Parliamentary Assembly Assemblée parlementaire

Doc. 10905
20 April 2006

Mobilising parliaments in the “New Partnership for Africa’s development” (NEPAD)

Motion for a resolution
presented by Mr Van den Brande and others

Nearly five years ago, in 2001, the Summit of Heads of State of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, now African Union) formally adopted a strategic framework for Africa’s renewal called the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) which has four primary objectives, namely:

i. to eradicate poverty

ii. to place African countries on a path of sustainable growth and development

iii. to halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process and enhance its full and beneficial integration into the global economy and

iv. to accelerate the empowerment of women.

NEPAD is not a separate agency but it is the socio-economic programme of the African Union which is meant to implement the Millennium Development Goals as set by the UN in 2000.

Under these goals the World Community committed itself to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environment sustainability, and develop global partnership for development.

The Assembly repeatedly underlined the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) for instance in its recent Resolutions 1449 (2005) on the environment and the Millennium Development Goals and 1450 (2005) on the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals.

Among members of parliament, both in Africa and in Europe, there seems to be widespread consensus that:

i. the successful implementation of NEPAD and the objectives of good governance in general cannot be obtained without the parliamentary system and the role of parliament itself being strengthened and supported.

ii. Europe cannot review its development co-operation without consultation with Africa and without paying due attention to African parliaments.

During several consultations and meetings held with parliamentarians from Africa and Europe since NEPAD was launched, the following major problems have been identified

i. parliaments, in Africa and Europe, are not sufficiently involved in the NEPAD process and often not even sufficiently informed about it.

ii. parliamentarians are therefore unable to conduct a dialogue with their constituents on the important aspects of NEPAD, which means that the NEPAD process is still lacking its grassroots base.

iii. Parliaments in Europe are not sufficiently engaged to take the NEPAD process into consideration in their decision-making on issues of importance to the development of Africa.

The Assembly therefore welcomes the great interest taken in NEPAD by the Pan-African Parliament, the African Parliamentarians Forum on NEPAD and the NEPAD Contact Group of African Parliaments. It welcomes in particular the co-operation agreement it concluded in 2005 with the Pan African Parliament (PAP).

In Europe it is the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA) which – with a membership of some 1200 members of national parliaments in Europe – set up a parliamentary support programme to mobilise parliamentarians for NEPAD. In addition the Assembly wishes to recall the eminent work of the Council of Europe North-South Centre.

In conclusion the Assembly:

i. calls on the governments and national parliaments of members States of the Council of Europe to support and render assistance to NEPAD by all appropriate means in order to help it achieve the success the peoples of Africa deserve,

ii. gives its full support to the efforts made both in Africa and in Europe to enhance the role of parliaments in monitoring NEPAD and the processes of its implementation, exercising oversight of these processes and winning the support and participation of the people.

iii. decides to hold regular exchanges with the Pan African Parliament and the African Parliamentarians Forum on NEPAD in order to maintain a dialogue on issues of common interest, in particular in fighting diseases and poverty, and in providing assistance and advice in the building of genuine parliamentary democracy,

iv. resolves to organise a debate in the Assembly on Europe’s role in promoting social and economic development, democracy and good governance in Africa, as foreseen in the co-operation agreement with the Pan African Parliament, resolves to take full advantage of its co-operation agreement with the North-South Centre in achieving these aims.

v. Resolves to take full advantage of its co-operation agreement with the North-South Centre in achieving these aims.

Signed ¹:

Van den BRANDE, Luc, Belgium, EPP/CD
BELLMANN, Veronika, Germany, EPP/CD
COSARCIUC, Valeriu, Moldova, ALDE
DRAGASSAKIS, Ioannis, Greece, UEL
GACEK, Urszula, Poland, EPP/CD
HÖGMARK, Anders G., Sweden, EPP/CD
JURGENS, Erik, Netherlands, SOC
KOROBEYNIKOV, Anatoliy, Russian Federation, EDG
MELČÁK, Miloš, Czech Republic, SOC
NEGELE, Gebhard, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD
Ö HMAN, Conny, Sweden, SOC
PIROZHNIKOVA, Liudmila, Russian Federation, EDG
REIMANN, Maximilian, Switzerland, ALDE
SCHIEDER, Peter, Austria, SOC
STAPONKIENĖ, Aldona, Lithuania, EDG
WALTER, Robert, United Kingdom, EDG

¹     SOC: Socialist Group
       EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party
       ALDE: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
       EDG: European Democratic Group
       UEL: Group of the Unified European Left
       NR: not registered in a group