Africa Action Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann-Louise Colgan (202) 546-7961

Africa Action Releases "Questions for Candidates & Policymakers";
Election Resource Covers Key Issues Facing Africa & World

Tuesday, September 14, 2004 (Washington, DC) - With U.S. elections now
less than two months away, Africa Action today released its "Questions
on Africa Policy for Candidates and Policymakers", a regular
election-year resource covering the key issues and themes in U.S. Africa
policy. This resource is included below and is also available on Africa
Action?s website at http://www.africaaction.org/

Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, "In this
Presidential election, at least one Africa-related question demands an
answer from candidates: As the U.S. now acknowledges that genocide is
taking place in Darfur, western Sudan, what action would President Bush
and Senator Kerry take to stop this crime against humanity?"

He added, "As the U.S. enters an important election season with a
greater focus than usual on foreign policy issues, Africa remains
largely absent from the national debate. Despite strong historical ties
and important current interests, Africa is still considered to fall
outside the scope of U.S. policymakers? concerns."

Recent polls indicate that the American public believes the U.S. has
vital interests in Africa and should increase its engagement in a
variety of ways. Despite this, Africa remains marginalized in U.S.
foreign policy.

Africa Action?s "Questions for Candidates and Policymakers" offers a
short summary of key issues such as HIV/AIDS, peace & security, trade &
economic relations, and democracy & human rights. These summaries are
followed by sets of questions, which highlight the important choices
faced by U.S. policymakers when it comes to international relations.

Salih Booker said this morning, "What most U.S. policymakers fail to
realize is that Africa?s priorities are global priorities, and
addressing these critical global challenges successfully will require
effective U.S. policies that emphasize collaborative international
efforts."

He added, "These questions underscore the potential for U.S. policies to
either support or undermine African efforts to respond to the
continent?s most urgent challenges."

During the 2000 elections, a rare question focusing on Africa was asked
in the televised presidential debates. Then-candidate Governor George W.
Bush responded by saying, "There?s got to be priorities", and he
proceeded to mention every region of the world except Africa. Africa
Action hopes this year that a more thoughtful debate on Africa?s
priorities will become part of the fabric of the election discourse in
the U.S.

Africa Action?s "Questions on Africa Policy for Candidates and
Policymakers" is available below and at http://www.africaaction.org/

-MORE-

Questions on Africa Policy for Candidates & Policymakers
Fall 2004

As the U.S. enters an important election season with a greater focus
than usual on foreign policy issues, Africa remains largely absent from
the national debate. Despite historical ties and important current
interests, Africa is still considered to fall outside the scope of U.S.
policymakers? concerns.

But Africa?s issues are global issues - from the HIV/AIDS pandemic to
extreme poverty, from deadly civil conflicts to environmental
degradation - and addressing them successfully will require effective
U.S. policies that emphasize collaborative international efforts.

The following questions are addressed to candidates in the November 2004
elections in the U.S. They cover some of the key themes in U.S.
relations with Africa. These questions highlight the important choices
faced by U.S. policy-makers when it comes to international issues.
Perhaps more importantly, they also emphasize the potential for U.S.
policies to either support or undermine African efforts to respond to
the continent?s most urgent challenges.

1. Recognizing Africa?s importance to the U.S.

Thirteen percent of Americans trace their ancestry to Africa. Recent
polls indicate that the American public believes the U.S. has vital
interests in Africa and should increase its engagement with Africa in a
variety of ways. The U.S. currently imports almost 20% of its crude oil
from Africa, and this is projected to increase to 25% in the next
decade. Despite these realities, Africa?s importance to the U.S. is
generally denied by policymakers, and Africa remains marginalized in
U.S. foreign policy.

Q. What interests do you think the U.S. has in Africa?

Q. What should be the top priorities of U.S. Africa policy?


2. Responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic

Africa is at the epicenter of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic - home to
more than two-thirds of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. At
present, there are almost 30 million people in Africa living with
HIV/AIDS, and less than 2% of these have access to life-saving
medicines. The social and economic effects of the HIV/AIDS crisis are
devastating entire countries, and life expectancies are plummeting
across the continent. HIV/AIDS represents a clear and present danger to
Africa?s survival, and to the future of the world. African governments
and civil society groups are struggling to address this health
emergency, but they lack the necessary resources and public health
infrastructure. The Global Fund to fight AIDS is being starved of the
resources it needs to defeat the pandemic.

Q. Do you think the U.S. is doing enough to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa?
Why/not?

Q. Would you support a greater U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to
fight AIDS? Why/not?

Q. What do you believe is the best way to ensure access to essential
anti-AIDS drugs for all who need them in Africa and throughout the
developing world?


3. Dealing with Africa?s Debt Crisis

Africa?s massive burden of foreign debt represents a major obstacle to
the continent?s development and a huge drain on resources needed to
fight HIV/AIDS and other challenges. Despite international debt relief
programs such as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative,
African countries are still paying more in debt service to foreign
creditors like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) than
they are able to spend on health and education for their own people.
Each year, African countries pay out almost $15 billion in debt
repayments to external creditors. These debts are unsustainable and many
are considered illegitimate, based on their origins and consequences.

Q. Do you support canceling Africa?s unsustainable debt burden, as was
done for European countries such as Germany after World War II and as
the current U.S. administration has been promoting for Iraq?

Q. What new measures do you propose to ensure African countries do not
face another devastating debt crisis in the future?


4. Promoting Africa?s Development

In the context of the HIV/AIDS crisis and other challenges, Africa?s
need for development assistance is greater than ever, but levels of
foreign aid have been declining in recent years. The latest U.S.
initiative on development assistance, the Millennium Challenge Account
(MCA), includes a relatively small increase in aid levels over the next
several years, and only targets a handful of countries. With the current
low levels of international support, African countries will be unable to
meet the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to reduce by half the
number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. Meanwhile, recent
polls indicate that the American public supports more foreign aid for
Africa.

Q. Do you support an increase in U.S. development assistance to African
countries?

Q. Do you support committing at least 0.7% of the United States? Gross
National Product (GNP) to development assistance, as has been repeatedly
promised by leaders from the Group of 7 wealthy countries, though none
has yet to meet this target?

Q. Do you think Washington should dictate economic policies to African
countries as a condition for the receipt of aid?


5. Peace and Security Priorities

Most of the African continent is not at war; however, where conflicts do
exist, they affect not only the stability of the countries involved, but
also their neighbors and entire sub-regions, with international
implications. As with the current crisis in Darfur, western Sudan,
African efforts to resolve these conflicts - through the African Union
and other bodies - do exist, though financial, diplomatic and logistical
support from the U.S. and the international community remains essential
to their success. In West Africa and in the Great Lakes region, fragile
peace deals require ongoing diplomatic investment if they are not to
unravel and threaten democratic progress and development efforts in the
continent as a whole.

Q. What should be the role of the U.S. in promoting conflict resolution
in Africa?

Q. Do you support US-led intervention in Africa or elsewhere in the case of
genocide and other crimes against humanity?

Q. Would you increase the ceiling on admissions into the U.S. for
African refugees?


6. Supporting Democracy and Human Rights

As is the case everywhere, democracy in Africa is a work in progress.
African victories in recent decades in overcoming colonial rule,
apartheid, and other Cold War era forms of dictatorship (notably
military dictatorships and one-party political systems), have marked
important progress, but challenges still remain. Constitutional reform
movements now seek to advance the democratic process in many countries.
African civil society organizations continue to struggle for women´s
rights and workers? rights, and for government accountability to the
needs of Africa´s poor majority. U.S. policies that promote democracy
and human rights in Africa can offer real support and partnership to
Africa´s people, and can do much to advance the shared goals of
international stability and prosperity.

Q. What are the key challenges you see in promoting democracy and human
rights in Africa, and how can the U.S. best address these challenges?

Q. How would you ensure that human rights considerations are made a
central part of U.S. military and security assistance programs in Africa?

Q. How would you work with the African Union to promote democracy and
human rights in African countries?

Q. Do you believe the U.S. should ratify the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), as an
important step toward boosting U.S. credibility in promoting women?s
rights in Africa and globally?


7. Enhancing Fair Trade and Economic Relations

Africa is a far more significant trading partner for the U.S. than is
widely realized. The continent holds abundant human and natural
resources, as well as large markets for U.S. products. However, the U.S.
continues to pursue trade policies that are antithetical to Africa´s
interests. U.S. trade policies - such as the African Growth and
Opportunity Act - perpetuate Africa?s role as a source of raw materials
and cheap labor. Restrictions on African access to U.S. markets,
combined with agricultural subsidies to U.S. agribusinesses, undermine
Africa?s competitiveness and continue to constrict the continent?s
trade-related development. Africa is marginalized in the global economy
by both the institutions and the rules that govern the system.
Meanwhile, heightened U.S. interest in Africa´s oil supply has increased
the continent´s strategic importance to the U.S. and its future energy
policies.

Q. What do you think is the best way to promote an enhanced economic
partnership between the U.S. and Africa, from which both will benefit?

Q. What is your position on agricultural subsidies?

Q. How would you propose reforming the institutions that govern the
global economy to make them more democratic and accountable to those
countries in Africa affected by their decisions?

Q. What is the significance to the U.S. of Africa?s oil resources, and
how would you promote a mutually beneficial relationship in this area?

####

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Africa Action
1634 Eye Street NW, #810
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: 202-546 7961 * http://www.africaaction.org

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