United Press Internation - June 11, 2004
Rebecca T. Michael

South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki is leading this struggle. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations on the eve of this year's G8 summit, Mbeki tackled issues ranging from HIV/AIDS to peace and stability to unemployment across the African continent -- always emphasizing the African response to these persistent problems.

South Africa has "launched a peace and security council," he said, adding that the country is currently "working on an early warning mechanism" to turn it from a reactive to a proactive force for security on the continent.

Of course the challenges loom large. "You can imagine (the) difficulties in that preventive diplomacy is important; you can't wait until conflict breaks out" to get involved, said Mbeki.

In order to succeed, Mbeki's fledgling African Peace and Security Council will "need (the) necessary forces on the ground, able to deploy," he said. To date, the council has divided the African continent into five regions, each, at least theoretically capable of deploying independently.

The ongoing crisis in Darfur, Sudan, might give the council the chance to prove itself, although interagency squabbling threatens to undermine its effectiveness.

Mbeki recognizes that "we have to move quickly ... to send people to Darfur through the Peace and Security Council to deal with the immediate ... challenges." Already, Mbeki has "been discussing (the crisis) with the government of Sudan to say there's a problem -- a big problem. And we agreed," he said.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan el-Bashir "was keen that (the Peace and Security Council) should intervene, but of course we've also been discussing the matter in the context of the African Union," Mbeki said.

"If military advisers are not in Darfur already, they are on their way there," he added, emphasizing the importance of action over just words.

The African Union delegation completed an assessment mission to the Darfur region in mid-May. According to Mbeki, the "presence of the African Union in the region would pose obligations (for all involved) to cooperate ... such a presence in Darfur should be there to ensure the conflict stops," he said.

All sides now agree, Mbeki said, that "what we need is an important African intervention" in both the conflict and the humanitarian crisis.

In matters of the economy, as in matters of security, Mbeki spoke of Africans taking matters into their own hands. While both last year's and this year's G8 summits offered up "heavy agendas" on debt and unemployment, Mbeki noted that "access to loans does not guarantee that what you acquire now will last in five years."

"The asset base is there (in African countries), but it has not been used to multiply wealth -- but it will come in time," he said, placing the onus for progress squarely on African governments.

"It is quite clear that high growth rates don't necessarily mean reductions in unemployment because modern economies need skilled workers," Mbeki said. Not only do African nation need higher economic growth rates, they also need to train their populations so they can become productive members of society.

"You've got millions of people who are uneducated (and) unskilled...a lot of these people also live in underdeveloped areas (with) no roads, no access to water," he said, stressing the fact that African governments "need special programs to deal with those people."

Mbeki said that he's "had a close look at what the Europeans do...and (concluded that) "the market alone can not be expected to regulate unemployment...the South African economy is capable of generating resources to deal with the problem of unemployment... (by) using labor-intensive methods to train people while they're working."

In the past, Mbeki said, the government has been "over cautious and looked for 100 percent success, being afraid to lose some money." Now, however, the government is committed to being "part of the empowerment process." "We're not discouraging acquisition of existing assets," he said, "but the most critical thing is starting new ventures, producing new value."

This year's G8 summit at Sea Island, Georgia, wrapped up on June 10th with myriad commitments to eradicating poverty, lessening unemployment, and increasing security throughout the world. Thabo Mbeki left little doubt that the government of South Africa, together with other African governments, will be fighting to achieve these goals.
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