The Hindu : International : Africa's political, humanitarian crises cry out for attention

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 17, 2006

International

International

Africa's political, humanitarian crises cry out for attention

Simon Tisdall

London: In Africa everything is bigger. Since the second intifada began in 2000 approximately 4,480 Palestinians and Israelis have died — but that is equivalent to a long weekend in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where, the U.N. says, 1,200 people are dying every day from war-related causes. Since 1997, nearly four million have died, their passing relatively un-remarked and unreported.

Hurricane Katrina temporarily displaced tens of thousands in the southern U.S. last summer amid worldwide media coverage. In Sudan, about two million civilians remain homeless three years after the Darfur conflict ignited. Almost unnoticed, their numbers rose by 30,000 in January due to renewed militia depredations.

In Congo and Sudan the international community's efforts to do better gathered pace this week. But the vast scale of the countries' problems, coupled with doubts about the developed world's commitment to resolving them, does not encourage optimism, says Tom Cargill, of the Africa programme of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.

``The west can try to force the pace although in the end it's up to the people on the ground,'' said Mr. Cargill. ``But there is often a lack of political will to make the difficult decisions.''

One such decision looms for the E.U., which has been asked to send troops to support U.N. peacekeepers ahead of Congo's first democratic elections, due by June. The process is seen as critical to the country's stabilisation following the 1997-2003 war. But fighting is continuing in North Kivu and elsewhere in eastern Congo.

``In Katanga province, tens of thousands of people have been displaced by sustained violence and atrocities,'' the U.N. reported this week.

Brussels co-launched a $680 million U.N. appeal on Monday to fund pre-election projects such as water, food and shelter for returning refugees. Calling Congo a ``forgotten crisis'', Britain pledged $100 million in new aid. But when it comes to deploying troops, E.U. countries are hesitating and some, such as Belgium, the former colonial power, have refused.

Yet improved security is a pre-condition for progress, analysts say. ``If the Congo is to have any hope of peace and development, security sector reform is the vital issue,'' said Caty Clement, of the independent International Crisis Group.

``Everything else, from elections to humanitarian assistance to economic activity, depends on establishing a secure environment.'' The E.U. should expand its support for army and police reform, an ICG report urged.

The U.K. Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, tried to energise peace-making in Darfur, on a visit this week to Abuja, Nigeria, where Sudan's Government is locked in long-running talks with rebel groups.

The global community would do all it could, he assured delegates, but ``what it now wants to see is an end to the haggling and posturing and the start of real action by you to put Darfur back together''.

He brandished various carrots and sticks. But Mr. Cargill said Sudan's problems, often unresponsive to outside prodding, might prove so again — making it once again a matter of political will.

The U.N. requested American assistance this week for a planned peacekeeping force in Darfur. But any such force will not deploy for at least a year. And despite condemning the situation there as genocide, the U.S. has already said it will not risk its troops. In Africa, even betrayals are bigger. —

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