Achieving Sustainable Development in Africa
International Conference at the University of Pittsburgh
March 29-30, 2012
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Purpose
Although the term sustainable development was used as early as 1972 at the United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, it was not until 1987, with a UN report entitled "Our common future" that the term was fully defined and translated into policy options. The report defined sustainable development as 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.'
The World Bank (WB) further defined "sustainability" in terms of opportunities for future generations, using a framework of Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD) that encompasses equity and social objectives, including empowerment, participation, social mobility, and cultural identity for citizens. The 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development conceptualized the pursuit of sustainable development within the framework of three "pillars"- environmental protection, economic development, and social development-that must go hand in hand.
From the African perspective as articulated by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) in 2001, the goal for sustainable development encompasses poverty reduction. However, the challenge for Africa is to develop the capacity to sustain growth at all levels required to achieve poverty reduction and sustainable development. This in turn depends on other factors such as infrastructure, capital accumulation, human capital, institutions, structural diversification, competitiveness, health and good stewardship on the environment. Thus the concept of sustainable development broadly understood, implies a concern for future generations and for the long-term health and integrity of the physical, social and cultural environment.
However, such considerations cannot be appreciated if there is a lack of up-to-date information, knowledge, tools and skills as well as institutions and appropriate structures to address the various concerns such as the fight the against poverty, the struggle for gender equality, education for all, health and environmental protection, and human security to realize a better quality of life for all; not only for now, but for generations to come.
Efforts to achieve sustainable development in Africa have continued to face critical challenges and in fact a fundamental question being asked is why African economies are less sustainable today than they were 25 years ago? The argument is that more attention is necessary in promoting conversations about the problems between academics, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners in the field. It is particularly important to bring into the conversations the perspectives of practitioners who deal with the day to day realities on the ground especially as a means of finding sustainable strategies and solutions to the problems hindering the achievement of sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Achieving Sustainable Development in Africa
Over the past decades, many new development initiatives have been introduced in Africa, each of which has been heralded as marking a new era in the continent’s development, but most of which have failed to produce the much anticipated results due to the numerous but interrelated challenges facing Africa’s development. Nowhere has less growth and development taken place that in Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Per Capita GDP has declined by more than one percent per annum in real terms since the 1980s and the gap between the per capita GDP of Africa and the average of all low-income developing countries has widened considerably. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development, in articulating these challenges, noted that almost 400 million (i.e., half of Africa’s population) live on less than $1 a day. The mortality rate of Africa’s children under five is 140 per 1,000, and life expectancy at birth is only 54 years. Only 58 percent have access to safe drinking water while 41 percent of people above 15 years of age are illiterate.
Historically, there has been a general tendency to approach development as a process of acquiring and using Western-style systems, standards, expertise, problem-solving methods, resources, and so on. Obviously, this approach has proved problematic because there is more to development than looking outward for solutions to a country’s or society’s problems. Further, sustainable development is generally homegrown and not something that is readily or easily exportable from one place to another. It is against this background that we believe that this conference-driven endeavor will create a useful and much-needed forum for dialoguing on critical issues facing Africa’s development and engender innovative, meaningful research as well as policy driven and practical contributions. Dealing effectively with poverty and underdevelopment requires balanced and integrated grassroots efforts, good leadership, and an enhanced continental ability to negotiate with other participants in the global environment. We hope that the volume of collected papers that will be generated from the conference will be a significant contribution to this effort.
Organized by:
Ford Institute for Human Security
With Thanks to:
Institute for International Studies in Education