Crisis in Africa.

• Position: Perspective

The Assembly, in its resolution 38/199 adopted on 20 December 1983, has called for special measures for concerted international action and "substantial and sustained levels of resources" to promote the accelerated development of African countries.

It acted against a backdrop of an increasing awareness of the crises affecting that region, an awareness heightened most recently by:

--the Secretary-General's December appeal for aid;

--the convening of two special meetings in January to discuss the situation;

--his trip to eight West African nations in January/February;

--the convening of a third special meeting with interested States to report on the trip and preliminary steps taken.

Africa, the Assembly pointed out, contains three quarters of the countries designated as "least developed" and 50 per cent of the world's land-locked nations. There vulnerable States suffer particularly from the effects of the crises, which touch all sectors of the economy--especially food production and agriculture, the backbone of these primarily rural societies.

Drought has swept through the savannas, deserts and coastlines of all parts of Africa. Food shortages are rampant throughout at least half of all African countries, affecting millions of Africans. Hundreds of thousands of cattle have died from lack of feed and epidemics of cattle plague. Rivers and streams have vanished and wells have dried up. At least 150 million persons are faced with starvation in the 24 most seriously affected countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Somalia, Swaziland, Togo, United Republic of Tanzania, Upper Volta, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Problems of individual countries, such as those visited by the Secretary-General during his tour of West Africa in January, provide specific examples of the hardships faced. Benin and Mali must deal with potential infestations of millions of cattle by the deadly "rinderpest" cattle plague.

Senegal needs extensive aid to recover from the seven-year drought it has endured. Abnormally long harmattan winds in Togo damaged cereal and root crops in 1982 and caused severe food shortages in many areas there.

On 19 January 1984, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned that the food supply outlook for Africa in 1984 remained serious. In a continuing downward spiral, cereal production dropped 1.4 million tons in 1983 from the 1982 level in the 24 most severely affected countries. Import requirements for these nations were currently estimated at 5.3 million, of which 3.4 million tons must come through food aid. Pledges so far totalled only 1.75 million tons.

Augmenting the crisis is the "drought in multilateral assistance", as the Secretary-General pointed out on his West African tour. Contributions to multilateral programmes have not kept up with needs. Funding levels for such bodies as the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have fallen short of targets, and programmes have been cut back. World Bank President A.W. Clausen said one result would be "gravely inadequate" assistance available for sub-Saharan Africa.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regional programme for Africa, planned at a level of $283.4 million for the period 1982-86, now stands at $137.2 million. The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has reported "a severe tightening of the purse" by "traditionally friendly" donor countries. A continuing declining trend in overall official development assistance (ODA) to least developed countries in Africa has also been noted, and aid-tying practices continue to hamper efficient use of resources.

General Assembly President Jorge Illueca has warned that if these conditions continue to prevail, "the social repercussions of the economic crisis may drag many (of the affected countries) into incalculable political disasters which would ultimately affect international peace and security".

Olara Otunnu, Chairman of the 1984 Human Rights Commission, at the session's opening in February, said the African continent was experiencing "a wave of social unrest directly related to the problem of food", and many countries were "locked into a cycle of poverty, instability and underdevelopment". He asked: "What is the meaning of human rights for those who do not have access to adequate food, shelter or health care?"

The Third International Development Strategy for the 1980s has given priority to agricultural and rural development and the eradication of hunger and malnutrition. But the slow rise in agricultural production has not kept up with the population growth in Africa, and efforts to improve agricultural output and distribution have been thwarted by economic imbalances worldwide.

In many African countries, all these problems add up to hunger and starvation. United Nations bodies, at the behest of the General Assembly, are trying to respond to the urgent needs of the continent. Special Appeals

On 21 December, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar launched an appeal for increased international support for Africa. He chaired two special meetings in January for representative of African States and for donor and potential donor countries, detailing major concerns and reiterating his appeal for aid.

From 17 January through 4 February, he traveled to eight nations in West Africa, viewing firsthand the effects of widespread drought, food shortages, livestock epidemics and dwindling resources (see UN Chronicle, 1984 No. 2).

His chief economic aide, Jean Ripert, Director-General of the Department of International Economic and Social Affairs, undertook a five-city trip in late January (Washington, D.C., Paris, Brussels, London, Rome) to follow up Mr. Perez de Cuellar's trip.

The Secretary-General indicated that the international community has been responsive to his appeal for aid, with a number of countries making substantial amounts of food aid the agricultural assistance available.

On his return from West Africa, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said the "dimensions of the human tragedy involved in the current economic situation became all the more poignant and vivid" during his trip. He had been impressed, he said, by the efforts of the countries to deal with the crisis situations confronting them and by efforts being made to assist them. "But most of all", he said, "I was impressed by the need to do more if we are to avoid the erosion of the economic and human resources of a continent."

He also met with African ambassadors, who informed him that they had formed a Committe (Tunisia, Togo, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Sudan and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to follow up on implementation of his policies with regard to Africa. The Committee's main aim was to co-ordinate the approach of the African Group to the African relief issue.

On 16 February, the Secretary-General convened a third special meeting at Headquarters with all interested States to report firsthand on what he had seen on his trip, what the basic requirements for international aid might be, and what preliminary steps he had taken towards improving the situation.

He stressed the need to implement immediate measures to prevent further loss of human life, as well as steps to "redress the conditions which gave rise to the current crisis".

"The economic survival of many countries in Africa is now at stake. Unless the international community responds urgently and adequately, the consequences for Africa would be very serious. But the consequences would be equally serious for the world as a whole. I would therefore appeal most fervently to the entire international community to do all it can to avert disaster. This is not a question of altruism, but a necessity of global interdependence", he said.

A special inter-agency meeting on the economic and social crisis in Africa, chaired by Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, was held at United Nations Headquarters on 20 March.

The participants--officials of 17 United Nations systems agencies and other bodies--agreed to co-operate in a pragmatic manner and stressed the need for improved co-ordination at the country level.

The Secretary-General reported he was instructing United Nations Resident Co-ordinators to consult with host Governments and bilateral and multilateral representatives, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations, on ways and means of improving such co-ordination. In addition to identifying, confirming or updating immediate needs of countries, they would consider gaps in national resources and external assistance in relation to those needs.

There was a consensus that the Secretary-General would continue his efforts to mobilize additional resources, with emphasis on funds for ongoing activities. Structural Problems

The Secretary-General's 16 February statement provided vivid word pictures of the problems of the region, involving nutrition, health, water supply, refugees, transportation and communication (see accompanying picture/caption pages).

But they could not be separated, he said, from the more long-term structural problems, internal and external, confronting the countries of Africa. "It is necessary to deal effectively not only with the symptoms of the current crisis but also its causes."

Adequate external financing had to be provided, with greater concessionality and flexibility. Adjustment policies, encouraged or required as a basis for international support, should combine consideration of financial equilibrium with measures to protect the poor and vulnerable and to regain momentum towards development. Commodity prices, export earnings, foreign debt, energy costs and availability, development of human resources and the local processing of raw materials needed consideration.

He stressed the following points:

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