Annan calls for African development by Africans
Hallelujah Lulie

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- At one of his last appearances as the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan called on the African continent to step forward and claim the 21st century as an African century.
On the fifth African Development Forum (ADF V) meeting under the theme of ‘Youth Leadership in the 21st century’ which kicked off yesterday at the United Nations Conference Center, Addis Ababa, the Secretary General who served for two terms emphasized that the African development which has been held hostage by conflicts should be enhanced by peace, human rights and security and post conflict management.

Annan who said that while many African countries have made spectacular progress in some areas, this continent as a whole is falling behind in the race to reach the MDGs by 2015 and that it is not too late to turn this situation around. “But it will take focus, application and commitment. It requires action in areas from trade to migration policy and we should not forget where development has to happen- namely, in the developing countries.

Development is never a gift bestowed on any country from outside. It has to be achieved by the hard work and enterprise of the people of the country.”
“Over the past ten years as an African Secretary General, I have done my best to nurture and buildup the relationship between Africa and UN. That decade of course has also seen the birth of the African Union, an immensely hopeful development and I am glad to say the UN and the AU have a close and growing relationship.”

The Secretary General who will be replaced by the South Korean Ban Kee Moon before the New Year, closed his speech by saying, “the time has come for me, in my UN capacity, to bid you farewell. But as I lay down my global responsibilities, I can promise to devote myself more than ever to the welfare of this beloved continent. So I am glad to say, dear brothers and sisters, that my farewell to you is not an adieu, but very much an au revoir”.

The African Development Forum (ADF) is a multi-stakeholder platform for debating, discussing and initiating concrete strategies for Africa’s development. The Forum, initiated in 1999, has already been held four times. The meeting which ends today is jointly organized by African Union (AU), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and other UN affiliated agencies.
Professor Alpha Omar Konaré, President of the African Union who signed a partnership agreement with Annan said that the agenda of Africa should be prepared by only Africans themselves and that the union is working on empowering itself in applying political leadership and avoiding duplication. “we have agreed to integrate NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development). africans can only enjoy and benefit from its expertise by a policy developed by Africans. our agenda should be our agenda.”