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International Programs - Africa

A Letter from the Director

The aspirations for peace in Africa

The shared spirit among Quaker communities, supporters, AFSC board, staff and partners is to see a peaceful, prosperous Africa with justice for all. In the face of daily-televised images of African children and women engulfed by conflict, natural disasters and

Dereje Wordofa, AFSC Regional Director for Africa

End to Conflict

In the last 10 years, wars ended in Angola, Mozambique, North-South Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, part of DRC, Cote d’Ivoire and Burundi.  Communities in these countries have embarked on the process of healing, reconciliation, reconstruction with or without international assistance. The hope is that the same will happen in Darfur-Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia/ Eritrea, Chad and N. Uganda. We believe that there are considerable opportunities for reconciliation and building peace in these countries.

Institutions for Peace and Development

Africa's quest for creating and building accountable and sustainable institutions for peace and development has begun taking shape. The African Union Commission (AU) and its Peace and Security Organ with its new mandate to intervene to protect civilians; the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and its Peer Review Mechanism (PRM) to promote accountability and good governance are among tangible initiatives. More recently, African leaders have immersed in a heated debate about Africa wide political integration and member states obligation to respect human rights. Although there is a long way to go for these institutions to play a significant role to transform Africa, the vision is encouraging and promising.

Peaceful Transitions of Power

In spite of election disputes in many countries, we have witnessed peaceful transitions of power in Tanzania, Mali, Mozambique, Zambia, Ghana, Botswana, Benin and Nigeria to mention a few. This is a major development on the continent; compared to violent changes of government in 70’s and 80’s. We hope that more people in many countries will decide who should lead them in their endeavor to change their life for the better through fair and transparent elections. We further hope that more people will have a say on public policy issues affecting their life and that Africa problems are resolved primarily by its own citizens and elected parliamentarians.

Cohesive African Civil Societies

Unlike any time before, African civil societies are working for peace and upholding the value of social justice, the rule of law, and freedom. These are women movements, youth networks, local NGO’s and Community Based Organizations.   AFSC believes that African civil societies must have the ownership of the process and struggle to transform the continent. We continue to listen to them, engage in dialogue and work in partnership with them to build up their institutional capacity.

Building Alliances

The growing alliance between people for peace and social justice in Africa and in wealthier nations has become inspirational.  Increasing number of people have joined international movements and generously provided their time, energy and money. These are ordinary Americans and Europeans who are young people from

AFSC and Quaker partners at AFSC strategic planning workshop in Pretoria South Africa

diverse backgrounds, scholars, people of different faiths and race who wish to see justice and peace in the world and importantly, in Africa. They detest wrong policies (military, economic and political) of their own government.  They are campaigning for ending wars, demanding to give chance for diplomacy to resolve problems, calling for making trade fair to lift millions out of poverty, asking for cancellation of odious debts of poor countries and demanding more accountable development aid. We have witnessed some progress such as debt cancellation in Zambia and Ghana and Africa’s development is high on the agenda. AFSC will continue to be part of these movements and support alliances that share our values to ensure people in Africa are living in safety, dignity and equality.   

Hope for Africa

The above positive trends boost up the hope that a better and peaceful Africa can and will emerge. These encouraging developments are inspiring our staff to wake up every morning to carry out the small tasks that promote peace and social justice. It drives us to do something to uphold the AFSC value in the 'worth of every individual.’ We need more people to join us now for good cause and assist in our effort in Africa.

Strategy . . . better than strength.
- saying by the Hausa People

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