Brighton | Wednesday
BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair called on Tuesday for a deal — democracy and human rights in return for investment and aid — between Africa and the international community.
Aid, debt relief and investment should be matched by a commitment to human rights, democracy and rooting out corruption by African governments, he said, singling out Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
In a speech to his governing Labour Party’s annual conference in Brighton, southern England, he described poverty in Africa as “a scar on the conscience of the world.”
He said the international community had a “moral duty” to help.
In his general election campaign earlier this year, Blair said he wanted to make Africa one of the key issues of his second term in power.
Tuesday’s speech set out how he proposed to achieve it.
“On our side: provide more aid, untied to trade; write off debt; help with good governance and infrastructure; training to the soldiers, with United Nations blessing, in conflict resolution; encouraging investment and access to our markets so that we practise the free trade we are so fond of preaching,” the premier said.
“But it’s a deal. On the African side: true democracy, no more excuses for dictatorship, abuses of human rights; no tolerance of bad governance, from the endemic corruption of some states to the activities of Mr Mugabe’s henchmen in Zimbabwe; proper commercial, legal and financial systems.
“The will, with our help, to broker agreements for peace and provide troops to police them.”
Two weeks ago, despite the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Blair went ahead with talks near London with six African presidents focused on trade, good governance and conflict resolution.
He and the presidents of Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania condemned the attacks “in the strongest possible terms.”
In his speech on Tuesday, he warned that if the developed world continued to ignore the suffering of nations such as the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, their anger and frustration would threaten global stability. – AFP