Addressing The Special Needs Of Africa

The continent of Africa is a vast land with a wide variety of languages, cultures

and traditions. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Africa

has approximately 887 million inhabitants within its 54 nation states. During the last half

century or so, many of these African nations gained independence from European

colonial rulers. However, since their break from their colonial ties, many African nations

have faced numerous economic and political problems that have been extremely

detrimental to the continent as a whole. These problems stem from issues such as

instability, corruption, conflict, violence, and despotism. As a result, Africa is the poorest

and most underdeveloped continent in the world.1 According to the 2006 Human

Development Index, of the 177 countries reviewed, Africa had 27 nations ranked in the

"low human development" grouping. Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke of the

hardships post colonial Africa has faced and is still facing in his speech, In Larger

Freedom: Towards Development, Security, and Human Rights For All. Annan explained:

[M]uch of Africa Ð'-- especially South of the Sahara Ð'--

continues to suffer the tragic effects of persistent violent

conflict, extreme poverty and disease. Some 2.8 million

refugees Ð'-- and fully half of the world's 24.6 million

internally displaced people Ð'-- are victims of conflict and

upheaval in Africa. Africa continues to lag behind the rest

of the developing world in achieving the Millennium

Development Goals. About three quarters of the world's

AIDS deaths every year occur in Africa, with women the

most affected. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in many

African countries is both a human tragedy and a major

obstacle to development. Of the one million or more people

1 Richard Sandbrook, The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation, Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge, 1985.

in the world killed by malaria each year, roughly 90 per

cent are killed in sub-Saharan Africa, most of them children

less than five years old. Much of sub-Saharan Africa

continues to face a combination of high transport costs and

small markets, low agricultural productivity, a very high

disease burden and slow diffusion of technology from

abroad. All these make it particularly prone to persistent

poverty.2

Although Africa is the poorest continent in the world, it is important to understand

that there are nations within Africa that are not as impoverished. These countries include

South Africa, Botswana and many of the countries in the northern section of the

continent, which is also known as the Maghreb. Unfortunately, the vast majority of

African countries have inhabitants who are living in poverty. It has been suggested that

much of Africa's poverty can be attributed to its colonial history. Post-colonial scholar

Frantz Fanon has argued that colonialism has made a lasting psychological effect because

it has created a sense of inferiority and subjugation, which has, in turn, led to a lack of

growth. Poverty in Africa has arguably been the root cause of the spread of diseases, a

lack of education, and internal conflicts, which many of the poorest nations in the

continent are engaging in or recovering from.

For these reasons, the African Union (AU) was created. The AU consists of 53 of

the 54 nations in Africa. The AU focuses on issues such as the African economy,

governance, and human rights. In order to uphold sovereignty, the AU is made up of

union, regional, state, and municipal authorities, as well as several hundred institutions.

However, even with the creation of this body, Africa remains in a dire condition. The

issues of bad governmental policies, climate change, and unfair trade practices have

2 Kofi Annan, "In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security, and Human Rights for All," Reform

the UN, 30 Oct. 2007,.

resulted in famines across the continent. Due to inadequate systems of distribution, food

is not easily disseminated among the populations of starving people.

In an effort to address the special needs of Africa, On September 8, 2000, the

United Nations General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration Resolution during

the 8th plenary of the Millennium Summit. This resolution sets out to "support the

consolidation of democracy in Africa and assist Africans in their struggle for lasting

peace, poverty eradication and sustainable development, thereby bringing Africa into the

mainstream of the world economy." 3 Similarly, in 2005, the UN Office of the Special

Adviser on Africa (OSAA) released The Millennium Development Goals in Africa: A