AFRICA: Governance improving across continent - UNECA

ADDIS ABABA, 11 Oct 2004 (IRIN) - Governance is improving across the continent, Kingsley Amoako, head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said on Monday. The political environment is being liberalised, human rights are better respected and women are playing a greater role in shaping the continent, he added.

His comments come on the eve of the announcement of findings in a groundbreaking survey by the UN where tens of thousands of Africans had been asked to scorecard their governments.

More than 2,000 experts from several nations and 50,000 families have been quizzed to compile the landmark report on 28 African nations that will be released on Tuesday. Countries like Benin, Ethiopia, Nigeria South Africa and Zimbabwe have undergone the review process that was started last year.

Amoako told more than 1,000 politicians and experts, gathered in Addis Ababa, that the findings also showed governments were failing their populations in ten key areas. Corruption and poor tax systems were the major complaint of the households who took part. Dilapidated public services, accountability and transparency of civil servants also were major complaints.

"In Africa the challenge is not just to prevent states from failing, but to encourage states to succeed," the UN official said of the study entitled Striving for Good Governance. "These findings underpin the need for a capable democratic state with strong institutions promoting the public interest. These ten areas show capacity deficits, even in countries making good progress."

"An action plan is called for to address the capacity deficits that currently so impede progress in Africa," he said at the start of the weeklong African Development Forum, which will focus on governance issues in Africa.

Amoako said at the UN Conference Centre that governance was critical in preventing youth exclusion and helping harness and develop weak economies.

"Good governance assures peace and security,” he added. He said good governance also lay at the heart of economic progress and the fight against HIV/AIDS.

More than 26 million Africans are infected with HIV – 95 percent of the world’s total, according to the UN. An estimated 15 million Africans have died from the virus. Conflicts have claimed over seven million lives and cost US $250 billion with 186 coups d'etat and 26 major wars in the past half century, officials add.

"Good governance also promotes economic efficiency through equitable rules, by promoting fair and well functioning markets," he added. "It curtails corruption and ensures the fair delivery of services."

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the conference that Africa’s political history was littered with evidence and examples of poor governance. He added that Nepad – the New Partnership for Africa’s Development – plays a key role in governance issues.

Zenawi pointed out that under Nepad’s peer review mechanism, governments had become accountable to each other. Already 22 countries have signed up to the peer review system, which is conducted by a panel of eminent Africans, including the wife of South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela. Among them are Tanzania, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Angola and Malawi. Donor countries and aid organizations are expected to give increasing weight to countries that have been reviewed as part of support for good governance.

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