Washington, DC — Hollywood actors, academics and world leaders discussed issues facing Africa - both on the continent and globally - during a conference sponsored by TransAfrica Forum titled "Globalization and the African World: Challenges for the 21st Century," from June 11-12 in Washington, D.C.
The conference was TransAfrica Forum's first since 1993, and more than 150 people attended, conference organizers said.
Panel discussions addressed the impact of democracy on post-apartheid South Africa and the effect of foreign intervention on the recent collapse of the Haitian government. In addition to workshops and panel discussions, actor Danny Glover, chairman of TransAfrica Forum, spoke about the importance of increasing global awareness of racism and political inequality towards people of African descent, as well as the necessity of taking action against these injustices.
The conference opened with a panel discussion Friday afternoon, "South Africa: Ten Years On," which addressed South Africa's transition to democracy. Bill Fletcher Jr., president of TransAfrica Forum, said hopes for all people of African heritage are linked to South Africa's progress since apartheid. The panelists discussed the development of South Africa through an analysis of the economic and social policies adopted by the African National Congress.
"Economic policies have been much more conservative," said Ravi Naidoo, director of the National Labor and Economic Development Institute of South Africa. "A lot of emphasis was placed on stability."
South Africa is "the biggest investor in countries south of the Sahara," said Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo, deputy chief of mission at the South African Embassy, who replaced scheduled panelist Barbara Masekela, South African ambassador to the United States.
He said a critical issue for South Africa is its capacity to handle the HIV/Aids pandemic. "We believe there are no quick fixes," he said. "We're heading into uncharted territory."
A second panel titled "Haiti: Freedom, Foreign Intervention and the Future" addressed United States involvement in Haiti's recent political events.
Workshop topics included "Aids and Pharmaceutical Genocide," "US Militarization in West Africa," and "Environmental Issues in the African World," among others.
Global donors gave more in initial contributions to combat livestock diseases in the developed world, such as foot and mouth and mad cow, than to HIV/Aids programs, even though Aids is a greater threat to human security, said Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, during a workshop on HIV/Aids.
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HIV/Aids was also an issue in a workshop on U.S. militarization in Africa. The disproportionate deaths of Africans between the ages of 15 and 30 due to the Aids pandemic has made it difficult for the U.S. to maintain stable military resources in Africa, said Daniel Volman, director of the African Security Research Project. Volman cited military sources who said they spent months training recruits only to find upon returning that the soldiers had died due to Aids.
Contrary to many critics, the United States does have a clear and coherent policy on Africa, Volman said, and that policy's key ingredient is oil.
Volman said the U.S. is prioritizing access to oil and natural gas, and is primarily interested in minimizing instability and civil unrest in African countries. In order to do this, the U.S. is building up African military resources as surrogates for their own military, Volman said, because U.S. forces are spread too thinly around the world right now.
Conference organizers said they were pleased with the result of the conference.
"We think the conference was a success," Fletcher said. "The panels and workshops were high quality. We were hoping to encourage people to participate in TransAfrica Forum-sponsored campaigns. We are excited about such gatherings in the future, and energizing people to engage in international affairs."
