Nobel Peace Prize Winner addresses the African Diaspora

Wangari Maathai address to African Diaspora
ENTERPRISE AFRICA, African Diaspora & Development Day, 2005
London, England

HON. PROF. WANGARI MAATHAI, MP
Goodwill Ambassador for the Congo Basin forest Ecosystems
&
The 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate

Members, friends, staff & volunteers of AFFORD, Excellencies,Friends from the Civil Society, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to thank you most sincerely for inviting me to share this day with you. This is a historic time, when the spot light is on Africa. It is appropriate for us to recognize and applaud the efforts of our friends, both within the G8 and in the wider civil society, who are trying to improve the quality of life in Africa.

I also take this opportunity to congratulate the organizers of this meeting. I know that a lot of time has gone into the planning and mobilizing and that the experience will be rewarding.

The African Diaspora & Development Day is a great idea and I congratulate you for organizing this annual event to celebrate Africa by bringing together Africans in the diaspora around a common theme. It is indeed a noble vision to advance the well being of Africa & Africans. This year’s theme of “Enterprise Africa!” reflects the need to mobilize resources of the African diaspora to create & sustain enterprises, jobs & wealth in the region. Congratulations for your enterprising spirit.

I know you continue to celebrate & appreciate the decision by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize to the environment and to link it with democratic governance and peace. You may also have read about my comparing these three themes and the situation they create to a traditional African stool. Just like such a stool needs three solid legs to be stable, so does any stable state. And just as the legs, the body and the basin of the stool are made from one log, so leaders and citizens must mould the three pillars simultaneously. One cannot try to build democracy in order to LATER manage resources sustainably and create peace. Managing resources accountably, responsibly and sharing them more equitably is more likely to nurture a culture of peace. This is only possible if there is adequate democratic space for everybody; space where the rights of all, including the weak and vulnerable, and space where the rule of law is respected.

As I travel across the world sharing this message I find that people are concerned about this shift in the concept of peace and security. There can be no peace without sustainable management of resources, justice and fairness. Indeed most of the conflicts and wars are over resources: who will access, exploit and utilize them? Who will be excluded? Those who feel excluded, exploited and humiliated can threaten peace and security.

One of the worst outcomes of injustices is poverty. It robs human beings of their dignity. When people are poor and when they are reduced to beggars, they feel weak, humiliated, disrespected and undignified. They hide alone in corners and dare not raise their voices. They are therefore, neither heard nor seen. They do not organize but often suffer in isolation and in desperation.

Yet all human beings deserve respect and dignity. Indeed it should be unacceptable to push other human beings to such levels of indiginity. Even before any other rights, perhaps it may be time to campaign for all human beings to have the right to a life of dignity: a life devoid of poverty in the midst of plenty because such poverty demonstrates gross inequalities. As long as millions of people live in poverty and indignity, humanity should feel diminished. A time such as this gives all of us, and especially those in leadership, the opportunity to reduce poverty.

There is a lot of poverty in Africa. This is largely due to economic injustices, which must be addressed not only by the rich industrialized countries but also by leaders in Africa. This is partly because, as I have said elsewhere, Africa is not a poor continent. Africa is endowed with, for example, human beings, sunshine, oil, precious stones, forests, water, wildlife, soil, land and agricultural products. So what is the problem?

Well, many African people lack knowledge, skills and tools to add value to their raw materials so that they can take more processed goods into the local and international markets, where they would negotiate better prices and better rules for trade. In such situations, Africans find themselves locked out of productive, rewarding economic activities that would provide them with the regular income they need to sustain themselves. They are either unemployed or underemployed and they are certainly underpaid. They may wish to secure a well-paid job, but if they do not have the tools, nobody will hire them. Neither will they be able to take care of their housing, healthcare, education, nutrition, and other family and personal needs. Secondly, Africans have been poorly governed. This continues to allow the exploitation of resources in Africa without much benefit to the ordinary people.

It is for that reason that I commend the African Diaspora for believing in small and medium-sized enterprises. Indeed a thriving small enterprise culture is key to enabling Africans to exploit their capacities and fulfil their aspirations for jobs and economic security. According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization 90 percent of all businesses in Africa are small & medium sized enterprises. We must support this sector and ensure that it grows and thrives. Many of you in the Diaspora can ensure that this sector grows in countries where you come from.

I understand that Africans in the diaspora are estimated to send back to Africa each year some 200 billion US Dollars. Such money assists both your families and the national economy. We need to encourage each other to sustain interest and commitment. We need initiatives that are simple, attainable and that generate visible success in a short space of time. This creates momentum, trust, excitement and goodwill around solutions that ordinary people themselves own and believe in.

Even then within Africa, despite the fact that a lot remains to be done, I am encouraged by the increased willingness on the part of the African leadership to commit to gradual improvement of governance, especially through comparatively more free and fair elections, creation of NEPAD, sub-regional political and economic coalitions and the African Union.

Recently I was requested by the African Union to lead a process of mobilizing the African Civil Society. My role is to create an organ to advise the African Union on the best way to involve the African people as active participants in the creation of a New Africa. I was also appointed by the eleven (11) Heads of States within the Central African sub-region to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem These are all initiatives that demonstrate a new renaissance that needs encouragement and support from friends, partners and the diaspora.

I want to encourage you to support campaigns to save African forests and biodiversity. The importance of forests and the many services humanity gets from them is well known: ecological balance of the earth; they absorb carbon; prevent loss of soil and subsequent desertification; they offer safeguards against flooding; they are reservoirs for genetic resources; the control rainfall patterns and serve as catchment areas for freshwater and rivers. Forests have been a source of wealth and inspiration throughout centuries.

Other environmental issues confronting us include climate change and air pollution. Nature provides so many “services” that the decline of ecosystems worldwide will have adverse effects on our well-being but we are told that Africa will be especially adversely affected by climate change. Unfortunately, many services from forests are taken for granted even through without such green life, humankind would not survive on this planet. Despite that and the many efforts to save the environment degradation continues, especially in Africa.

Distinguished guests,

Let me draw your attention especially to the Congo forest ecosystem. As we speak, 200 million hectares of forest are under threat of extinction; 400 mammalian species and more than 10,000 plant species not to mention livelihoods of over a million indigenous people who depend on the forest resources of the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem.

We recommend to G8 that the Convergence Plan for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa be a priority and especially with respect to the “Climate change and Africa”. A financing mechanism should be created by cancelling the debts of these countries and putting the money in an independent Trust Fund.

We thank the G8 countries for cancelling the debts of the 18 HIPIC countries, but urge that the other countries in the region also be considered. This is because, even though they are able to make debt payments, they do so at the expense of education and healthcare, and indeed sacrifice the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals.

We owe gratitude to the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, and his initiative (The Africa Commission) and hope that other G8 countries will support his recommendations, especially in the area of debt, doubling of financial assistance and better terms of trade.

While it is sometimes understandable why governments may wish to give conditional aid, patronizing sovereign states undermines their authority, respect and trust before their people. With greater improvement of governance in Africa, it would be more appropriate to give aid that is not tied so as to allow governments to address priorities identified by them and their citizens.

Distinguished delegates,

As for the Diaspora, you are the face of Africa and you have a special responsibility to be good ambassadors of Africa by working hard, respecting the law of the land, and being responsible and accountable member of the society in which you live. Remember, it is especially the Diaspora that could influence the perception of African people and the attitude towards them.

In many industrialized countries like Britain and Japan, there is 3R campaign ( reduce, repair & reuse, recycle), which calls for more sustainable use of the resources. Individuals and groups can engage in initiatives, which support the spirit of the Kyoto protocol and sustainable development.

In Japan, a campaign incorporating the 3R is strengthened by the beautiful concept of mottainai, which urges people not to waste resources but to instead use them with respect and care. Awareness and commitment at a personal level is very important.

These examples are simple and workable ideas that we can practice individually everywhere: recyling plastic, reusing plastic bags, planting trees, printing on both sides of the paper, saving water – all in the spirit of mottainai.

As we continue the struggle on behalf of our people, let us remember that we are not alone. We have friends and we build on bricks laid by our ancestors who laboured and even died so that we, their children, might regain respect and dignity. This is out time, let us give our best.

EDITORS: Our thanks to AFFORD (http://www.afford-uk.org/ for arranging for Pambazuka News to publish this article. As Pambazuka News 214 was sent early to coincide with the start of the G8 meeting, this article was distributed as an addendum to issue 214.