Pan-African Civil Society Preparatory Meeting to the IV International Forum on Democracy and Cooperation

Participatory Democracy, Sustainable Development, Decentralized Cooperation, Citizenship, and Inter-Cultural Exchanges:

These were the key issues debated by more than 60 CSOs representatives from West, East, South and North Africa in a meeting organized by Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD) and Latin America and Africa Institute for Political Studies (IEPALA) in Nairobi, Kenya, from 15-16 May 2008.  

The meeting debated and defined common African CSOs perspectives in the global context of Democracy and Cooperation in and for Africa with the aim to develop innovative concepts and models that will lead to a Southern driven paradigm shift in global development.  

In the final communiqué the African CSOs state that the North will not provide the answer, criticizing the North-South power relationships that lead to dependency rather than autonomy and sovereignty. A strong appeal is also made to African governments, African Union and regional bodies to include African civil society in decision making. Furthermore the principles of food sovereignty must govern Africa’s long term agricultural policies which must address existing unfair landholding practices through appropriate and equitable land reform policies in order to achieve food sovereignty and sustainable development in Africa.

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