CIVIL SOCIETY CONDENMS VICTIMIZATION AND HUMILIATION OF CSO ACTIVIST BY MOUBARAK LO, MINISTER AND SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE SENEGALESE PRESIDENT. Thurs. Oct. 4: Moubarak Lo, Minister and special adviser to the Senegalese President, orders the African Civil Society spokesperson of the day, Mr.Abdoulaye Diallo, to be kicked out the UN Conference on Population and Development in Addis Ababa. According to the Minister, his fellow countryman, who was representing the African Civil Society, was nor entitled to speak simply because he was not a member of his delegation and had therefore to be expelled from the UN Conference. The activist was later brought back in the conference hall where he vehemently spoke of the need for a more sincere and effective States/Civil relationship in the interest of our peoples; a message which was welcomed with a standing ovation from the august audience. Mr. Abdoulaye DIALLO, General Secretary of the Abuja based West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF), was ordered to leave the UN conference hall for speaking on behalf of the constituency which paradoxically he was invited to represent. Mr. Moubarak Lo, who was leading a strong delegation of Senegalese experts on Demography and Statistics, stood against the right for his fellow countryman to speak on grounds that he was not part of his delegation. It is fair to say that in the minister’s mind, no Senegalese national should be in a position to speak in this UN meeting unless he/she is under his command. This was in total disregard of the fact that Mr. Diallo was officially invited to the UN meeting as a representative of civil society in Africa and was not directly subjected to the Senegalese delegation. He was there for not only civil society in Senegal, in West Africa, but was also representing the whole of civil society on the African continent. In his unbecoming gesture, Mr. Moubarak Lo, Minister and Special Advisor to the Senegalese President, displayed a total ignorance of, and a complete disconnection with the fact that African States are becoming more and more conscious of the constructive role that Civil Society ought to play, especially in the successful implementation of States’ socio-economic policies thanks to its capacity to inform, educate and mobilise communities around societal and developmental priorities. Mr. Moubarak Lo was completely oblivious of the fact Mr. Abdoulaye Diallo is managing WACSOF, an organisation that was created by West African States and Civil Society organisations within the ECOWAS region, as well as international donors in order to help bring communities perspectives in the region’s decision making arena and help effectively in the successful implementation of regional and national developmental policies. The Senegalese minister was not apt to comprehend the UN’s move to involve Civil Society in the critical meeting, the main objective of which was to usher in a new African Agenda for the post 2014 era; an agenda that is peoples’ oriented and hinged upon inclusive democratic governance, as an alternative to the MDGs which have showed their limits. The Senegalese minister failed to take the cue from the UN which, by strengthening civil society’s implication in the global decision making arena, is encouraging States to involve communities and civil society in the formulation and the successful implementation of their policies and the achievement of their stated developmental goals. Most speakers in the conference have stressed the need for an improved, more effective and more sincere collaboration between African States and civil society organisations. Ironically enough, it is in this same venue that Minister Moubarak Lo decided to express his blatant disdain and visceral strife against civil society which, in the recent past, as we all remember, played a defining role in the ousting of the previous Wade regime and the establish of the new regime in Senegal, which Mr. Moubarak LO himself is part of. These were the Y’en a Marre youth movement, the M23, etc. Failures in the implementation of socio-political developmental policies thus far have generally been caused by a lack of education, implication and ownership of policies by people. Civil society in Africa, despite numerous challenges should be in a position to contribute constructively through its community mobilisation capacity, and help States be more successful in realising their developmental goals to the benefit and in the interest of people whom they serve. This can only see the light of day if and when both States and civil get rid of their mutual suspicion and fear, and start collaborating with each other for a better world for our peoples. Issued by WACSOF NIGERIA
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 06:59:08 +0000
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