The move by Mr. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General to call an emergency meeting in Ethiopia this week involving the United States, European Union, Russia and China to discuss the crisis in Darfur is yet another indication of an attempted quick fix after a catastrophe. The move though prudent can only demonstrate the habitual practice of the international communities in moving to tackle problems only when they escalate. We cannot continue to opt for quick fixes at the eleventh hour when so much is at stake. It is clear to all of us that the crisis in Darfur did not sprout suddenly overnight but gradually snowballed into what observers today call the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
Annan’s move though praise worthy does merit criticism as it can only tantamount to a last pitched effort to calm a forest fire using a cup of water. One thing is for sure, Darfur has been a familiar topic in reports both by media and aid agencies we all have vivid images of makeshift refugees camps of refugees who have fled the onslaught of the janjaweed. We have also seen the exchanges between the Sudanese government, the west and the UN, which have so far resulted in sound bites rather than action to the outrage of many. At this juncture one has to ask why no concrete steps have been made to curtail the crisis. The AU did attempt at brokering peace between the various factions and has also deployed monitors but could not effectively go about these tasks because of shortages of funds as well as lack of political commitment on behalf of its member states to send a clear message in criticizing those responsible for the atrocities.
Conflicts in Africa continue to be rampant, in fact have now become a trend in the life cycles of administrations or governments. The cycle goes somewhat like this, trouble starts in one region of a country, the international community makes known its concerns but does little in finding a lasting solution, the conflict escalates, people are displaced and a severe humanitarian crisis occurs, aid agencies sound the alarm bells calling for urgent action, regional blocs try to intervene and come out with a carefully worded communiqué indicating that parties in the conflict need to resolve the crisis and the regional bloc can only facilitate talks, there is a temporary lull in hostilities once shuttle diplomacy starts between fighting factions, then conflicts reignite leading to renewed exchanges of accusations. And let us also not forget about the ripple effect conflicts have in neighboring countries though the expansion of the conflict into their territories as well as the impacts caused from fleeing refugees.
The international community and all those involved in these crises seem to be comfortable in responding to crises after they escalate and only react when trouble prods their shoulders from behind. It seems as though the livelihood of the so called “International agencies” comes from the conflicts which hang on for longer period of time. For instance the internal conflict in the DRC absorbs hefty amount of UN resources and it is maintained by the largest peace-keeping operations so far, but the problems that engulf the country are still far from solved.
The Secretary General must not forget that the Darfur conflict has been going on for long enough to have taken almost quarter of a million people and displaced millions. What could he do at this eleventh hour by calling a special meeting to attend to it. He is leaving the most influential office without taking bold action to bring this catastrophe to a halt. What miracle can happen within a month in his office?
Africa will continue to languish in poverty and heartache unless conflicts are resolved. We cannot tackle socio economic problems [which often are the causes of conflicts] without first banning armed conflict. The Somali conflict, the conflict in the Great Lakes and elsewhere need renewed commitment by all stakeholders to find a lasting solution once and for all. Unless we do this we can forget about lofty goals such as making this millennium, the African millennium or even meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
The AU being the continental governing body needs to set its priorities straight instead of engaging in several initiatives all at once with limited funds and questionable political commitment. It needs to show courage in criticizing regimes, its limited engagement or rather complacencies in resolving conflicts cannot go on, history will make note of this as well as judge it.
The International community as well as the West needs also to curtail the flow of arms as well as illicit money laundering used to fuel conflicts. The world today is up in arms in what it calls a ‘war on terrorism’ which was sparked by an attack on two buildings in the United States of America that had claimed the lives of some 3,000 people. Surely the death toll in conflicts in Africa which claim the lives of thousands if not millions can be deemed as a threat to democracy as well as the very survival of Africa’s over 800 million peoples. We call upon Secretary General, Kofi Annan to continue attending to Africa’s issues even after leaving the UN office and not retire to the west.•