Women & development
Media outside Africa ignored the Pan-African women's conference for peace and development. Anke Hintjens speaks about it to International Viewpoint • Tell us about the conference
This was a large event (250 participants), in the spirit of the Beijing UN conference on women. It was supported by bodies like the UNDP, and several African governments.
We discussed the link between peace and development, on the basis of the Rwandan experience. As well as the essential role of women in peace and development projects.
Many groups were present. Many of the Rwandan participants were part of the All Together collective.' But the geographical distribution of participants was very uneven. There were lots of delegates from Eastern and Southern Africa, but not many from the French speaking countries of Western Africa. And there were only a handful of participants from outside Africa: I noticed groups from Belgium, Holland, Britain, Italy and Japan.
Some governments sent representatives. Uganda, which plays an important role in the Pan-African Movement, sent a vice minister: The South African Minister of Development read a message of support from President Nelson Mandela, stressing that, until the truth is established, there can be neither justice nor pardon. The meeting itself was opened by Irish President Mary Robinson.
The conference provoked a real echo in Atrica, but not in Europe, where the media completely ignored the initiative.
There were signs of a strong pan-African sentiment. The Rwandan government clearly has a lot of respect and support, across the continent, for having stopped a genocide which was felt as a wound to Africa as a whole. Many participants from other African countries commented on the scandalous passivity of the "international community" which did nothing to stop the genocide. • What about the civic groups present?
Government representatives and participants from civic associations had different points of view on a number of issues. For instance, many African civic groups argued that the embargo against Burundi should be lifted, because it was making the population suffer. But representatives of Ugandan, Rwandan and Tanzanian governments insisted that the embargo was the only way to force Burundi's government to come to a negotiated political solution.
As you travel in Rwanda, you see villages being rebuilt everywhere. Another 300,000 houses need to be built. The government wants to create "villages of peace." The state provides the materials, and the people build their own houses. Women's groups are playing a key role in this reconstruction. • What did people say about Rwanda's foreign debt, and the role of the IMF?
Everyone in Rwanda is very conscious of this problem. People are outraged that they must now repay debts contracted by the previous regime to buy the weapons used in the genocide, and that Rwanda must comply with the detailed "recommendations" of the IMF. The country faces a thousand problems" justice, security, reconstruction
Over half the posts in the public sector are vacant. The IMF refuses to allow the recruitment of new civil servants or teachers, or to raise their pitiful salaries. Few of the country's civil servants have had an adequate
The government does not want a confrontation with the IMF. It is paying back the debt. Does it have any choice? The responsibility is on us, here in Europe, to put pressure on the banks, the institutions and our governments: those who are blocking the reconstruction of Rwanda. They should create a compensation fund for Rwanda, rather than continuing to suck interest payments out of • How did the participantsview the rebellion in Zaire?
Many militants in civic organisations and political parties, and many young people in the streets, are optimistic about the revolt. They see it as part of a general struggle across the region. A struggle which started in Tanzania, helped overthrow Idi Amin Dada in Uganda, overthrew the genocidal Habyyarimana regime in Rwanda. Next in line is the Mobutu dictatorship in Zaire.
Many participants consider the current dynamic as a liberation struggle aimed against all the old oligarchies and dictatorships. Collaborators with the former colonial powers are being replaced, people said, with a new African elite, more ready to defend the interests of the people.
There was no reluctance to discuss mutual support, political and military, between the various liberation projects. And everyone could see that, if Zaire joins this 'new Africa," the balance of forces would shift dramatically, with consequences for *Anke Hintjens represented the Brussels-based Committee to Abolish Third World Debt (COCAD) at the COLC CHEC Source: "Un temoinage de Rwanda et du Kivu," Rouge #1726 (3 April 1997). Interviewed by Alain Mathieu Notes 1.See Rouge, 5 December 1996
Rwanda/Zaire