His Excellency, President Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda
Excellencies, heads of state and government
His Excellency, Mr Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union
Excellency, Mr Antonio Guterres, United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General
Excellencies, heads of delegations and colleagues
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen
It is an honour for me, on behalf of His Excellency, President JG Zuma and the government and people of South Africa, to be afforded an opportunity to address this, the first African Union Special Summit on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa.
Please accept our President’s sincerest apology in not being able to join his esteemed colleagues at this very important and watershed Summit that is expected to chart the way forward, not only for our continent but for the globe as a whole.
Considering the multitude of issues facing Africa’s refugees, returnees and internally displaced people, convening this Session is of paramount importance, as it provides both the political impetus to the plight of the victims of forced displacement, as well as a pivotal platform for the various stakeholders to harness their efforts towards ensuring that both the victims offorced displacements as well as the returnees are provided with an appropriate legal framework that will guarantee their protection, assistance and wellbeing.
We are indeed privileged to have been invited to share with you, Excellencies, Southern Africa’s perspective and experiences on the topical issue of “reconciliation and post conflict reconstruction and development”.
Excellencies
Almost all the countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are involved in the African Union aligned peace initiatives as well as post-conflict reconstruction and development in a number of countries within the continent. This is informed by its desire to contribute towards the development and improvement of the areas of politics and governance, defence and security, economy, social and humanitarian affairs in African countries.
Through the post-conflict reconstruction and development, the SADC region seeks to promote political, economic and social cooperation between the region, the continent and its partners. This is important because these programmes are costly and require a lot of funding and other forms of support which must be galvanised through international partnerships.
SADC recognises the fact that far greater emphasis must be placed on efforts to restore good governance, ensuring the rule of law and achieving social and economic recovery. The sooner the post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts to stabilise a country or region are undertaken, the greater the chances for the success of reconciliation will be enhanced.
Excellencies
You may recall that South Africa had to undergo exactly this process in the recent past. In actual fact, most African countries have at one stage or the other had to go through this route; and many still have to embark upon it in future.
Let me underscore that reconciliation is the cornerstone of ending conflicts. It helps to unite nations post conflict leading to considerable progress for the benefit of all. Unsolved atrocities and injustices can easily provoke new cycles of violence.
Reconciliation does not mean the disappearance of disagreement, but of physical conflict that result in mayhem, suffering and forced displacement. Reconciliation means that the warring parties to the conflict accept their differences and choose to live peacefully alongside each other, within an atmosphere of vibrant democratic debate and contestation. It places the national, regional and human interest above those of warring parties.
In dealing with issues such as these, several steps need to be undertaken within the concrete conditions pertaining in each country. No country is like another or others, and so there cannot be universal prescriptions for resolving conflicts, achieving reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction and development.
However, we can learn from each others’ experiences which may be useful to guide those yet to undertake such processes so that they may not reinvent the wheel.
It is vitally important that we be of the same mind that ending conflicts is in our interests as Africa, as well as those of our people as a whole. Without conflict, we would be able to harness Africa’s potent human resources towards the goal of development and thus make major strides towards ending Africa’s historical marginalisation. Consequently, it would enable us better to manage migration and it would diminish the conditions that create forced displacement, both within and without nation states.
Reconciliation is predicated on an old African trait of ubuntu, the belief that I am because you are. The injunctions of ubuntu demand of each and everyone of us to become our brother’s keeper and our sister’s keeper.
For reconciliation to succeed, it must acknowledge and address past injustices suffered by citizens. If left unaddressed, past injustices can turn into a source of renewed conflict. Reconciliation on its own is unable to help the victims to heal, have confidence in the permanence of the process and hope in the future.
On its own, reconciliation does not enable a permanent departure from conflict.
Accordingly, reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction and development must be considered as twins in the process to end conflicts. But, reconstruction and development will be vital even to confront future forced displacement spawned by such factors as climate change and the natural hazards this may instigate.
For reconciliation and post-conflict development to become sustainable, it must recognise the centrality of the role of important partners in civil society such as the youth, women, religious and traditional leaders, trade unions and business, the professionals and the intelligentsia, cultural workers and the media.
Successfully pursuing reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction and development requires that a popular movement be established so that the ordinary masses of the people own the process themselves and share in the objective desire to see it succeed.
However, this does not seek to disparage the role of the state parties and political leadership to act as champions of reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction and development whatever the pressure may be brought on them even by their own constituencies to turn back from this noble vision.
Ultimately, strong, firm and principled leadership is vital to achieving reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction and development indeed, to assure the victims of the period of conflict that there can be no turning back from the path of reconciliation and resort to measures that will once more uproot them from their homes, families, communities and way of life into unknown and often dangerous territories and uncertainty.
Africa waged a heroic and stoic war against colonialism. Such resistance to and victory over the criminal and unjust system of colonialism was necessary to end the abominable dehumanisation of our people and restore their human dignity.
In the absence of peace and stability, good governance and economic development, Africa would remain marginalised and would never be able to mitigate the negative impact of globalisation whilst optimising its positive elements in the favour of our people.
The choice for Africa is not whether to choose peace or violence and instability. That has never been a choice from the outset. The very struggle to defeat colonialism was a blatant choice in favour of peace and development.
This very summit is the most vivid demonstration of the choice we have collectively made to ensure the renewal of our continent, committed to the attainment of the most fundamental rights of our people everywhere.
Accordingly, for a continent which has given the world most refugees and internally displaced people, reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction and development are absolutely vital.
Such programmes must be accessible to victims and accommodative of the concrete national dynamics in each country, yet the ultimate purpose must be to ensure the end to conflict and the creation of conditions for the return of displaced persons to their home countries and their countries, whilst recognising their fundamental right to resettlement.
In conclusion, Excellencies, once more, the ultimate test will be in both addressing the factors that create the necessity for forced displacement as well as in hastily implementing the provisions of this Declaration and Convention.
Excellencies, out of Africa, something new will come!
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Home Affairs
22 October 2009
