AFRICAN UNION. UNION AFRICAINE. UNIÃO AFRICANA. Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone 5 517 700 Fax : 5517844 africa-union.
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AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone 5 517 700 Fax : 5517844 www.africa-union.org FIRST SESSION OF THE AU CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS IN CHARGE OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA 27 – 31 OCTOBER 2008 CAMSD/EXP/4(I) SOCIAL POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR AFRICA
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 1 Table of Contents ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ––––––––––––––––––..3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY––––––––––––––––––––––––.4 1.0 INTRODUCTION ––––––––––––––––––––––––. 6 1.1 Rationale––––––––––––––––––––––––––––6 1.2 Guiding Principles10 1.3 Target Group for the Social Policy Framework for Africa.11 2.0 The Social Policy Framework for Africa .12 2.1 Introduction.12 2.2 Issues and Recommendations 12 2.2.1 Population and development 12 2.2.2 Labour and employment14 2.2.3 Soci al Protection16 2.2.4 Health.18 2.2.5 HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other infectious diseases.19 2.2.6 Migration21 2.2.7 Educatio n..24 2.2.8 Agricultur e, food and nut rition.26 2.2.9 The Family.27 2.2.10 Children, adolescents and youth..28 2.2.11 Ageing 30 2.2.12 Disability31 2.2.13 Gender equality and women™s empowerment ––––––––––. 33 2.2.14 Culture35 2.2.15 Urban development.36 2.2.16 Environmental sustainability37 2.2.17 The impact of globalization and trade liberalisation in Africa38 2.2.18 Good Governance, Anti-Corruption and the Rule of Law––––––..43 2.2.19 Other issues deserving attention––––––––––––––––40 (i) Drug and Substance abuse and Crime Prevention ..–––––– 40 (ii) Sport––––––––––––––––––––––––––.. 41 (iii) Civil strife and conflict situations ..42 (iv) Foreign debt43 3.0 FollowŒup Mechanism for Implemen tation, Monitoring and Evaluation––––––––––––––––––––––––––44 3.1 Introduction..44 3.2 Roles and Responsibilities of Stakeholders 44 3.2.1 African Unio n Member States44 3.2.2 Regional Economic Communities (RECs)..45 3.2.3 The African Union Commission45 3.2.4 Other Afri can Union organs46 3.2.5 UN Agencies and Development Partners46 3.2.6 Civil society.46 3.3 Way Forward 47
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 2 Appendix A: Regional and International Instruments on Social Development––––––––––––––––––––––––– 48 A1: Declarations, Strategies, Goals, Programmes and Plans Adopted At Continental Level..48 A2: Declarations, Strategies, Goals, Pr ogrammes and Plans Adopted At Global Level..50 Appendix B:Other Refe rences..52
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 3 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AU African Union AUC African Union Commission ECA Economic Commission for Africa GDP Gross Domestic Product HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ILO International Labour Organization MDGs Millennium Development Goals NEPAD New Partnership for Africa™s Development OAU Organization of African Unity REC Regional Economic Community UN United Nations UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNESCO United Nations Scientif ic and Cultural Organisation UNICEF United Nations Children Fund SPF Social Policy Framework for Africa SRH Sexual and Reproductive Health STI Sexually Transmitted Infections
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The vision and mission of the African Union Commission (AUC) is to build an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, using the best of the cont inent™s human and material resources. To this end, the AUC prog ramme on social development is based on a human-centred approach that see ks to promote human rights and dignity. However, this aspiration is likely to be hampered unless the dire social developmental crisis facing the continentŠreflected in, among others, a high burden of disease, lack of basic infrastructure and social services, inadequat e health care and services; poor access to basic education and training; high illite racy rates; gender inequality; youth marginalisation; and political instability in a number of countriesŠis sufficiently addressed. It is in this context that t he Ministers present at the Firs t Session of the African Union Labour and Social Affairs Commission, held in Mauritius in 2003, made a recommendation and requested the AUC in co llaboration and consultation with other stakeholders, to develop a Social Policy Fr amework for Africa (SPF). The primary reason behind this recommendation was to complement and supplement on-going national and regional programme and policy initiatives such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP) and NEPAD, and to close t he gap where it was deem ed that these did not adequately address social issues. Drawing upon the strategic objectives of the AUC soci al programme, and within the context of its objectives of promoting sust ainable development, the SPF aims to provide an overarching policy structure to assist African Union Memb er States to strengthen and give increasing priority to their nationa l social policies and hence promote human empowerment and development. The fram ework treats social development as subordinate to economic growth, but justifies social development as a goal in its own right. It acknowledges that whil e economic growth is a ne cessary condition of social development, it is not exclusively or suffici ently able to address the challenges posed by the multi-faceted socio-economic and political forces that together generate the continent™s social development challenges. The SPF focuses, in no particular priority, on 18 key thematic social issues: population and development; labour and employment; Soci al Protection, health; HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other infectious diseases; migr ation; education; ag riculture, food and nutrition; the family; children, adolescents and youth; ageing; disability; gender equality and women™s empowerment; culture; urban development, environmental sustainability, the impact of globalisation and trade liberalization in Africa and good Governance, Anti- Corruption and Rule of Law. , .. In addition the following four issues were identified as also deserving particular attention in Af rica: drug and substance abuse and crime prevention; sport; civil strife and conflict situ ations; and foreign debt. The discussion of each issue is immediately followed by a broad range of recommendations to guide, and assist AU Member States in formulating and implementing their own national social policies.
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 5 Cognizant of the importance of effective monitoring and ev aluation and coordination in ensuring that the SPF is implemented and has maximum impact, the key roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders are outlined in the concluding section.
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 7 4. One of the major limitations of the poli cy prescriptions that came with structural adjustment packages was that they were based on a narrow quantitative concern for economic growth and macro- economic stability. There was little or no concern for questions of equity, livelihoods and human secu rity. Where these concerns were on the agenda, they were to be achieved through tr ickle-down effects of growth, and not through any deliberate intervention by the state. In gener al, social development was seen as a drag on economic development, existi ng merely to serve the objectives of the latter. This policy regime has created a fa lse dichotomy between social development and social policy on the one hand, and econom ic development and economic policy on the other. The disproportionate preoccupation with macroeconomics also tends to reduce social policy to poverty reduction; merely palliative, to reduce the adverse effects of economic stabilization. It al so tends to ignore the syner gies and complementarities between social development and econo mic development. As Mkandawire (2004) argues, this approach undermines the intrinsic value of social policy and development, and the fact that issues of equity and impr oved livelihoods are im portant development goals in their own right. 5. Largely because of this dominant development paradigm, in most African countries there is relatively low expendit ure and investment in social development. There is also little inter-sectoral coordinat ion and cooperation among the various social sector institutions, and betw een them and the economic ministries. This tends to be the case at both policy formulation and implem entation stages. In addition, despite the growing recognition by scholars and development agencies that the gr eatest wealth of a nation is its people, the human capabilitie s of the African people have not been harnessed and mobilized for the continent™s dev elopment. Instead, there has emerged in the continent what can be referred to as an enclave economy – one that deliberately excludes and exploits the majority of the African population while benefiting a minority. Consequently, social development policies in the continent ar e often inadequate because they are oriented towards the urb an centres and lack bottom-up concern, with emphasis on decentralisation, self-reliance and community or grass-root involvement. 6. This lack of ‚inclusive™ development has per tained to most of Africa™s history, and necessitates that the conti nent develop a social policy framework combining economic dynamism (including pro-poor gr owth policies), social int egration (societies that are inclusive, stable, just and based on the prom otion and protection of all human rights, non-discrimination, respect for diversity and par ticipation of all peopl e) and an active role for government in the provision of basic soci al and other services at local and national levels. 7. Notwithstanding the progre ss made, the general developm ental crisis in Africa has not been fundamentally alte red. Despite the wealth of natural resources in the continent, African countries typically fall to ward the bottom of any list measuring social development and economic activity. In 2006, fo r example, 34 of the 50 nations on the United Nations™ (UN) list of least developed countries (LDCs ) were in Africa, and the bottom 25 spots on the UN quality of life index are regularly filled by African nations. Indeed, it is now universal knowledge that a third of Sub-Saharan Africans are underfed
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 8 and that more than 40 percent live in abso lute poverty as measured by the poverty threshold of less than US$1 per day. This tr agic waste of human potential in Africa is caused by many factors, including a high di sease burden (most of which is preventable); a lack of basic infrastructure and social services such as roads, potable water and sanitation; inadequate health care and services; poor access to basic education and training; high illiteracy rates; gender inequalit y; youth marginalisat ion; and political instability in a number of countries. In addition, rural-urban migration in many countries has led to rapid urbanisation which, in turn, has created unplanned, congested urban centres and slums. These slums are typically characterised by, inter alia, high levels of unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, and cr ime. The prevailing population dynamics that include high infant and child morbidity and mortality rates, high maternal mortality, high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and low life ex pectancy also have serious implications for socio-economic development in Africa. The continent™s sit uation is further aggravated by external factors such as debilitating debt, unfavourable terms of trade, and declining Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows. 8. Africa has, in the last decade, made significant strides in certain areas of social and economic development. For example, in add ition to increasing literacy rates, the continent has witnessed increasing democra tisation and reducti on of civil strife. Furthermore, while the HIV prevalence rate rema ins high relative to other regions of the world, African countries are making progress in reducing or slowing the spread of the epidemic, and access to treatment for people living with the virus and the disease, is improving. Overall, countries are intensifying their interv entions to improve social development indicators across the continen t, with a number having demonstrated their commitment in this direction by creating mi nistries specially dedicated to social development. Economically, there has been reco very in the rates of economic growth and African economies have continued to sust ain the growth momentum, recording an overall real GDP growth rate of 5.7 perce nt in 2006 compared to 5.3 percent in 2005 and 5.2 percent in 2004. This growth performance was under pinned, among others, by improvements in macroeconomic management in many countries of the continent. 9. It is against the above background, of compelling and pervasive socio-economic development challenges facing Africa, and on the understanding of the importance and role of social policy in addressing these c hallenges, that the Mini sters present at the First Session of the African Union (AU) Labour and Social Affairs Commission (LSAC) held in Mauritius in 2003, made a reco mmendation and requested the African Union Commission, in collaboration and consulta tion with other stakeholders, to develop a Social Policy Framework for Africa (SPF). 10. Social policy can be described as a mech anism that allows for collective state-led measures implemented by the state and its partners Œ the private sector, civil society and international development partners Š to protect vulnerable groups, by guaranteeing basic economic and social conditions, ov ercoming structural deficiencies in the distribution of wealth and productive asse ts, creating greater eq uality for all, and rectifying market failure (Kabeer and Cook, 2000) . In the same vein, Adesina (2007:1) defines social policy as
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 9 –the collective public efforts aimed at a ffecting and protecting the social well- being of the people within a given territo ry. Beyond immediate protection from social destitution, social policy might cover education and health care provision, habitat, food security, sani tation, guarantee some measure of labour market protection, and so onfl. 11. The above definitions underpi n two important factors r egarding social policy. The first is the centrality of t he state and society to the devel opment agenda. That is, social policy involves state interventi ons and collaborative working re lations with society; social development is not left to the invisible han d of the market. The second factor is the instrumental value of social policy to secure and improve the living conditions of people. In other words, improved livelihood and the consequent hu man security that it engenders is an important developm ent goal in its own right. From this perspective, social policy involves policy instrument s and actions to prom ote and enhance the welfare and well-being of people in a given geographical location. 12. It is important to note that non-citizens li ving in a given territo ry also benefit from a social policy regime; hence we refer to the well-being of people. However, social policy should not be limited to social welfare, nor should it be mi cro-nised and sectoral-ised. Rather it should be viewed as a web of po licies that act in a complementary, multi- dimensional, multi-se ctoral and multi-disciplinary ma nner. As Mkandawire (2004:10) aptly puts it, fiUltimatel y, the issue is not just ‚health policy™ or ‚education policy™ but ‚social policy™ within which these measures are coherently embeddedfl. In effect the question that should be addressed is how, say, ‚healt h policy™ and ‚education policy™ complement and enhance o ne another. Effectively, social policy is a comprehensive and coherent agenda in which, health policy, education policy, social welfare, employment policy, among others, are components. 13. Social policy fulfils three main functions in the development agenda (Mkandawire, 2004). One of its basic functions is that of social protec tion. The purpose of social protection, according to the United Nations, is to ensure minimum standards of well- being among people in dire situ ations to live a life with dignity, and to enhance human capabilities. Social protection includes res ponses by the state and society to protect citizens from risks, vulnerab ilities and deprivations. It also includes strategies and programmes aimed at ensuring a minimum standard of livelihood for all people in a given country. This entails measures to secure education and health care, social welfare, livelihood, access to stable income, as well as employment. In effect, social protection measures are comprehensive, and ar e not limited to traditional measures of social security. Another function of social polic y is that of economic devel opment or production, which it achieves mainly through human capital fo rmation and the creation of a conducive climate for investment and ec onomic growth. As Mkandawir e (2004:26) notes, fiWith respect to accumulation, social policy takes the form of soci al capital investments that enhance the social productivity of labour (through better health and education) and by setting minimum labour standards. Social policy also has a positive impact on development through its reproductive role, or by creating the conditions for the reproduction of the labour force. It is now generally acknowledg ed that educated and
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CAMSD/EXP/4(I) Page 10 healthy people have significant positive im pact on economic development, and a country with high levels of illiteracy and other incapacitie s is unlikely to create conditions for investment that are so centra l to economic growth. For exam ple, the transition of the Asian developmental states from developi ng to developed, occurred when their populations became more educated and skilled. T herefore, through it s contribution to the health and education of citizens, social po licy makes a significant contribution to the workforce. 14. Overall therefore , a social policy must be concerned with the redistributive effects of economic policy, protect people from the vagaries of t he market and the changing circumstances of age, illne ss and disability, enhance the productive potential of members of society, and rec oncile the burden of reproduction with that of other social tasks. 15. The main purpose of this Social Policy fr amework for Africa (SPF) is to provide an overarching policy structure to assist AU Member States in the development of their national social policies to promote human empowerment and development in their ongoing quest to address the multiple social issues facing their societies. The SPF moves away from treating social develop ment as subordinate to economic growth. Rather, the framework justifies social de velopment as a goal in its own right. It acknowledges that while economic growth is a necessary condition of social development, it is not exclusively or suffici ently able to address the challenges posed by the multi-faceted socio-economic and political forces that together generate the continent™s social development challenges. 1.2 Guiding Principles 16. To enhance the attainment of the above objectives, the following should serve as guiding principles for the SPF: Social policies must encapsulate the principles of human rights, development imperatives and be embedded in the Af rican culture of solidarity; It must be intimately linked to economic and political policies aiming at advancing society™s well-being Policy for social development as a br oader goal should be coor dinated with, but not subordinate to, economic growth and political development; Social policy formulation must incl ude bottom-up approaches to allow the participation of beneficiaries and recipients in decision-making; Social policy should have a l ong-term development perspective; The different stakeholders should work to gether in well-coor dinated partnerships that enable them to complement and not compete with one another.
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