African Development Bank Hosts Forum on Indigenous Peoples' Development
The African Development Bank (AfDB) convened international experts, indigenous peoples
groups, ministers, African Development Bank staff, and key stakeholders at
the Forum on Indigenous Peoples' Development Issues in Africa held at the
Sheraton Hotel in Tunis, Tunisia, from February 11-12, 2013. The forum
sought to provide a platform for key stakeholders to discuss relevant
policies on indigenous peoples' integration into development initiatives.
During the opening session, Simon Mizrahi, Director of the Quality Assurance
and Results Department of the African Development Bank, welcomed
participants in what would prove to be a lively and timely debate on
inclusion of indigenous peoples in the forum's discussion. The morning's
panel gathered together leading government representatives and multilateral
organization members to discuss case studies in the hopes of better
informing the AfDB's policies.
Berina Kawandami, Deputy Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs in
Zambia, spoke of her country's journey to honour the diversity of indigenous
people in Zambia. With 287 chiefs representing the 73 tribes throughout the
country, Zambia has recognized the importance of honouring these chiefs and
looking to create unique economic opportunities for each tribe, said
Kawandami, who summarized her country's efforts as "one village, one
industry."
Providing a complementary perspective to the Zambian example was General
Kahinda Otafire, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in Uganda.
General Otafire offered advice to the AfDB stating,"I would rather look at
acquisition, creation and distribution of wealth as the single most
important question when we are talking about minorities and indigenous
people."As he moved away from importance of a formal definition for
indigenous people, General Otafire quipped, "we are all indigenous people
from somewhere."
Aisha Abdullahi, Commissioner of Political Affairs for the African Union,
lauded the Bank's efforts to develop specific policies and guidelines on
indigenous peoples and looked forward to further collaboration amongst
multilateral organizations. As her organization celebrated its 50th
anniversary, she hoped that the continent would also honour the theme of
Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance.
Abdullahi added that establishing "added efforts to ensure inclusivity" not
only for indigenous peoples, but "for all peoples and minorities, women, the
youth and future generations" was of critical importance to the development
of the continent.
Of the same tenor, Prof. Mthuli Ncube, AfDB Vice-President and Chief
Economist, observed that indigenous peoples were not "victims," but should
be seen as partners as well as beneficiaries for Africa's development.
Bank Vice-President Zondo Sakala opened the day's discussions stating that
the forum "is really about inclusion of people regardless of who they are."
As the first session came to an end, Mizrahi pointed out the importance of
partnerships, stating that "no one has a monopoly on the truth and we all
have different perspectives."