When super-powered minorities take more than their share

A related report

Majorities go wanting; inequality unjustified, unfair, man-made

A timely report by Africa Progress Panel “Jobs, Justice and Equity — seizing opportunities in times of global change.”

Reports are fine but they go only as far as reports go. Then what?

Notes, editing, commentary

By Carolyn Bennett

 Progress overall “remains too slow and too uneven,” Kofi Annan says in the foreword to the 2012 Africa Progress Report.

Too many Africans remain caught in downward spirals of poverty, insecurity and marginalization.

Too few people benefit from the continent’s growth trend and rising geo-strategic importance.

Too much of Africa’s enormous resource wealth remains in the hands of narrow elites — increasingly, foreign investors — without being turned into tangible benefits for [Africa’s] people.

Africa Progress Panel , et.al. 
Africa Progress Report publisher 

“When assessing nations, we tend to focus too much on political stability and economic growth at the expense of social development, rule of law and respect for human rights.”

While “not all inequalities are unjust, the levels of inequality across much of Africa are unjustified and profoundly unfair. Extreme disparities in income are slowing the pace of poverty reduction and hampering the development of broad-based economic growth.

“Disparities in basic life-chances – for health, education and participation in society – are preventing millions of Africans from realizing their potential, holding back social and economic progress in the process.

“Growing inequality and the twin problems of marginalization and disenfranchisement are threatening the continent’s prospects and undermining the very foundations of its recent success.”

Careless Chasm of inequality

Echoing current events, the Africa Progress Panel, publisher of the report, says that across the world social movements are rising, societies are contesting what they view as “unacceptable levels of inequality.”

Painfully significant in the 2012 Africa Progress Report is that Africa’s “wealth disparities are among the biggest in the world.”

Another report

Twenty-four countries in Africa have higher inequality scores (measured by the Gini index’s higher index equaling greater inequality) than China’s 42 inequality score. In Mozambique, Kenya and Zambia, the Gini index is between 45 and 55. The inequality indexes for Botswana and South Africa exceed 60.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s “poorest 20 percent … typically receive 6 percent or less of national income.”  In Nigeria (home to Africa’s largest population), “the poorest 20 percent receive only 4 percent of national income, while the wealthiest 20 percent receive 53 per cent.”  Two-thirds of Nigerians are estimated to live below the poverty line.

In most cases the poorest 40 percent “receive less than 15 percent.” In many of Africa’s countries, the pattern of economic growth reinforces these inequalities.  Countries such as Kenya and Tanzania “have reduced poverty only modestly, despite the strong economic growth reported in national income accounts.”  Ethiopia and Senegal among other countries “have a stronger track record. Evidence from Rwanda, based on household surveys, “illustrates that a combination of robust economic growth and reduced inequalities can act as a powerful accelerant for poverty reduction.”  

Inequality slows the reduction of poverty and social disparities put the brakes on progress toward meeting UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) other than poverty, the report says.  “High levels of inequality act as a brake on growth, limiting the potential for development of markets and investment.”

Hunger: little change

More than one-third of child deaths in Africa are linked to malnutrition.

The estimated prevalence of undernourishment in Africa (in the years 1990-92 to 2006-08) “fell only from 31 percent to 27 percent.”

The proportion of children registered as underweight, in the 20-year period ending in 2009, “fell from 27 percent to 22 percent.”

An estimated 35 percent of Africa’s children are stunted, short height for their age, a condition that is largely irreversible by the age of two.  

Disease: little change

African inhabitants make up “the vast majority of the one million people killed each year by malaria.”  Children and pregnant women account for most of the victims of this disease.

Somali mother and child

Infant mortality rates for the poorest 20 percent in Nigeria are more than 50 percent higher than for the richest 20 percent. In many countries, living in rural areas magnifies the risk of infant death.”

My sense is that people don’t want charity, a kind of charity that is characteristically doled out by self-important self-centered people cashing in at other people's expense.

Man-made misery
U.S. drones continually
bomb, displace, destabilize
Somalis, Yemenis, Iraqis,
Afghans, Pakistanis, Ugandans ...

People want their fair share, their lives not interfered with by thieves and plunderers, fake humanitarians, proselytizers, and violent interventionists — left to find their own way, seeking equal partners where they choose, developing as they see fit. People have a right to their chance, their fair share; but the world order as it stands is obstructing their progress.

Millennium Development Goals

Basic rights to health, education, shelter and security for every human being on the planet

The current UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has said, “Eradicating extreme poverty continues to be one of the main challenges of our time” and that ending it requires combined efforts of all sectors, private and public.

“The Millennium Development Goals,” he says, “set time-bound targets by which progress in reducing income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter and exclusion — while promoting gender equality, health, education and environmental sustainability — can be measured.”  Ban Ki-moon acknowledges that these Goals are ambitious but they are also “feasible and set the course for the world’s efforts to alleviate extreme poverty by 2015.”

Why? Because we are one.

Mutually responsible

How?  By working together toward a common end – “making sure that human development reaches everyone, everywhere.”

Or is this just too much to ask of mere human beings? 

I don’t think so. I think we can because we are human beings and in that we are one.   

Sources and notes

“Jobs, Justice and Equity” Africa Progress Report 2012: “Seizing opportunities in times of global change,” Africa Progress Report 2012, May 17, 2012, http://www.africaprogresspanel.org/files/2913/3725/5551/APP_AR_2012_May17low-res_4web.pdf

www.africaprogresspanel.org

The Africa Progress Report is the key publication of the Africa Progress Panel and its purpose is to provide an overview of the progress Africa has made over the previous year.

The report draws on the best research and analysis available on Africa and compiles it in a refreshing and provocative manner.

Through the report, the Panel recommends a series of policy choices and actions for international partners and civil society organizations with vested interests in Africa and African policy makers who have primary responsibility for Africa’s progress.

The members of the Africa Progress Panel are:

• Kofi Annan, Chair of the Africa Progress Panel, a Nobel Laureate, and former UN Secretary-general
• Michel Camdessus, former managing director of the International Monetary Fund
• Peter Eigen, founder and chair of the Advisory Council Transparency International and chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
• Bob Geldof, musician, business owner, founder and chair of Band Aid, Live Aid and Live8, co-founder of DATA and ONE advisor and advocate
• Graça Machel, president of the Foundation for Community Development and founder of New Faces New Voices
• Linah Kelebogile Mohohlo, governor of the Bank of Botswana
• Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria
• Robert Rubin, co-chair of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Secretary of the United States Treasury
• Tidjane Thiam, chief executive officer of Prudential Plc.
• Muhammad Yunus, economist, Nobel Laureate, and founder of Grameen Bank

Africa Progress Panel, P.O. Box 157, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, info@africaprogresspanel.org; www.africaprogresspanel.org

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

“If these goals are achieved, world poverty will be cut by half, tens of millions of lives will be saved, and billions more people will have the opportunity to benefit from the global economy.”

Adopted by world leaders in 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions.  “The MDGs also provide a framework for the entire international community to work together toward a common end – making sure that human development reaches everyone, everywhere.

The eight Millennium Development Goals

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

 Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development (http://web.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml)

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml

Africa: Inequality Dooms 76 Million Children in Continent” (Desie Heita), May 15, 2012,

http://allafrica.com/stories/201205150590.html

“Africa: Inequality Threatens Continent's Growth, May 15, 2012, http://allafrica.com/stories/201205150654.html

Images

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hdr/africa-human-development-report-2012/
http://www.africaprogresspanel.org/en/about/


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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

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Meet interconnected global challenges “collectively” ─ Annan

Give up “old mindset of national security/economic growth at the expense of other countries” Thoughts of Kofi Annan
Edited excerpt for Today’s Insight News by Carolyn Bennett

Five principles I believe are essential for the future

conduct of international relations:

Collective responsibility

Global solidarity

Rule of law

Mutual accountability

Multilateralism

Kofi Annan’s final address as

UN Secretary-General, December 2006 [excerpt]

Now former UN Secretary General heading the Kofi Annan Foundation, he offered an Indonesian audience his insight on five years’ global reality and more immediate issues out of Copenhagen and the global economic crisis.

“…The last five years have seen severe global food shortages, soaring energy costs and, of course, the gravest economic crisis in more than 60 years. No continent, no country or community has escaped the fall-out,” Annan said. “The challenges of our time are many, complex and interconnected” ─ challenges that “cannot be tackled by any one country acting alone” ─ no matter how wealthy or powerful that country might be.… “We all live in the same boat and nations need not fear the success of another.…

“Multiple crises ─ of extreme poverty, famine, conflict, disease, natural disasters ─ will be made worse by climate change. Global terrorism, nuclear proliferation, piracy and the collapse of governance in various parts of the world have brought home the reality of our common vulnerability and the need for collective action.”

Old certainties of the political and economic order are disappearing. A system of global governance shaped largely by powerful countries in the North has shifted towards the emerging economies in the South.

These developments have left countries struggling to adapt but they need to catch up fast. The scale and urgency of the challenges demand it. A new style of leadership is required ─ one that looks beyond narrow national interests and recognizes that durable solutions will only come through multilateral action based on shared values and agreed goals.

Improvement in the quality of governance at international and national levels is required to ensure the meeting of countries and citizens’ demands for voice and fair representation. Leaders at the national level should strive for good governance based on a democratic political system, respect for human rights, and the rule of law. At the global level, governments should ask themselves whether the existing architecture of international institutions is adequate for the tasks before them.

The G20’s collective commitments to stimulate, regulate, and restructure global economic activity helped to calm nerves and restore confidence. Recession has not led to global depression but we are not out of the woods yet.… Crucially, we have not taken the steps needed to ensure that the mistakes and misjudgments that led to this crisis are not repeated.

Measures are also needed to prevent imbalanced growth and to ensure that the major economies reduce their long-term deficits.

Lessons that should have been learned from the initial success of the global response are in danger of being quickly forgotten. While anxiety levels in boardrooms and stock markets may have come down, the daily drama of survival has worsened for many in the world’s least developed countries including much of Africa. We risk forgetting the damage that has been caused to countries and communities that played no part in provoking this crisis.

Jobs have gone, incomes and opportunities lost. Tens of millions more people have been added to the already scandalously high number living below the poverty line. Therefore, together with collective action to prevent any repeat of this crisis, we also have to consider how we are going to step up protection for the most vulnerable on our planet.

Our common values and international solidarity require that we do more to tackle the inequalities in our world, not allow them to widen further; but we are actually seeing wealthier countries use this crisis to wriggle out of their development pledges.

Many African countries ─ who are not asking for charity but for stronger partnerships ─ fear their appeals may be rebuffed.…

• We need to see commitments met to mitigate the social impact of the crisis by ensuring that some of the enormous sums raised for global stimulus plans reach the least developed countries. 
• Reform of global financial institutions should also be stepped up to give a bigger voice not only to emerging economies but also to other developing countries.
•  Reform must be complemented by agreement on a timetable to tackle the unfairness in global economic rules and market distortions that heavily disadvantage developing countries.
•  Look again at the conditions so often attached to aid and loans, which unnecessarily constrain the policy autonomy of developing countries.
•  Measures to fix the immediate crisis and create greater stability in the long term will unravel if poor countries and poor people are left out or further disadvantaged.

These same lessons, based on shared values, must also guide us ─ and urgently ─ in tackling the crisis of climate change. As with the global economic crisis, those countries which have done least to cause global warming are paying the highest price. They are also, tragically, countries with the least resources to protect their people and adapt to the impact of climate change. “I believe climate change is the greatest challenge of modern times and the key test of leadership.…” Climate change must remain a top political priority for all countries. This means raising levels of ambition, educating publics, and rebuilding confidence in a multilateral process that delivers an agreement that is universal, effective and fair ─ with climate justice at its heart.

Fairness means that the industrialized countries responsible for the historic build up of emissions take the lead in cutting emissions dramatically and supporting mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. … The choice long-term is not a choice between being economically successful or environmentally sound; both areas of challenge are part of the same coin. The ability to look to the long-term is one of the qualities we need more than ever.

Political leaders will need to find the courage and vision to set aside special interests and ignore the tyranny of the electoral cycle. Focus instead on the implications of failure and the appalling burden this will place on future generations. However, leadership cannot be confined to politicians.… Governments alone cannot solve the world’s problems. We all need to accept our responsibility.

This responsibility imposes a heavy burden on our leaders but it also requires all sections of our communities ─ business, civil society, the media and the public ─ to call for collective action to find solutions for global challenges.

• The business sector must minimize the negative impacts of their operations and invest in clean energy and infrastructure at home and abroad.  
• Ensure that their pursuit of profit does not result in protectionism that prevents developing countries from accessing the knowledge and technology needed to shift to low carbon growth. 
• Civil society, academia, trade unions, professional associations, local authorities, youth and women’s groups have a contribution to make in education, in altering behavior, in pressing leaders to take sustained action.

We need to get out of the old mindset that the national security and economic growth of one country need come at the expense of another. In the modern inter-connected world, power and prosperity are not a zero-sum game. We all live in the same boat and nations need not fear the success of another.

It is cooperation … not competition that will lead to sustainable progress and durable peace.

Putting our common values of fairness and humanity into action will heal divisions, spread prosperity and bring stability.

Old certainties may be disappearing. The new multi-polar world in which we live may be more fluid and unpredictable; but if it leads to reformed institutions reflecting modern realities, more voices to help reach the right conclusions, and a consensus around shared values and goals ─ we should be confident. It is time to make further progress …. Our world depends upon it.

Sources and notes
“The Challenges for Leaders in a Multi-polar World” (speech by Kofi Annan, March 4, 2010 in
Jakarta, Indonesia), http://kofiannanfoundation.org/newsroom/speeches/2010/03/challenges-leaders-multipolar-world

While visiting Singapore former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sat for an interview with Al Jazeera’s Teymoor Nabili in discussions covering China-African relations, African land sales, eradication of poverty, the Millennium Development Goals, invasion of Iraq, Middle East peace process, the Goldstone report, Annan’s role as mediator and the future of Kenya. Annan had come to Singapore to lecture at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. The Al Jazeera program “Talk to Jazeera: Kofi Annan” began airing Wednesday, March 10, 2010. http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/talktojazeera/2010/03/201031163028606113.html

“The Kofi Annan Foundation supports Kofi Annan’s efforts to provide inspirational and catalytic leadership on critical global issues, particularly preserving and building peace and facilitating more equitable sharing of the benefits of globalization, by promoting poverty alleviation, good governance, human rights and the rule of law.” http://kofiannanfoundation.org/activities