Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Foreign Affairs
Issue 5 - Evidence - Meeting of February 8, 2005
OTTAWA, Tuesday, February 8, 2005
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs met this day at 5:57 p.m. to examine the development and security challenges facing Africa; the response of the international community to enhance that continent's development and political stability; and Canadian foreign policy as it relates to Africa.
Senator Peter A. Stollery (Chairman) in the Chair.
[English]
The Chairman: I welcome our distinguished guests to this meeting of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. We are continuing with our special study on Africa, as ordered by the Senate on December 8.
[Translation]
We have the pleasure today of welcoming officials from three departments who will speak to us about Africa. First of all, from the Africa Bureau of Foreign Affairs Canada, we will hear from Anne-Marie Bourcier, Director General, who is accompanied by Chantal Chastenay, Director of the Maghreb and Arabian Peninsula Division and Ulla Kourany, Senior Policy Advisor-NEPAD, G8 Africa and Pan-African Institutions.
[English]
We will then hear from the CIDA in the person of Mr. Paul Hunt, Vice-President, Africa and Middle East branch. I would remind members that Mr. Hunt was here recently with the minister.
Our last witness today will be from National Defence in the person of Colonel Denis Thompson, Director, Peacekeeping Policy.
Ms. Bourcier, would you like to lead off? For the information of members, we met a few weeks ago and had a most interesting exchange. I would again compliment the three of you on your very professional work.
[Translation]
Ms. Anne-Marie Bourcier, Director General, Africa Bureau, Foreign Affairs Canada: Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to see you again and to remind members of your committee that you strongly supported our efforts at the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. Along with the Netherlands, Canada co-chairs the group of friends of this process aimed at furthering the cause of peace in the Great Lakes region.
You have asked us to speak to you about development and security challenges in Africa. There have certainly been many analyses and formal recommendations made in recent years with respect to Africa's marginalization from the rest of the world.
I will summarize my presentation, which was provided to you in a longer version in both official languages. Over the past few years, there has been no lack of analyses and prescriptions regarding Africa's marginalization from the world. Whether from UN or other international agencies such as the World Bank, or think-tanks and NGOs, the conclusions of these reports make for sobering reading.
The blunt fact is that many African States, especially those most affected by HIV/AIDS, are failing, moving backwards or growing poor in terms of key social indicators — some dramatically. Africa, and more particularly Sub- Saharan Africa, suffers from political, economic and health crises, qualitatively and quantitatively worse than any other region.
North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa form distinct regions, most obviously from a cultural and geographic point of view. In addition, the standard of living in North Africa is significantly higher than that in Sub-Saharan Africa. I would, however, like to strike a balance that is often missing. To overlook progress would be to take an unbalanced view of reality and to underestimate the merits of progressive African leadership and the successful work of countless Africans. We must consolidate and build on these achievements.
In Angola, for example, the long-running civil war is finally over. Mozambique has just emerged from civil war but has registered strong economic growth and just completed another successful election. In Congo, and more particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo, a fragile transition is being made towards elections after years of conflict and upheaval. In West Africa, the conflict in Sierra Leone and Liberia has ended. In Sierra Leone, a special court, with the support of Canada, is prosecuting those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In Senegal, a peace accord was signed last month with the Casamanse region, ending years of civil strife. In Sudan, a peace accord in the north-south conflict was signed last month to end the 20-year civil war.
Democratic and accountable governments are spreading across the continent. The African press is freer. More free elections have taken place, best exemplified by government change by the ballot box in Kenya and the recent elections in Ghana. The implementation of the innovative African peer review mechanism marks a significant step in the development of improved political and economic governance. The APRM's voluntary process will build on best practices of government as an essential development of good governance.
Returning to the state of Africa, I would like to draw your attention to the New Partnership for Africa's Development. In many respects, NEPAD marks the beginning of a new perspective for African nations on their own relations with the rest of the world.
In 2001, the leaders of South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt unveiled the text of what was to become NEPAD. The proposed new partnership would commit African governments to undertake political and economic reforms, with a view to improving aid, trade and debt relationships with the rest of the world.
This would create the necessary conditions necessary to attract increased capital flows, generate sustained economic growth and thereby contribute to eradicating poverty. In return, the international community would help Africa overcome the yawning chasm between it and the rest of the world.
NEPAD's proposal differs significantly from many past plans. It is the first comprehensive plan originating from, drafted by and sanctioned by Africans. It recognizes that Africans must exercise leadership and take ownership of the problems undermining development. It proposes a new partnership with developed countries based on mutual obligations. It recognizes that peace and security, good governance and human rights are preconditions to sustainable development. Finally, it acknowledges that lifting Africa from extreme poverty will require more than increased government aid or debt relief, which by themselves are not enough. Successful political and economic reforms will be the key to creating the favorable conditions for increased capital flows.
[English]
Canada has led the international response to NEPAD. At the Genoa Summit in 2001, the G8 asked Canada to develop a response to NEPAD. Canada placed Africa at the centre of the Kananaskis Summit agenda, and kept it there in spite of the tumultuous events and international upheaval of the September 11 terrorist act. At Kananaskis in 2002, in the presence of African leaders, the G8 said yes to Africa's invitation for a new partnership and adopted the Africa Action Plan. The plan contains more than 100 specific commitments in support of peace and security, good governance, health, including HIV/AIDS and polio, agriculture, environment and water, economic growth and the digital divide.
At that time, Canada made a commitment of $6 billion Canadian dollars in new and existing resources over five years for 2002-07 to support the Africa Action Plan and African development, including the establishment of the $500 million for the Canada Fund for Africa. Canada has delivered on all of these commitments.
For the 2005 summit, Prime Minister Blair designated Africa as one of the two principal agenda items, the other one being climate change. Canada agrees with the U.K. decision to keep an African focus for, in spite of its progress, there is clearly a need for more effort.
Prime Minister Blair has also established a high-level commission for Africa on which Canada's Minister of Finance, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, serves. That commission will report in March. The commission has the potential to bring new thinking to bear on some of the key challenges — for example, debt relief. The commission has also the potential to build political momentum behind issues that have eluded broad international consensus in the past.
NEPAD holds the promise to reverse Africa's decline. However, the task will not be easy. It involves patience, perseverance and realistic expectations all around. It will take a long-term commitment of leadership and resources to undo decades of decline and crisis. The commitment resides with African governments to push forward NEPAD's political and economic reforms. The commitment also resides with donor governments and international institutions to provide the necessary support to fulfil the objectives of NEPAD.
The challenge in the months and years ahead is to strengthen the partnership and accelerate the progress made in the Kananaskis Summit. Canada is committed to doing just that, and is approaching its response through the lens of a treaty approach.
I am pleased to be accompanied today by my colleagues from the Canadian International Development Agency and from the Department of National Defence.
The Chairman: Mr. Hunt, would you care to speak next?
[Translation]
Mr. Paul Hunt, Vice-President, Africa and Middle East Branch, Canadian International Development Agency: Thank you for your invitation. My presentation will be brief. I hope that you already have a copy of the six colour slides that I distributed in both official languages. I will briefly describe them and highlight the key points in the annotated text. We will then go to questions. I am accompanied today by other officials from the Canadian International Development Agency who will help me answer your questions.
[English]
The first slide is promise of Africa. I am an advocate and an optimist, but I try to be realistic as I consider how we can take advantage of opportunities and accompany partners in Africa. It is clearly a continent of massive potential and enormous challenge where progress is being made, but — and I would underline — where much more needs to be done.
Africa's leaders are taking charge of their development with the support of the international community. As Ms. Bourcier has underlined, Canada has been playing and continues to play a leading role in this context.
The purpose of our presentation today, in light of the work of the committee now and over the coming weeks and months in your reflection and analysis of African questions, is to provide quick snapshots to help set the stage, that is, provide you with some information and start the discussion with you.
It is absolutely critical to acknowledge the seminal role of the new partnership for Africa's development as a change point in Africa in terms of political governance, a commitment to political reform and laying a platform for future progress with respect to economic and social development.
[Translation]
Canada's commitment stemming from the Montterey Summit in 2002, the G8 Summit in Kananaskis, also in 2002, and all the other important meetings up to this point, including preparations for the Gleneagles Summit in July, demonstrate Canada's interest in Africa.
[English]
I will briefly explain the second slide. On the top left, you see progress on the millennium development goals in sub- Saharan Africa. In the bottom left, you have the key. The red line is progress needed to achieve the millennium development goal and the blue line is progress being made toward that achievement. What you have in these four red and blue bars is an appreciation, coming from the international system, of how Africa is doing in trying to achieve four of the key millennium goals: halving poverty, raising primary education completion rates, a better ratio of girls and boys in schools, and tackling the under-five mortality issues.
If you look at the progress that is needed, which is the steepness of the red bar up or down, and the blue bars, which describe progress to date, you will see that significant challenges remain for Africa with respect to meeting the millennium development goals.
This is a broad global picture of what is happening in Africa. Hidden inside that, as you will note, you have tremendous progress taking place in Uganda and Ghana, which have sustained remarkable growth and been able to tackle some of the challenges. However, you have the contrast of the North Africa region where, against every indicator of the MDG, they are making important progress, but they are facing serious challenges as populations increase. The bottom line is that, without significant support, the countries of the region that are making commitments to reforms will experience serious reversals if they do not get the support of the international community.
The next slide and the remaining four slides deal with Africa's economic potential. These help to underscore for all of us the fact that Africa is not a homogeneous continent. Each and every country, and every issue, connects differently. We must see Africa in that disaggregated picture before we roll it up and see it as a totality. The next four slides will provide us with some sharp images to help us differentiate the 53 countries on the continent.
On the slide dealing with wealth and economic potential, the dark blue and red areas indicate the poorest countries and populations on the continent. They represent a significant portion of this map. The yellow and green represent some areas that are emerging. Their economic and social opportunities are taking off. These are reasons to be optimistic.
Africa is the continent where the potential for social and economic progress is the most significant. The private sector in Africa remains relatively underdeveloped, with a focus on agriculture and natural resources — sectors characterized by low prices, low value added and stiff international competition. This is compounded by the absence of an enabling environment and the absence of adequate and sufficient infrastructure to support that economic development. Economic growth is challenged by severe population growth — a subject we do not often speak about — as well as the AIDS pandemic. We will come to a graphic on that momentarily.
Gender equality is a serious challenge, but it also represents a serious opportunity. The empowerment of women, with their strong economic role, and the need to ensure that young girls and women have access to training and education opportunities, will lend strategic leverage to economic growth.
To date, Africa has not benefited from the advantages that globalization has brought to other parts of the world. You see that from the basic statistics. Its share of global trade has declined to 2 per cent today from 5 per cent in the 1980s. Average export growth is hovering around 2 per cent; and another indicator, foreign direct investment, grows continually weaker and is currently about .6 per cent.
The next slide is a striking and forceful picture of HIV/AIDS and prevalence of HIV/AIDS in adults on the continent. Again, the colouration orients you from the most severe to the slightly less severe. The most severe is the deep purple on the bottom in southern Africa, followed by those countries in red, where the prevalence rates go from 5 per cent to 15 per cent, and then followed by those countries in salmon, essentially the centre portion of the continent, where the rates fall to a more manageable, but nevertheless challenging level of 1 per cent to 5 per cent.
Clearly, communicable diseases are one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. The most serious are HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Over the last number of years, through CIDA, Canada has made some significant investments in these areas and in HIV/AIDS particularly. Canada has invested over $.5 billion between 2000 and 2005 in HIV/AIDS initiatives largely concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa.
I am sure you know of recent announcements made by Minister Carroll and the government with respect to further investments in the World Health Organization's 3 by 5, and increased investments by Canada in the Global Health Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Innovative leadership from the Canadian side with the Jean Chrétien Pledge to Africa led to new legislation to make it possible to export safe Canadian patent medicines to support individuals fighting AIDS. Canada continues to play a leadership role in this regard. I know you are knowledgeable about the role of Mr. Stephen Lewis as an advocate on behalf of the United Nations.
The next slide gives us a sense of environmental and water stress issues. The darker colouring identifies water scarcity issues that are projected to come on stream by 2025. The slightly yellowier shade indicates where severe water stresses will manifest themselves in the same time period. Africa is endowed with many natural resources, but it also faces severe environmental challenges. There is a high dependence on natural resources, on the agricultural sector, and this in turn imposes further stresses on water resources.
Again, despite the strong economic performance, in comparative terms, of the North Africa region Maghreb specifically, they face severe challenges in resource degradation. As well, while they have oil and gas reserves they are in terrible shape with respect to renewable water resources. CIDA supports projects intended to improve food security, access to safe water and sanitation and, increasingly, we have been putting a focus on helping African institutions manage transboundary water issues. The best example I can offer is the collaborative work of CIDA with a number of international partners on the Nile Basin Initiative where the 10 riparian countries of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, over the last 10-plus years, have worked collaboratively in a political context on a shared management of the water resource that has had dividends on the peace and the relationship management side. It is also developing dividends regarding the sound management of that natural resource.
In addition, since Kananaskis, we have made recent investments in a number of specific water initiatives through the African Development Bank which needs to be a premier institution helping to backstop and take investments in infrastructure and natural resources along with the World Bank. There will be initiatives and progress on its African water facility front.
Finally, the last slide is a snapshot of some governance indicators to communicate the message that we can be hopeful. There has been good progress. It is Africa, as expressed in NEPAD, taking charge. Governance has gained increased attention both with international partners and, more importantly, amongst African heads of state and governments through the adoption of NEPAD. This engagement is laying the foundation for a new relationship based on mutual respect and accountability between Africa, its countries and its international partners.
We have seen democratic elections in 42 of 48 sub-Saharan countries. NEPAD has been, for Canada, for the G8, and for other international partners, a tool of alignment in terms of political engagement and in terms of programming engagement over the last number of years.
I believe that we can safely say that evidence shows that countries with accountable and transparent systems of government that respect the rule of law, are able to attract greater public and private investment, promote private sector development and, in so doing, create greater opportunities for the poor, for growth and for development.
Finally, throughout the continent, in various circumstances, Canada is seeking to work with actors of change. As Ms. Bourcier underlined, the Africa Union is seen increasingly as an important political actor in many domains.
In countries committed to the NEPAD, to the principles of good governance, we are working with governments to support poverty alleviation strategies. In keeping with the international consensus that has emerged in the last decade, to which Canada's strength in aid effectiveness is a direct response, our investments are increasingly harmonized with those of other countries. Supporting countries to better govern themselves and to improve their policy environment provides Canada an opportunity to help reverse Africa's social and economic marginalization.
[Translation]
I will stop there, Mr. Chairman, we will be pleased to answer any questions you have.
[English]
Colonel Denis Thompson, Director, Peacekeeping Policy, National Defence: It is a great pleasure to be here particularly with my colleagues from Foreign Affairs and CIDA. You truly have a 3D team before you tonight. I also provided a copy of my presentation which should be available to all honourable senators. There is a diagram on the side to which I will not make direct reference, but it will help you understand how a state can fail.
It is my intention to speak in general terms about the security challenges faced in Africa and what the West generally can do to help resolve the conflicts. In Africa we are talking generally about internal conflicts or failed states that are invariably related to the struggle for limited resources. These conflicts tend to accentuate ethnic and tribal differences. They are low intensity conflicts, not classic wars, which are rarely decisive and fester for years.
[Translation]
Where do we see these conflicts? In Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and all the Great Lakes States, Burundi, Sudan and Northern Uganda. Where might we see future failed states? Perhaps in Guinea, Somalia, Zimbabwe and, since the events of this past weekend, Togo.
[English]
In most instances, the long deteriorating condition of a state is drawn to the attention of the world community, resulting in a call to action. In the case of Africa, often that call will come from a regional organization such as the African Union or the Economic Community of West Africa States or ECOWAS. The United Nations Security Council will produce a resolution either authorizing the regional organization or supporting intervention by a third non- African party.
It is important to note that the UN itself is incapable of acting on short notice in circumstances, as it takes up to six months to assemble a United Nations mission in one of these environments. This is why we see the United Kingdom intervening in Sierra Leone, the French in Ivory Coast and the United States in Liberia. In each case, a professional Western military was required to intervene to stabilize the situation and allow a handover to either a regional organization such as ECOWAS or directly to the United Nations. The actual government of a peace support operation follows the tripod model that I provided in the reference material.
[Translation]
Establishing a safe and secure environment is the most critical phase from a military perspective. If this is not executed in a vigorous, uncompromising manner, then it will be impossible to move forward.
[English]
What does this mean to the military? First, peacekeepers must be given a robust Chapter 7 mandate. Second, they must be able to get to the fight and, once they are there, be able to sustain themselves. In a word, it is a matter of logistics. Third and most important, they must have the will, the weapons, the equipment and the training to get the job done.
[Translation]
This is the principal challenge faced by African peacekeeping forces. While Western nations are focused on areas they believe to be of greater import to their individual national interest, much of the “heavy lifting” in Africa falls to Africa's peacekeepers. In many instances, the will is there but the means to get the job done is not. So what can we do?
[English]
Simply, we need to develop the African capacity to detect, prevent and resolve conflicts on their continent. This is something called for, as already mentioned, in the NEPAD and by the African Union. It is done by support of the formation of proper military headquarters at the African Union and perhaps in other sub-regional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States. It is done through the provision of training and not just peacekeeping training, but general military training to raise the professional standard of African militaries. It is done by contributing to the creation of mechanisms that will facilitate the rapid deployment of African militaries within their own continent. Finally, it is done by directly providing African militaries with the equipment necessary to outfit the African stand-by force brigades that they have called for under the NEPAD.
By so doing, we in the West can help Africans build the dozen or so broken nations that litter their continent. Without it, we can expect more of the same continuing misery and its associated insecurity.
The Chairman: My question for CIDA relates to your map on page 4, “Wealth of Nations.” I see U.S. $1000 to U.S. $ 4999. This is not a huge matter, but I find those figures difficult to believe. Using Uganda as an example, I heard the President of Uganda say that 86 per cent of the people in Uganda work in subsistence agriculture. I know that the 3000-page report from the UN — of course I have not read all of it — says that of the population of the world, one- quarter earns $1 and maybe the other quarter earns $2 a day. I have been in many of these places where people exist on subsistence agriculture. How do you square these figures with that? I wonder how the World Bank can arrive at those kinds of figures. It cannot be U.S. $1000 U.S. to $5000 I would think that 85 per cent of the population probably earns $500 or $600 a year, if they are in subsistence agriculture. That also applies to Sudan.
The governance map is put out by the International Development Association. I know that Uganda has 72 cabinet ministers. That seems like a lot to me.
Do you accept the figures on the wealth map? I find them pretty difficult to believe. How do they come up with these ridiculous figures that cannot possibly be accurate?
Mr. Hunt: Talk about putting a guy on the spot right at the start. You did note, Mr. Chairman, that this is World Bank database material.
The Chairman: I realize that they are not your figures.
Mr. Hunt: I could probably pull out two or three other sources just to give a different composite of this with some OECD numbers to give you a portrait. I would say that, grosso modo, this paints a realistic picture. Remember that these are gross national numbers.
The Chairman: Divided by the population, I suppose.
Mr. Hunt: Exactly. If you take Sudan, for example, national revenues, including the revenues coming from its oil and natural resources sector, are actually quite significant. The question is whether there is equitable distribution of those resources nationally and is a large portion of the population not benefiting from that national wealth. The answer is absolutely. That would be the case in a number of countries. Some of the countries on the continent do not have all of that wealth or are currently exploiting the wealth that they do have. I think this is a reasonable portrait of the per capita environment at play.
I can pull two more to give you two more pictures.
The Chairman: It is not a per capita figure. It is the gross income of the country divided by the number of people in it, which is not what I would call per capita. It is a way of taking the number of people in Uganda or Sudan and then you dividing the number.
Mr. Hunt: It is gross national income by population.
The Chairman: It is rather distorting. I will not take up any further time.
[Translation]
Senator Corbin: My question is for Ms. Bourcier, the Director General of the Africa Bureau at Foreign Affairs. The committee is not just interested in receiving data and an analysis of the situation in Africa as a whole or in each country.
It would be useful for the committee to understand — given that you are the Director General of the Africa Bureau — what your bureau does and how it is organized. What are the various responsibilities? Things are divided into geographic regions. You emphasize certain programs rather than others for a given region. Could you give us a brief description of the Africa Bureau?
Ms. Bourcier: The Africa Bureau has two geographic divisions: one is responsible for West and Central Africa and the other for Eastern and Southern Africa. In the organization chart, there is a director, supported by two deputy directors and desk officers. The Africa Bureau has been staffed for the past few years by an excellent team of people drawn by the challenge of helping Africans to help themselves through the NEPAD initiative and Canada's efforts at Kananaskis and afterwards. Each division is headed by two directors, one for each geographic sub-zone, as well as two deputy directors and desk officers who manage our bilateral relations with the country in the region.
We also have a division that provides support. Given the government's decision to hive off business development and investment, we have a small unit that monitors these programs of interest to the Canadian and African private sector. This group is under the responsibility of a deputy director, and we also provide support for the Prime Minister's personal representative, Ambassador Bob Fowler. The director responsible for Eastern and Southern Africa also acts as an assistant to Mr. Fowler and is supported by a small team. Ms. Kourany is part of that team that does follow-up with other G-8 members and she is responsible for integrating the interdepartmental efforts that form Canada's response to the Action Plan for Africa.
So that is basically how the Africa Bureau is organized. If you would like, I could provide you with more detail by turning over a copy of the organization chart to the clerk.
Senator Corbin: Do you have enough staff to be able to carry out your various missions?
Ms. Bourcier: It is always helpful to have more human resources. However, we have excellent resources at present. We are working with Ottawa to see what we can do with the existing resources.
Our embassies have support. We have 24 missions in sub-Saharan Africa. My colleague here can talk to you about the Maghreb and the countries of the Gulf region. She is responsible for that region of Africa. The Canadian government does follow-up on our bilateral relations with African countries.
We have a great deal of capacity in the field. There are many people in the field, such as the ambassador and program heads. Whether we are talking about political and economic relations, trade development or immigration, the embassy provides the interface for these programs and speaks on behalf of Canada with our African partners. The embassy gives us a preliminary reading of events and advises us on how we should approach various countries.
So we have 24 missions or embassies in the field in sub-Saharan Africa.
Senator Corbin: The Ottawa office concentrates on developing programs and policies with the various partners. But is it not fair to say that most of the work is done in those 24 missions? When you say that more human resources would be helpful, you are admitting implicitly that you are short-staffed. In other words, do you need more people?
Ms. Bourcier: I cannot speak for the minister, who, as you know, was here a few weeks before Christmas to defend the estimates for his department. We are working with the government in its review of priorities and we are trying to respond as well as we can to our ministers and to the other ministers who have an interest in Canada's international efforts. The Foreign Affairs Department integrates these efforts and works very closely with my colleagues representing their departments here. We work closely with Citizenship and Immigration Canada to ensure that our policy is consistent across the continent.
[English]
Senator Di Nino: I believe my colleagues would agree with me when I say that we have undertaken an enormous task. Each subject matter in itself could form the basis for a study. Indeed, each segment of Africa, if not each country in Africa, could be the subject of a lengthy study. In the next few weeks we will focus on the subjects that we want to deal with in detail.
As all of you were talking, questions of a general nature arose in my mind. One has to do with the fact that nobody talked about the problem of despotism, if I can call it that, or the problem of corruption, the problem of the interference of certain western interests, if you wish, and what I call economic prostitution that seems to be a factor in Africa. Would any or all of you care to comment on any of those general issues?
Mr. Hunt: I will take a stab at offering some views.
I will deal with the “up” side of the picture. We have underlined our understanding, and I think the international community's understanding, of what the new partnership for Africa's development is signalling regarding changing agents and new African leaders. Personally, I would describe it in this way: Political leaders have said to their populations and to their own political leadership, “We need to reform our governance and change our political behaviours, and we are accountable to our populations to do that. We have to take charge and show leadership on questions of peace and security.” That comes down to the kinds of characteristics and attributes to which you referred, senator, in part. The first signal in their own exercise of the NEPAD process was a strong political message on the continent to their constituents. It was: “We have to reform, and we have to reform here at home first.”
The second part of that, as I would I describe it, is that they were then asking the international community to reengage them on a more equitable basis with respect to global opportunities and access, and to provide continued development support, realizing that development assistance would not be a long-term solution. They had to create the enabling environment to enable their own domestic private sectors to work well and to attract foreign investment so that the economic performance of the countries and the continent could prosper.
I refer you back to that simply because that represents for many of us who have been working in Africa for the last period of time since Monterrey and certainly since the NEPAD process that they are working hard to change and reform.
They have put in place an Africa peer review mechanism process, to which, I think, to date over 24 countries have subscribed, of which four have gone through the first round of reviews by their peers on their political governance, and on their economic and social governance issues. They have agreed that they will submit themselves to their own colleagues' review of how well they are doing, or not, not with a view to being beaten down and criticized, but rather with a view to being constructively supported to bring forward additional reforms.
You can see the leadership points that are starting to emerge in a number of countries that are both participating directly and more generally in this. The five countries that have underpinned the leadership of the NEPAD, have participated early in the peer review process, Ghana being the first through the process. In that case we have both an excellent example of a well-run election recently and a tradition of democratic transition and alternates within government.
There is a strong collective view that there is serious engagement about reform and leading change. Sure, there are many of examples of countries that are not there yet. Col. Thompson cited some of those countries that continue to face the challenges raised by peace and security issues that are linked to political issues as well. You will understand them as well as we will. However, a change process is going on. There is leadership.
When Jeff Sachs, in his millennium report, talks about the opportunity to follow change in Africa, he is signalling to the international community that serious reform is going on, that there is political commitment to those reforms, and that we have to take some risks in accompanying them in meeting the significant challenges that they face.
We could go down the negative side of that. There are examples, but I need not enumerate them for you. There are enough points of positive leadership that you want to backstop and support them in that change process. Use that as a strategic leverage for others to see and be led by example, and create peer pressure and synergies that allow that change to start to take greater anchor.
Ten countries have come together to work on a common vision and a common set of interests. It is that kind of horizontal dynamic that we are starting to see in a variety of the regions of the continent.
Col. Thompson referred to ECOWAS which is showing leadership on many fronts on a sub-regional basis. He cited the examples demonstrating peace and security; but there are also examples on the economic front, on leading infrastructure initiatives, reaching down to community policing through initiatives that Canada has put in place. There are some encouraging signs and signals in commitment, and those are the things to take note of — not to ignore the others — and to work with them all to try to improve the situation.
Senator Di Nino: I applaud you for your passion. It was for me, at least, a most useful answer.
Would any of you care to make any comments before I move to another question?
Ms. Bourcier: I would just add that you have, with the African union, a strategic plan that is more than what is written on paper. I do not know if the committee has received this strategic plan. It goes beyond NEPAD or the vision that was formulated in 2001. It is the application within the new structure of the African union of the vision in concrete terms. This plan is making reference to corruption. It is quite significant that it is being recognized, or that it is acceptable to write or talk about it, and to see ways of getting out of a system.
As my colleague Mr. Hunt mentioned, it goes with capacity building and instruments that will allow, in future years, changes in patterns. The changes can be negative or more positive. We have reasons to believe that they will be positive. We have to work with that.
I encourage the committee to look at this paper. It is a recent edition from May 2004.
The Chairman: We do not have it now, but we will get it and distribute it to the members of the committee.
Ms. Bourcier: Yes, it is a site, as well as the African union, that is useful to consult regularly.
Senator Di Nino: Thank you both for that. As we begin our search for some of the answers to the questions we are asking ourselves, we hear that some impediments exist in the developed world, if you wish, to some of the challenges that Africa faces. Your presence here tonight is to help us identify and understand these issues better, so I would ask another question unrelated to the first one.
What are developed countries or the western world doing wrong? What should we be focusing on to better understand the situation in Africa? I will use the agricultural issue as an example, particularly the position of the EU and the U.S. and, to some degree, Canada. I do not want to speak for the committee, but I believe that issue may be an impediment to the objectives of Africa and all the nations of Africa. Is that one of the issues you have considered and are there others, such as education?
Mr. Hunt: I do not know that I have the long list, so I will just take the trade-related point that you raised and perhaps underscore that as being one item on the short list that is critical. The experts and the scholars tell us that, by creating a level playing field of trade opportunities, even with primary sector products, Africa would benefit in an important way from access to developed markets. If it had the ability and the investment follow-through to create a secondary and tertiary capacity in terms of transformation of those primary products, if it had equitable access to developed markets, it would have a penetration rate that would replace, double or quadruple the level of official development assistance that it receives by revenues as a result of economic activity.
The subsidy issue plays into that absolutely, and you have made reference to agricultural subsidies specifically. Given Africa's predominant competitive advantage, or comparative advantage, given its agricultural resource, that is one particular sectoral area where, if some important changes could be made in the international trading environment around subsidy, it could improve in a significant way the economic performance of the countries of the region.
Senator Downe: My question is directed to the colonel. Can you tell us what military presence we currently have in Africa, either peacekeepers or military attachés?
Col. Thompson: We have at the moment 11 Canadian Forces' members deployed in Sierra Leone, three who are with the United Nations mission there. They are UNMOs, or United Nations Military Observers; and the other eight are with the international military assistance training team, which is an U.K.- led effort to train the Republic of Sierra Leone's armed forces and bring up their professional standards so that they are a military response to democratic control in Sierra Leone.
Senator Downe: These are not peacekeepers — this is trained military.
Col. Thompson: No, these are green-hatted officers and senior NCOs who are deployed with the Republic of Sierra Leone armed forces directly, and with their British colleagues. They hold line positions inside the Republic of Sierra Leone armed forces.
Under the United Nations mission in the Congo, we have eight officers deployed. Six are deployed in Kinshasa, the capital, and two are deployed in Kisangani, which is in the centre of the country. They are all staff officers. That is a very large mission.
The Chairman: How many?
Col. Thompson: There are eight in total. The Deputy Chief of Staff of Operations there is a Canadian officer, which is significant.
Senator Prud'homme: How many personnel does he have under his command?
Col. Thompson: He has none under his command. He is a staff officer. The commanders are all African general officers.
We have two officers deployed in Addis Ababa with the African Union, assisting them in the planning of the African Union mission in Sudan which is the long way of saying the mission in Darfur which is an AU mission not a blue-hatted, UN mission. We currently have five military officers deployed to the southern part of Sudan, in Khartoum, in support of the UN advance mission in Sudan. Hopefully, by the middle of this month, when the Security Council passes a resolution respecting the United Nations Mission in Sudan we will ramp up to having 19 Canadian Forces members on that mission. Those are the military deployments.
We have four military attaches in the entire continent, one in Cairo, one in Abidjan in Ivory Coast, one in Nairobi in Kenya, and the final fellow is in Pretoria in South Africa.
Senator Downe: How does that compare to 10 years ago?
Col. Thompson: We just went up by one. Last year we had three. The fellow who was posted to Abidjan, Ivory Coast arrived just in time to have to deal with that crisis.
Senator Downe: My last question pertains to the Foreign Affairs presentation. I am interested in the commitment that was made on $6 billion in new and existing resources that you referenced in your presentation this evening. We are halfway through the time frame of 2002-2007. How much of the $6 billion has been spent?
Ms. Bourcier: I will have to defer the answer to our colleagues in CIDA in the sense that it is a commitment of Canada but, in terms of this disbursement, we are dependent on CIDA on that.
Mr. Hunt: I would preface by saying that the framing for this started in Monterrey at the Conference on Financing for Development in March of 2002 where the Government of Canada committed itself to an annual 8 per cent increase in official development assistance. Going into the G8 Kananaskis Summit in June of 2002, the G8 added additional commitment to which the Government of Canada took the leadership which was that at least 50 per cent of that 8 per cent increase would go toward Africa. At that point in 2002, there was a projection that a combination of new money, that is the 8 per cent with at least half to Africa, and existing resources — normally budgets going inside Africa — would rise in a significant way. That is where the number $6 billion between 2002 and 2008 comes from.
The short answer is that we are fully on track with that and we can provide the committee with the historic disbursements of the agency since Kananaskis; and the projections continue to follow that trend line. The government has maintained its commitment to those official development increases, and it has also been steadfast in its commitment to the continuing investment in Africa.
We are on track going into the Gleneagles Summit. The independent University of Toronto G8 Information Centre will provide a positive comment about Canada meeting its commitments to Africa that it laid out in concert with the other G8 members in Kananaskis. Canada has in fact been in a leadership position with respect to meeting the commitments.
Senator Downe: It is your assumption that, by 2007, the $6 billion will be expended.
Mr. Hunt: Yes.
The Chairman: Next Monday at three o'clock General Roméo Dallaire will come before the committee. On Tuesday, we will hear from have Mr. K.Y. Amoako the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
Senator Eyton: I am naive and unknowing about Africa except for a few experiences. I look at your presentation and at this immense territory and think of it as a glass that is either 10 per cent full or 90 per cent empty, there are so many challenges.
NEPAD which involves some of the major countries in Africa, was formed four years ago. You talk conferences, agreements and resolutions, but you know as well as I that anything 10 years out has almost no value today. The rate of change is very important. To get there you need fairly broadly based public understanding and support. The question is: Is that being achieved in any real way? In this very complicated continent, countries move up and down in the sense that they go from good to bad to good again. In that context is there a broad public understanding of the need for reform and support for reform? I know that is general, but without it, it seems to me it will be very difficult to have consistent progress.
Ms. Bourcier: If I may, senator, thank you for your question. I think we have to recognize that Canadians are interested and supportive of Africa. Since Kananaskis, in the communication surveys of the department, Africa comes back regularly as a space where it is most important that Canada continue to be present. It is even, for some, recognized as more important than Latin America. With colleagues in the department, there is no competition for attention, but a recognition that Canadians are interested by Africa. What is probably as important, if not more important, is the support of Africans to a vision they have developed themselves.
Senator Eyton: I was not concerned about Canadian support. I was directing my comments to public support in Africa and the understanding of reform.
Ms. Bourcier: What is of interest to Africans themselves is that they are more and more engaged into this effort. CIDA has provided a portion of the Canada Fund for Africa goes to the NEPAD Outreach Fund. I will let Mr. Hunt give more details on that, but it is recognized as an instrument that helps countries to progress on that issue.
The peer review mechanism is also very important. That is being conducted not only at the level of officials but it is being conducted with the support or the help of the civil society as well as the private sector in each of the countries that has signed up.
Senator Eyton: I was thinking of the people on the street. Can we gauge their understanding and support for reform? I am not referring to government officials, or people who attend conferences, but to the people on the street, the ordinary citizens.
Mr. Hunt: I would build on what Ms. Bourcier has said. I will not repeat the details of NEPAD, but keep those in mind. I will not repeat what I said about the African union or the African peer review mechanism. What are the other features? There are stronger Parliaments. Is that not connecting with citizens? There is an increasing and growing role for space for the private sector and for civil society organizations, in that they are being invited by governments to participate in developing and thinking through national strategies and setting national priorities. Those are positive, constructive signals.
I remind you that we are talking about 53 countries on a continent. The six countries of concentration where Canada has made some deep investment since Kananaskis against that G8 frame and against the aid effectiveness agenda that Canada has pursued, are Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Mozambique. In those countries you can talk to people who would say that they have seen important changes that are starting to affect their daily lives.
A concrete example is Tanzania and children in school. The government of Tanzania, in the last two years, has enlarged its access for kids to schools. They have eliminated school fees. The enrolment rate of girls is up significantly. The kids, the parents, the teachers and the communities that are helping to support some of the costs of the rural schools would tell you that they are seeing some benefits of reform and commitment to reform, and that there is transparency in that, because the budgets that are available for the ministry of education from the national level are actually published at the district level, and there is good behaviour on the part of the government with respect to its donor partners.
Could we do the same test in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which still has an important conflict in the east?
In the centre, you can see a more healthy, participatory civil society private sector. Every country will be different, and the countries of North Africa, and particularly of the Maghreb, will have a different citizen engagement and dynamic. You can see positive trend lines, and you can see and speak with individuals who will tell you that is the case.
[Translation]
Senator Prud'homme: When we received our order of reference, I was afraid we were being asked to analyze the whole world situation. Our task seems that huge to me. I did not agree at all with that order of reference. It would have been a better idea — if we decided on Africa — to take a sectorial approach. For example, you mentioned the Maghreb and Southern Africa. But we decided to do the whole continent.
I very much appreciated the remarks from a military perspective, since I am a great believer in that. I raised this at the last meeting, saying that Africans need to take an African approach, but they need help to do that. They need leadership and weapons. Who can provide them with training, weapons and national pride as Africans, if not themselves? But we could help. So that gives us at least some orientation for how to approach our order of reference.
Second, there is a storm brewing. In the first 30 years of my career, I saw this uneasy marriage develop between Foreign Affairs and International Trade and CIDA. Then in 1982, the marriage took place.
[English]
It is not a fair question because it is difficult for you to comment, but at least I will have put my views on paper.
[Translation]
Now we hear that there is going to be a divorce, that the International Trade Department is going to be separate from Foreign Affairs, which was supposed to get CIDA, but CIDA will remain on its own.
Mr. Hunt: Is that a proposal?
Senator Prud'homme: That was the way it was suppose to work, but things turned out differently. I am afraid that the Foreign Affairs Department — for which I have a great deal of affection — will lose its ability to play a leading role. Ms. Bourcier, as well as Mr. Hunt and the others who will come here or who have already done so, you said that it is difficult to look at Africa's future without including the trade aspect, if we want to help. Now two bills have been announced that will be very controversial and that will lead to a major divorce. I know and you know better than I do that senior and middle managers at Foreign Affairs will not be in favour of this at all. I know that, I have seen it and I have heard it. Does that complicate your work, since you are Ms. Africa, if we can put it that way today? What changes will take place if these two bills are passed by June, that is, if International Trade is a completely separate responsibility from Foreign Affairs, whereas I feel that the two should be closely linked? They will come under different hats and different authorities. How are you people viewing this right now?
Ms. Bourcier: Allow me to come back to what I said to Senator Corbin and once again emphasize that our missions are responsible for integrating perspectives and ensuring that policies and programs are implemented consistently. We carry out that responsibility very well in the field. Our missions, which are led by ambassadors and high commissioners, do a very good job of integrating the efforts of political attachés, economic attachés and officers responsible for development cooperation, immigration and trade. The missions reflect Canada's image in the field and they take into account the needs of the country in which they are working so that those needs can be better expressed to the various departments in Ottawa.
Separating the mandate of the departments poses challenges, but if the integration is so successful in the field, why could it not be done just as well at headquarters? The Department of Foreign Affairs will have to assume this integration and leadership responsibility with the various partners involved in a particular country or file. That is what we are in the process of doing. I do not know whether my colleagues from National Defence or CIDA would like to say something, but we are doing that in the case of Africa.
Senator Prud'homme: There is one bureau, but when there are two or three hats, what will happen?
Ms. Bourcier: We will still have an Africa Bureau responsible for the Middle East and the Maghreb, just as there will be a geographic bureau responsible for Latin America. One of the tasks of the director general of each bureau will be to act as a catalyst and a leader both in the community and within Foreign Affairs. Issues affecting Africa like the Francophonie, the Commonwealth or governance questions can be dealt with through policy development, but the policy reflection has to be led and implemented by those in the geographic bureaux.
Mr. Hunt: Regardless of organizational structures, I am not in the habit of saying Ms. Bourcier, she is Anne-Marie to me. The three of us talk nearly every day. This is into departmental team work, a horizontal approach for the government. Denis referred to the 3Ds, which stand for diplomacy, development and defence. In the context of the department being divided in two, we now talk about the 3Ds plus T, for “trade”. For our team and for CIDA, trade is a very important factor in implementing one of the Kananaskis initiatives, which is the investment fund now being developed. We will be speaking to you about that in the coming days. I just wanted to emphasize that we really work as a team and these organizational decisions do not pose a problem for us.
[English]
Senator Prud'homme: I have a comment. Right now I want to be on the record to say the more I study it the more I totally disagree with this new intention of the government. I will let the universe unfold, as Mr. Trudeau always taught us, to see who is right and who is wrong. I find you extremely optimistic, very devoted, and I like that, but I still believe it is an immense mistake and I do not know how we are going to get out of it. However, my comments are on the record.
[Translation]
Senator Robichaud: As I listen to you, it is clear that Canada's efforts are well organized here and in the field, and the Canadian government is meeting its commitments well and delivering the goods. How do other countries compare with Canada, when it comes to delivering the goods? From what you say, I think that we are doing a good job and we have obviously not been slacking off; are other countries doing as well?
Ms. Bourcier: We have been invited to come back tomorrow to talk to you about the international response. So we will able to provide more information about what other partners are doing. If we look at efforts by the G8 and outside it, it is worth noting that after the Evian Summit, the G8 agreed to invite partners — such as the Netherlands and the Ulstein group of countries, the Scandinavian countries, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, which are already very active in Africa — to join the partnership forum to discuss the implementation of the Action Plan for Africa with the Africans. The G8 cannot go it alone, and the other active partners have shown a strong response and commitment already through their effort on the African Continent.
[English]
The Chairman: If I may interject, Senator Robichaud could not possibly have known because I did not read the notes for tomorrow, but it says tomorrow, as well as next Tuesday, we will turn our attention to the response of the international community.
I am sorry, Senator Robichaud, but I did not think that it was necessary.
[Translation]
Senator Robichaud: So you will be talking about NEPAD tomorrow?
Ms. Bourcier: We will come back to NEPAD in the sense that it provides a vision for Africans. It was adopted and supported by the African Union as part of its vision, and the international community is responding in that context.
Senator Robichaud: When we look at the charts that you provided on primary education and the progress that needs to be achieved, it is clear that there is a gap. There is another one on health which also shows that there is a serious problem. A generation and possibly two may be lost. Is enough attention being paid to education, the lack of which is the root of many of these problems, and how much time do we have? The situation is urgent.
Mr. Hunt: In terms of Canada's sectorial priorities, since the Minister's statement in 2000 on social development priorities, the emphasis has been on basic health education with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS and the protection of children. The government's latest statement lists four priorities: education, health and the emphasis on HIV/AIDS, governance and increased efforts to develop the local private sector as a way of stimulating and strengthening growth to create prosperity and major investment in social sectors, etc.
The debt reduction program, in which Canada has taken a leadership role for a number of years now, has enabled a number of African countries to reinvest in sectorial initiatives, especially in social services. The results are reflected in investment plans and national plans called poverty reduction documents.
When we talk about investing in education, we also have to talk about the importance of health issues and especially HIV/AIDS. We need to create links between investments in a sector that can benefit another sector. There is an emphasis throughout on gender equality. That aspect is important and is part of the millennium development goals, which highlight the importance of helping girls and women in the education, health and economic areas.
[English]
The Chairman: Honourable senators, since it is now 7:30 p.m., Senator Corbin has kindly consented not to pursue this matter right now. I agree with Senator Eyton. I also have a lot of questions, but we have only a certain amount of time.
On everyone's behalf, I would thank our guests. I believe we will see some of you tomorrow when we will pursue the international response. I know we have worked with other countries on many of these issues.
The committee adjourned.