.341 or 416-926-8713
GRILA will be one of many groups massing in Ottawa to denounce the G8 and its imperialist agenda.

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NEPAD
A NEO-COLONIAL
WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

Join GRILA on June 27, when we take our denunciation of NEPAD to Parliament Hill!
Call 514.499.3418 (in Montreal) or 416-926-8713 (in Toronto) for more information,
and to book your seat on the bus!

What is the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)?
In October 2001, several African Heads of State launched a proposal for a self-declared continental development plan. It will be presented to G8 leaders at the Kananaskis Summit in June, where its African proponents will be hoping to raise a significant proportion of the funds for the plan. The Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA) plans to denounce NEPAD in Ottawa, on June 27, and we hope to bring you along!