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The AU At Fifty: Re-Thinking African Renaissance

AU (2)

By Nureldin Satti
UNESCO Adviser for Culture of Peace in Africa

In December, I returned from a five-day mission to Addis Ababa with a UNESCO delegation where we made a number of contacts at the African Union, the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and with partners and donors. The main objective of the mission was to initiate contacts with the African Union as a co-organizer with UNESCO of the "Pan-African Forum on a Culture of Peace," hosted and funded by the Government of Angola, and which will take place in Luanda from March 26-28, 2013. I had visited the African Union innumerable times in the past, but that was my first visit to the new buildings, constructed with the aid of the Chinese Government. The beauty and the iconic character of the building would be enhanced by adding an African touch to it, such as introducing some features of African traditional architecture or the use of local African building materials to give it a distinctive African style. But, of course, in architecture, as in other walks of life, it is becoming increasingly difficult to combine functionality with heritage values and traditions. This is a challenge which is constantly being posed to architects and cultural and social practitioners alike.

This is also a challenge with which Africa is confronted when it comes to reconciling its past, present, and future. Such a challenge is not only moral, ethical, and metaphysical, but it presents itself in many ways in Africa's interactions with itself and with others. As Africa braces to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of the African Union, it has decided to mark 2013 as the Year of African Renaissance.  The word 'Renaissance' rings a bell. In history classes we used to learn about Europe's Renaissance and how those countries achieved it many centuries ago. Europe had to count on their own creativity and hard work to achieve the rebirth that put them firmly on the path of progress and democracy. But they did not do it alone. Their armies conquered countries far and wide and their armadas roamed the oceans, bringing back to the various metropoles the resources and raw materials necessary to feed the progress taking place at the time in Europe.

However, natural resources and raw materials alone do not make a renaissance or build a nation. It was the combination of hard word, creativity, and an unbending spirit that were required for such a task. But this is still not enough. What is also needed is a vision that guides the process and charts the way head.There is the need for enlightened leadership that encompasses the dreams and aspirations of the people.

To achieve its own Renaissance, Africa must establish a more dynamic relationship between its past, present, and future. It also must built a more rational and energizing model for the interaction and use of its heritage and moral and historical sources, on the one hand, and human and natural resources, on the other. In other words, Africa has to come to terms with its own history, which is also the history of its relations with the world, and develop a vision that will propel it into the future, rather than keep it under the brunt of its own past.

For too long, in Africa and for Africans, history has been a refuge from the injustices of the present and a glorification of the heroic deeds of the past. As we move away from our own history, in temporal terms, it is no longer about incidents and events, but rather about lessons learned, values, and moral and cultural heritage. These values and heritage may result in a crippling effect if they are not put to the test of modernity, and that of a changing world. We no longer build a house the way we used to ten or twenty or thirty years ago. The world is changing and Africa is being coerced into adapting to this change without the means of resisting or even influencing it. While Africa is clinging to a defunct past, it runs the risk of losing control of its own future, a future that is being decided by parameters and paradigms which are not within its borders or control.

The resources of the past, those of Africa's beautiful moral and cultural heritage, are not being matched to the resources of the future, whether those resources are human, natural, or mineral. Africa's own resources are being used against its own values and are leading to the gradual erosion, not to say implosion, of African societies. Diamond, gold, and oil wars are destabilizing Africa and may well lead to further dismembering of African countries.

This takes us back to the issue of values, heritage, and building the future. New structures cannot be built with old materials. The African hut and the Chinese pagoda may not have their place in the luxurious building of the new AU Headquarters, which looks more like an American skyscraper. But neither should we continue to put old wine in new bottles. New structures are an opportunity to develop new ideas, and the modernization that has been given to the AU structures should be matched by a substantive modernization in its ways and means of doing things, and in re-thinking the concept of African Renaissance on the basis of new and creative ideas.

Here are some thoughts as to how this may be done:

1 – A new meaning must be given to the concept of African Unity and African Renaissance. African youth should be taught to move away from the divisive concepts of the past, those of Black Africa and White Africa, of an Arab North Africa and a negroid southern Africa, to the more integrative concept of Africa as a RainbowContinent, in which diversity is a source of pride, strength, and sense of achievement. Education and cultural development are key to building a new consciousness and an enlightened vision on what African Renaissance is all about.

2 -  Renaissance is a holistic process which should be based on an all-embracing vision, encompassing the many aspects of human activity. It is important to reflect on the the issue of bridging the fault lines between the various tasks of the AU.

3 – Peace and security is a holistic task. Investing in military and security capacities of the AU is important and should continue, but it is equally important to invest in 'soft' aspects of peace and security. Military and policing activities should be complemented by efforts in the areas of political, economic, and administrative governance, job creation, peacebuilding through education, cultural development, and ICT, public information, and communication activities. It is essential to find the right formula to integrate the various aspects of security, whether military, political, socioeconomic, cultural, or human, into one viable matrix that will ensure the viability and sustainability of the peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes. In real life, these aspects are not separated. We build walls between them in national and international institutions. The result is what we are witnessing today: immense resources being spent, with little to show for them.

4 – Renaissance cannot be done without the people, or against them. For too long, the African youth have been taken for granted and spoon-fed ideologies and bad dreams that have often turned into nightmares. The principles of basic human rights and  freedoms, democratic rule, and rule of law are essential for the Africa of tomorrow. Respect for human dignity, mutual respect, and appreciation for the value of time and of honest, hard work are essential building blocks of the African Renaissance. This necessitates revamping our educational and social institutions and structures. Currently, old ones are being eroded or dismantled without a viable replacement. This explains the madness that we are witnessing in Africa and elsewhere in terms of crime, suicide-bombings, and mass killings. We need to go to the sources of these most alarming phenomena. Throwing money or arms at them will only further exacerbate them.

5 – All this will not be possible without a better understanding of the dynamics of interaction between Africa and the outside world. Times are changing and new ideas, methods and technologies are being invented every single day, which are creating new challenges for Africa. Africa should be able to make its own impact in this growing marketplace. This can only be done by improving the skills and work conditions of its young men and women, thus raising their productivity and competitiveness  while at the same time increasing their awareness of their mission. This will enhance Africa's cultural and moral contribution to building a more just, equitable, and peaceful world.

But charity begins at home and change begins from within. To make the world a better place, Africans need to do their own conscience-searching, to better understand where they are coming from, but, more importantly, where they are heading. Inorder to do so, they need to restore that missing link between their past and the future- their own and that of the world at large. This is the first step in the long road to African Renaissance.

 

Nureldin Satti is former ambassador of Sudan to France, former UN Special Representative to Burundi, former UNESCO senior staff member, former Senior African Scholar at Woodrow Wilson Center (2008-2009). He is currently UNESCO Adviser for Culture of Peace in Africa and Chairperson of the Council of Administration of the International Fund for the Promotion of Culture (IFPC), managed by UNESCO.

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