The Pan African Parliament (PAP) has thrown its weight behind moves to secure two permanent seats with veto rights for Africa in the United Nations Security Council. International parliamentary institutions will be lobbied to support proposals for a further four non-permanent seats for the continent.
The PAP adopted a report on reform of multilateral institutions by the standing committee on cooperation, international relations and conflict resolution in Midrand, Gauteng, this week.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is the international driving force behind efforts to make the world body more democratic and more reflective of modern geopolitics.
”How can they take us seriously if we do not have veto powers? We cannot have two categories of Security Council members. If Africa is to have a permanent seat, it must have the right of veto,” said a PAP delegate, to loud applause, on Wednesday.
The PAP has also resolved to take ”the necessary action to ensure that balance is restored in the voting procedures of the Bretton Woods Institutions [the World Bank and International Monetary Fund] where 80% of the members carry only 30% of the votes”.
The third session of the two-week PAP gathering also took stock of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, to which halving poverty by 2015 is key. Delegate after delegate complained that Africa was lagging behind the targets, especially in the areas of health and education.
Delegates bemoaned the fact that conditions had deteriorated in their countries since 2000 when the goals were set, sparking calls for a review. It is estimated that if current trends persist, Africa is likely to have 366-million poor people by 2015.
”My country, Kenya, uses 32% of its annual budget to service foreign debt,” said a delegate.
Another delegate suggested that African states follow the Chinese example and ”not collaborate with IMF and the World Bank” in exploring ways to develop their economies.
”China has achieved the Millennium Development Goals in a short time and it is now on its way to being a First World superpower. We must ask ourselves why we have failed and why China has succeeded.”
Still another noted: ”Twenty- five years ago, Asia was the sick child of the world, today they have growth rates of around 9% a year. There is hope for Africa.”