Tài liệu Confronting Stravinsky - Man, Musician, And Modernist doc

LINK DOWNLOAD MIỄN PHÍ TÀI LIỆU "Tài liệu Confronting Stravinsky - Man, Musician, And Modernist doc": http://123doc.vn/document/1038220-tai-lieu-confronting-stravinsky-man-musician-and-modernist-doc.htm

V
Confronting the Region: A Profile of Southern Africa
Contents
Introduction 1
Political Context 4
Economic Context 10
Economic activity and development 10
Trade and investment patterns in SADC 11
Labour trends and unemployment patterns 15
Public sector expenditure 17
Trends in human development 19
Challenges to Social Development 28
Food security 28
HIV/AIDS pandemic 30
The State of the Environment in Southern Africa 33
Biological resources 33
Climate 34
Coastal and marine resources 35
Urbanisation 35
Forests and woodlands 37
Fresh water 38
Land 38
Regional Integration in Southern Africa 39
Progress toward regional integration 43
Challenges to regional integration in southern Africa 46
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
VI
Sanusha Naidu and Benjamin Roberts
Regional Infrastructure 49
‘Peace Parks’ 52
Transport 54
Communications 55
Conclusion 57
Notes 59
References 60
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
VII
Confronting the Region: A Profile of Southern Africa
Acronyms
AISA Africa Institute of South Africa
AMCEN African Ministerial Conference on the Environment
CBI Cross Border Initiative
COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
EAC East African Community
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
FANR Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations
FSI Foreign Direct Investment
FTA Free Trade Agreement
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GER Gross Enrolment Ratios
HDI Human Development Index
HPI Human Poverty Index
HSRC Human Sciences Research Council
ICE Intergovernmental Committee of Experts
ITU International Telecommunication Union
NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NGOs Non-governmental Organisations
ODA Official Development Assistance
OPDS Organ on Politics, Defence and Security
REC Regional Economic Community
RIAs regional Integration Arrangements
RIFF Regional Integration Facilitation Forum
RISDP Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan
SACU Southern African Customs Union
SADC Southern African Development Community
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
VIII
Sanusha Naidu and Benjamin Roberts
SAIIA South African Institute of International Affairs
SAPES Southern African Political Economy Series
SAPP Southern African Power Pool
SATA Southern African Telecommunications Association
SDIs Spatial Development Initiatives
TFCA Transfrontier Conservation Area
TRASA Telecommunications Regulators Association of
Southern Africa
UNAIDS United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change
WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
Confronting the Region:
A Profile of Southern Africa
Introduction
The southern African region is made up of all countries south
of and including Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC). It is a plateau region edged by many escarp-
ments, cliffs or steep slopes. The region comprises 14 countries
and spans a geographical area the size of the continental
United States.
1
It has a population of approximately 200 million
people, with most of the inhabitants concentrated in the
region’s cities and large urban centres. The rural dwellers
remain dispersed.
Climatic conditions vary in the region, and topographical
features range from savanna grasslands to deserts. The eastern
parts of the region have more moisture owing to the influence
of currents in the Indian Ocean. While Mozambique on the
east coast experiences an average annual rainfall of between
30 and 56 inches, countries such as Namibia in the west have
arid conditions with an average annual rainfall of between
four and 12 inches. Such conditions make the region
vulnerable to erratic climatic patterns of droughts and floods.
In recent years, the region has witnessed increased political,
economic and social engagements. After several decades of
political and military confrontation and unrest, accompanied
1
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
Sanusha Naidu and Benjamin Roberts
2
by economic decline and social instability, the region is now
experiencing a degree of political stability with increased
prospects of economic recovery. The cessation of hostilities in
Angola, the signing of a peace agreement in the DRC and the
peaceful elections in Lesotho in 2002 herald possibilities for
greater integration and cooperation in the region. From an
economic perspective, and despite the imbalances amongst
states and the relatively small market size, the region has an
aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) of US$226,1 billion.
This is more than double that of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS), and equivalent to more than
half the aggregate GDP of sub-Saharan Africa. The latter bodes
Figure 1:The SADC region
Source: http://www.sadcreview.com/frprofiles2.htm
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
well for the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which
should be formalised by 2008.
Yet, in spite of the progress made on the ground, the region
is not without its challenges. While countries in the region may
share a common vision of rapid economic and political
progress, and a commitment to a common development path,
the region is beset with crises that undermine sustainable
development and overall efforts towards regional integration.
Politically, the peace dividends obtained, especially in the DRC
and Angola, have been offset by the ongoing political and
economic crises in Zimbabwe, and by the lack of basic political
and democratic freedom in Swaziland. More importantly,
democracy in the region is still too young and fragile for many
countries to claim sufficient experience in democratic consoli-
dation. Economically and socially, the region is still far from
overcoming the imploding humanitarian disaster of HIV/AIDS.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic, together with other health problems
such as tuberculosis, malaria and cholera, has placed countries
at risk of increased mortality rates, a skewed demographic
profile, a growing number of orphaned and vulnerable children,
and the internal displacement of people. The latter problem has
been compounded by a food security crisis. In effect, the
region’s poverty seems to be deepening as a result of widening
inequality; weak political, social and economic governance
structures; and a burgeoning crisis in health.
Despite these composite problems, countries in the region
are moving towards consolidating regional integration and
cooperation under the Regional Indicative Strategic Develop-
ment Plan (RISDP). Approved in 2003, the RISDP is designed to
provide Southern African Development Community (SADC)
member states, their institutions and policy makers with a
coherent and comprehensive development agenda (based on
strategic priorities) for social, political and economic policies
over the next 15 years. However, implementation of the RISDP
will not be without its challenges. Regional identity will remain
a core problem. While SADC member states have committed
Confronting the Region: A Profile of Southern Africa
3
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
themselves to the task of regional cooperation, regional identity
amongst them is still remote. Attachment to national identity
and sovereignty dominates the focus of the summit agendas,
and the reluctance to hold errant and despotic leaders
accountable is evidently based on a sense of fraternity. How-
ever, it may be that this reluctance is actually part of a policy of
constructive engagement or quiet diplomacy. On the ground,
indications are that SADC is still far from being consolidated as
a regional bloc with a common agenda. Moreover, it is being
hamstrung by the majority of the states’ overlapping member-
ships of other regional integration networks such as the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
and the East African Community (EAC).
The region thus represents a matrix of competing interests
and contending difficulties. Nonetheless, it is one of the more
robust regions on the continent, with increased movement
toward a free trade area and democratic practice. Many donors
and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) alike estimate
that southern Africa’s reasonably well-developed infrastructure
and diverse natural resource base have the potential to lead
the rest of Africa towards a more prosperous 21st century.
The core focus of this profile is to provide an understanding
of the main developmental and institutional challenges that
confront the region by:
• Analysing its political, economic and social contexts, and
identifying common trends;
• Reviewing progress made in the promotion of greater
regional integration; and
•Investigating the extent to which member states adopt a
regional identity.
Political Context
The political situation in the region is characterised by a
diversity of political systems and varying levels of political
stability. These systems range from a traditional and increas-
Sanusha Naidu and Benjamin Roberts
4
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
Confronting the Region: A Profile of Southern Africa
5
ingly authoritarian monarchy to constitutional democracies.
There are also no-party and one-party dictatorships, and
democratic systems with more widespread participation by
civil society and media independence. Democracies of the
region are young and fragile, with many countries located
between a stage of democratic nation building and institu-
tional reform but prone to occasional constitutional setbacks
and clampdowns on freedom of speech (Southall 2003).
As Table 1 suggests, the past few years have produced some
movement towards the building of democracy in most of the
region. This is reflected in developments such as the holding
of free and fair elections in a number of countries, the general
acceptance of election results between political parties,
notably in Lesotho, and increased respect for national
constitutions so that heads of state are prevented from
entrenching themselves in power. However, several factors
militate against these developments, notably:
• The deteriorating political and economic conditions in
Zimbabwe, affecting, in particular, Botswana and South
Africa;
• The increased centralisation of executive power in
Namibia;
• The mounting levels of repression in Swaziland and the
increasingly lawless nature of the rule by monarchy;
• The ongoing regionalisation of the DRC conflict, which is
producing destabilisation and internecine conflict in the
sub-continent.
Alongside these concerns is the issue of human security or the
creation of an environment necessary for the furtherance of
human development. Food security
2
, for example, is funda-
mental to the development and maintenance of human
security. Acute food shortages in many parts of the region, as
well as fairly large-scale levels of internal migration, are
placing a strain on the region’s natural resource base. This is
compounded by periodic climate shocks in the form of
drought and flooding. In several countries of the region, food
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za
Sanusha Naidu and Benjamin Roberts
6
shortages have led to hunger and poverty, and a burgeoning
informal market. These problems already play a major part in
regional relationships and they will intensify as the AIDS crisis
worsens.
A further significant and persistent threat to regional security
is the abundance of cheap and easily accessible small arms
and semi-automatic weaponry. In large part, this is the legacy
of decades of civil war in the region. In Mozambique, for
example, up to six million arms were imported during the civil
war. After the 1992 peace accord, a UN peacekeeping mission
collected some 190 000 weapons, but most of these found
their way back onto the streets or were ‘exported’ to
neighbouring states. A similar situation is likely to unfold in
Angola and the DRC during the arms demobilisation phase.
These concerns have brought to the fore worries about the
level of political democracy in the region. With many countries
in the region only now beginning to adopt democratic practice
as a yardstick of good governance, southern Africa has a long
way to go before democratic consolidation can be attained.
But the signs are encouraging. Political elites increasingly
recognise the link between development and democracy, and
seem more committed than ever to address conflicts, end
hostilities and abide by the rules of democratic practice.
Another positive development is the attempt to address
corrupt practices in the region. In spite of a number of
countries in the region being poorly ranked in terms of
Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index,
the adoption of an anticorruption protocol by the heads of
state and governments of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) in August 2001 represents a progressive
commitment to redressing the situation. The protocol, adopted
at the Malawi summit, focuses on a range of preventive
measures, which include codes of conduct, access to
information and protection for informants. Moreover, it
requires governments to criminalise the bribery of foreign civil
servants, thereby making corruption an extraditable offence
(Lodge 2003).
Free download from www.hsrc
p
ress.ac.za