Speech at Socialist International Council meeting

Gone are the days when we sang "Free Nelson Mandela" with impatience and anger, not knowing when and if it would happen.

But the urge for democracy and true self-determination could not be contained by terror and brutality. Terror and brutality has never been a foundation on which stable. progressive societies can be built.

Black South African leaders found courageous means to combat violence and suppression. Leaders like Nelson Mandela, Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, Oliver Tambo, Tambo Mbeki, and Chris Hani knew that violence begets violence, that violence corrupts people, that its forces destroy the very land over which battles are fought, and that it breaks up civic society.

Today, South Africa is turning from an exclusive "laager" to an inclusive society. The enlightened members of white society have decided to fight on the side of history rather than against it.

So though South Africa faces great difficulties in healing the wounds of the past, it is a country of great promise. We can see a future where little black girls and little black boys will rise from the despair of the townships and break out of the poverty trap to join hands in building a new future.

When I went to the township of Khayelitsha yesterday, i met people beset with community purpose, people of great dignity, people who are the harbingers of hope. Their vision will come true one day.

The changes will require an unprecedented effort on the part of the South African leadership but the rewards will be high when new educated people enter productive life, - narrowing the unacceptable gap between the fortunate few and the powerless poor.

This South Africa can become a great beacon for hope of Africa, which ironically, as democracy is spreading, faces the threat of marginalisation.

In the early 1 960s newly-independent African nations set out with high hopes for a better independent future. They attained remarkable growth rates and improved life conditions for many.

In the early 70s, however, growth declined, debt soared in the wake of the energy crisis. and confrontation prevailed over international cooperation.

The 1980s became a lost decade for development as a complex set of circumstances worked against the interests of Africa and its people.

In the 90s North-South cooperation has been fundamentally altered. African countries are no longer seen as potential clients for the main antagonists in East-West power politics and rivalry. East-West tensions no longer shape alliances and dependencies, nor does it in itself motivate aid. Part of the problem is that economic, ecological and social imperatives do! But the motivating effects on the international community is often overshadowed by world trends.

What can Africa do to reform itself? And to what extent does it rely on international reform to make its own efforts productive? I believe we do ourselves no favour if we fudge the issue of domestic policy.

What we must aim at is a partnership. We must counter the dangerous trend of reduction of interests and attention to the fate of African countries.

There are daunting problems in the Eastern and Central European countries, but these problems must not be allowed to produce a shift in global attention from the South towards the East. The developed world has the capacity to have both situations in mind and it can afford it if there is sufficient political will.

Poverty remains the single most compelling challenge for Africa's future. Poverty is still the gravest insult to human dignity. - It is the scar on humanity's face.

Our history of dealing with poverty is an epic of protracted stalemates, indifference and bureaucracy.

People and countries of goodwill have made serious efforts, only to suffocate in the quagmire of inefficiency, rivalry and inconsistency.

Forty-five per cent of the people in sub-Saharan Africa live in poverty. And the problems are compounded by famines, droughts, and regional conflicts, while the international community now seems to be reacting with a conspicuous lack of compassion.

In Copenhagen in March, the World Summit on Social Development addressed the 20/20 concept. It requires mutual commitment by developing and developed countries. It requires the solidarity of the international community and the responsibility of each national government to provide basic social services to its people. I do not believe it is possible to meet people's aspirations if a country does not allocate at least 20 per cent of national budgets to education, health and other basic social services.

The future of African countries lies in educating, not in arming, a healthy population. This should be kept in mind whenever resources instead are channelled to support a military culture in the midst of poverty.

As we approach the UN Women's Conference in Beijing, we should focus on the vital role of women in development and in democracy. So let us go to Beijing and defend, staunchly, the hard-won conclusions of the Cairo Conference. Let us be frank in Beijing about threats to girls and women's lives and future. Let us go there, knowing that we face a formidable opposition, but knowing also that we shall never waver in our commitment.

Women's education is the single-most important path to higher economic productivity, lower infant mortality and lower fertility. And while the economic returns on investment in women's education are generally comparable to those for men the social returns in terms of health and fertility by far exceed what we gain from men's education.

So let us pledge to watch over the numbers of school enrolment for girls. Let us watch also the number of girls that complete their education and ask why, if the numbers differ. The girl who receives her diploma will also have fewer babies than her sister who does not. Few investments bring greater rewards than investment in women. But still they are being patronised and discriminated against in terms of access to education, productive assets, credits, income and services, decisionmaking, working conditions, and pay. For too many women in too many countries, real development has only been an illusion.

Unless African governments empower their people, educate them, care for their health, allow them to enter economic life, - on an equal basis and with real opportunity, poverty will persist, ignorance will be endemic and people's needs will suffocate under their sheer numbers.

I cannot emphasise strongly enough the need to invest in people and African countries themselves must shoulder the lion's share of that responsibility.

The Prime Minister of India recently said the following: "No great industrialist is gong to come and look after the primary health centres of my country. No multinational company is going to run our primary schools".

The equity gap cannot be bridged without effective public sectors and civil servants of outstanding integrity. Market forces are strong tools for development, but left alone, they do not respond to community needs. Community needs for sustainable development: education, health, and social security can only be articulated and met by people themselves and their elected governments.

Surely it is right and necessary to confront Africa's critics and donors with a positive message: that African governments are not reluctant to admit past mistakes; nor to make radical policy changes. And such policies have to be made in Africa, not in Washington, London or Tokyo.

It is becoming less credible to doubt the merit of using market incentives when in China or former-socialist countries, such incentives now are recognised as being of major value. Exports will have to grow to meet import needs. It is a delusion to pretend that African countries have the option of retreating into autocracy.

We need to take this seriously as Africa's share of the world economy is declining. Investments are falling and we can deplorably speak of a de-indutrialisation in many countries instead of a new era of growth which is so sorely needed.

Developed countries must respond urgently with improved market opportunities for African countries an d the WTO agreements and the Lome convention must be scrutinised for ways to improve them. Indeed, we should look more closely into this issue at this very meeting.

The aid fatigue is serious and must be countered. While there are compelling reasons to maintain a broad view and commit ourselves to ambitious international cooperation, many are turning inward. Such trends must be resisted.

Norway gives one per cent of its GDP to developing countries and has been able to defend this policy over the last fifteen years.

For the five years of 1995 to 1999, we in Norway plan to continue our long-standing cooperation with South Africa by giving about 100 million dollars in support of political stability, social and economic development and the strengthening of democracy.

Our social-democratic experience tells us this: there is no other way to equity, prosperity and social justice than empowering people, - men and women - allowing democracy to work, - harnessing market forces, taxing surpluses and redistributing the proceeds.

Only when people have the right to take part in the shaping of society by participating in democratic political processes will changes be politically sustainable. Only then can we fulfil the hopes and aspirations of generations yet unborn.

South Africa, yes the whole of Africa, needs ballots, - not bullets. That is how we should realise our vision of freedom, justice and solidarity.