African grassroots fight to have a say in development |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Nov 09 2011 |
Released: 9 November 2011
Failure to engage the grassroots citizenry will cripple the development agenda of the African continent, says a study released today in Sandton by an independent African monitoring organisation.
The Development Support Monitor (DSM) study by African Monitor found that grassroots communities in Africa are not willing to be passive recipients of development. Instead, they prefer to be actively involved in decisions and processes to generate their own sustainable livelihoods.
Referring to a determination that was aptly summarised in Kenya during one of the organisation’s Poverty Hearings, the study says: “Africa’s grassroots population generally has no political voice about decisions affecting them. They mostly have low levels of literacy, and those with children struggle to get them to school or keep them there once they are in.
“In a democracy, citizens elect the state to be custodians of the nation’s resources and to lead and coordinate the process of meeting citizen’s needs. The state cannot do this successfully without listening carefully to what the grassroots are saying in order to gain a good understanding of the ‘will of the people’.”
According to Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, President of African Monitor, it is clear that home-grown solutions - indigenous solutions owned by the people of Africa - must, by default, come from the people of Africa and not just the leaders.
The DSM study examines and keeps track of commitments made by African governments and their development partners. Its main purpose is to promote greater accountability by making the commitments more widely known through assessing the extent to which these commitments are being met in real terms as well as the impact on the relevant communities.
“The consequences of ignoring grassroots communities are far-reaching as evidenced by the stalled development agenda in Africa,” he said. “Poorly developed economies lead to the exclusion of the citizenry. As a result, Africa has the largest proportion of unemployed youth in the globe.”
The study added that a large portion of the grassroots is unemployed. They rely on family, tradition and social networks as a point of reference and support.
“Africa’s opportunities will only materialise once a continent-wide movement – similar to that seen during the struggle for liberation – involving political leaders, businesses and the citizenry at large, engage in a collective effort to ensure that every African has a source of income, a roof over their heads, access to quality education and health care, as well as the capabilities and means to pursue their dreams in a peaceful environment,” says the study.
DSM maintains that it is important to locate the development agenda within the realities of ordinary Africans because this is a democratic imperative.
Referring to the recent unrest in Tunisia and Egypt, the study says that such occurrences are indicative of the frustration and anger that young people can experience when excluded, and the expression of that anger.
“These and other incidents prove that citizenry that is not listened to will eventually rebel.”
However, Archbishop Ndungane believes that there is a sense that Africa has values that could become a base for a sustainable development ideal.
“A critical question to ask then is why is it that despite the real effort made to advance the African development agenda it is at risk of being derailed? The answer is simple: the condition of grassroots populations in Africa – the plight of the ordinary African - is dire, and worsening.”
“Inequality levels are rising, the impact of poverty is deepening and unemployment is increasing.”
He said that the biggest weakness in the African development discourse has been its lack of substance and an appropriate frame of reference.
Quoting the study, Archbishop Ndungane noted: “Development is about people, for people, with people. This means the frame of reference for any development trajectory should be ordinary Africans.”
“Using ordinary African citizens as a frame of reference, means beginning to see the reality of the African person and moving away from grandiose plans. Africa’s propensity towards grandiose plans is a peculiar mystery that is worth exploring.”
The various grassroots interaction processes conducted by African Monitor, and its partners between 2008 and 2010, provide an informative picture of what ordinary Africans’ dreams are.
When communities are asked to share their dreams, the message is clear and can be summarised as follows: “I would like to have a source of income, be able to provide for my family, be able to take my children to school, access health care facilities when the need arises; and I would like to have the capabilities and means to pursue my dreams.”
Elements of this are discernable in the quotes below from Poverty Hearing participants:
· "I have done everything to survive from the field; I have noticed there are many men and women dedicated to small businesses. It should be noted that the citizens are challenged every day to put their children in school. We know that there is a District Investment Fund initiative of 7 million per year, for citizens of the city to apply and start businesses, but we do not have access to this fund.”
· “The quality of education is not improving. In all fairness, we have many good and beautiful laws, but no one applies them properly, and for this reason, there are frequent deaths, domestic violence against women and children, crime and prostitution are rising, because of the lack of jobs for young people.”
Poverty Hearings are citizen-wide engagements where community members are invited to give testimony to their experience of development progress. African Monitor has so far conducted Poverty Hearings in Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique and Liberia.
The African Monitor study reflected that what is distinctively different about these dreams is that they are localised as most ordinary people talk about personal dreams and their dreams for their family. The dreams are also very tangible and practical and they are based on real needs.
The study adds: “When ordinary Africans dream, they do not talk about acquiring copious amounts of wealth. They talk about feeding their families. In equal weight, ordinary African citizens rarely talk about economic growth or improved exports when discussing what they aspire to.”
It said that this exposes the severe consciousness that all these macro level policy approaches are a means to an end, rather than an end in itself.
“Once this is accepted, policy makers will be able to cross-examine what are the most effective and fastest mechanisms to secure livelihoods to the poor. Equally, they would be able to quickly adjust or abandon policies that do not serve the needs of the poor.”
END.
African Monitor was established in 2006 as an independent continental body to monitor development funding commitments, funding delivery as well as the impact on grassroots communities. It also works towards bringing strong additional African voices to the development agenda.
The Development Support Monitor 2011 is a first in a series of publications that will look at various questions to promote an inclusive agenda to achieve the African Moment for grassroots communities. Over a period of time, the DSM will seek to answer the following questions:
· What are the structural economic, social and political fundamentals that will facilitate the inclusion of grassroots communities in Africa’s development path?
· What policies, approaches and practice changes need to be made for sustainable development?
· How should development resources be generated and allocated to meet the imperatives for an inclusive development agenda for grassroots communities?
Last changed: Nov 09 2011 at 2:12 PM
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