Poverty prevents many young people from making the marital payments or bridewealth to secure a wife according to customary requirements. Given the difficult economic
VI. SOCIO-POLITICAL CHANGES AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE FAMILY
98. The period 1980 -1990, has not seen much peace in Africa. All the sub-regions have had some armed conflicts. As one area of conflict calms down, another conflagration manifests elsewhere. Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, and Mozambique went through the decade with intermittent, and sometimes sustained military conflict. The struggle between Moroccan and Polisario forces occupied most of the decade. Chad saw a rotation of military leaders with see-sawing fortunes. Liberia began the decade with a bloody coup d'etat and ended it with an equally bloody civil war. Senegal and Mauritania nearly went to war in 1989 following a border dispute and some violent ethnic rivalries. Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali and had coups d'etat. Uganda went through a series of civil strifes and bloody repression before settling down towards the end of the decade. As the decade was ending, Somalia erupted into civil strife to remove a military dictator and then turned on itself in a horrendous strife that has sent Shockwaves around the world because of what it has done to its hapless civilians especially women and children and as families were torn apart.
99. The consequences of these many upheavals are part of Africa's struggling economy.
Apart from actual destruction of life and property, economic activity was often disrupted, farms were destroyed, people were displaced, or had to flee to neighbouring countries.
-26-Schools were disrupted, medical services deteriorated, public utilities like water and electricity were sometimes blown up, so were rail lines, and bridges. It is the irony of the poor man destroying the little he has. Africa clearly needs an effective mechanism for halting such violent conflicts and getting the opposing factions resolve their differences.
100. Military strife is both expensive in terms of the investment in arms, and in terms of the scale of destruction. It was estimated that by 1988 the Ethiopian Government alone owed the Soviet Union $4 billion for arms supplied her. What it cost the other waning factions is not known. The military budgets of most African countries are not publicised, but they are known to be quite high. Most of these arms, when used, are against fellow nationals and not in defence of the nation against external aggression.
101. The refugee problem in Africa reached new levels of urgency. Recipient countries, unable to cope with their own populations, had some how to put up with these victims of strife. Apart from the agony of these refugees, their future is often bleak as peace seems to elude their countries, and their chances of return look hopeless. External aid from governments and Non-Governmental organizations have helped save many lives but the human suffering remain incalculable.
102. Civil strife and armed conflicts often split along ethnic lines, and therefore fan ethnic distrust and hostility. This makes the return to civil society difficult since political formations will tend to follow the pattern of the battle lines. Indeed, ethnicity which seemed to have become dormant, is resurging as a socio-political force with disturbing dimensions. This is a function of real or perceived injustice. Where there is distrust, there is suspicion, and suspicion often militates against national cohesion and collaboration in development.
Countries which have long been under one party rule, or a military regime, often form into ethnic parties when multiparty democracy is restored. This happens because repression breeds resentment and distrust, and people then fall back on the bastion of primordial loyalties which ethnicity invokes. It may be of immediate advantage to some political leaders to invoke ethnic solidarity. The social injustice perceived by disaffected ethnic groups is sometimes a colonial legacy, whereby some development was confined to certain areas to the neglect of others. If that initial disadvantage, caused by a historical neglect is not consciously corrected, the seeds of future strife would continue to germinate. For the sake of peace and unity, some positive discrimination may have to be accepted for a while to restore a balance.
103. The effects of civil strife and armed conflicts on the African family and on the welfare of it members has been incalculable. Many families have lost members, and the survivals have had to endure fear, flight and displacement. It is estimated that about 8.5 million Angolas and Mozambicans were displaced and became refugees at the height of the armed conflicts in the two countries. (UNICEF, Children on the FrontlineV Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, and Liberia have suffered massive displacement of people with severe social and economic consequences on families and the countries concerned.
104. Aside from the emotional and psychological trauma and sense of insecurity engendered by political upheavals, the social and economic insecurity on an individual family can be severe. The death, maiming or displacement of a head of the household and breadwinner has left many families without the economic means to survive, resulting in increased dependency on government and humanitarian assistance. The loss of the source of authority in a clan or
family often leaves families without a sense of direction, leading in many cases, to a breakdown of family norms and cohesiveness. The perpetual state of reftigee and displacement, aside from its trauma, and feeling of rootlessness, has so often resulted in the dispersal of family members, and eventually complete and permanent disintegration of families. It has also reduced considerably and in most cases wiped out completely the productive capacity of families and thus seriously undermined the ability of families and its members to discharge their functions and roles. The number of widows, orphans and female-headed households invariably has increased. This state of disorganization is not able to provide the type of environment conducive for positive socialization of its members, especially the young. Thus the possibilities of new sets of value evolving in this new environment, is quite high.
105. The breakdown of social and welfare services is another tragic consequence of civil strife and armed conflicts. The school-going cohort is deprived of opportunities for education. As hospitals, clinics and other health posts are destroyed and health personnel killed or dispersed, the delivery and use of health facilities for families become virtually non existent, except what is later provided in refugee camps under humanitarian assistance. The destruction of food crops and the inability of families to produce results in massive malnutrition and famine. As a result of a combination of war, malnutrition, unchecked epidemics the mortality rate both among adults and children are extremely high. As expected, cases of disability have been recorded to be higher during civil strife and armed conflicts. One only needs to see the number of maimed and disabled war veterans in several countries in the region. In general, the social fabric is torn apart and the family, as the basic social foundation is shaken to the core.
106. The recurring economic crises, the failure of the African economies to achieve a rapid recovery, combined with the frequent political upheavals , civil strife and armed conflicts, have led to serious re-appraisal of the entire process of development. Various strategies for recovery have been initiated, but the expected results have not been forthcoming as yet. The Structural Adjustment Programmes initiated at the beginning of the decade achieved such modest success as it did at the cost of much human suffering. Instead of improving living standards, the SAP resulted in the increasing pauperization of the mass of the people.
Incomes declined, imports declined, food production declined. Education, health and other social and welfare services suffered badly. All these led to serious questioning of the objectives of development in general and the SAP in particular.
107. One result was the adoption of Africa's Priority Programme for Economic Recovery 1986 - 1990 (APPER) by African governments which was submitted to the United Nations General Assembly. The outcome was the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development. 1986 - 1990 (UN - PAAERD). Since the objective of development is to benefit the people, it was realised that the recovery programmes were seriously flawed by their disregard of the human component. The beneficiaries of development must have a say in determining what is good for them and how to achieve it.
This missing factor, it was felt, should be brought in if people were to participate whole heartedly in the transformation process and endure the sacrifices required. The Khartoum Declaration adopted in Khartoum in March 1988 defined in detail the place that should be accorded the human factor in Africa's development programmes. Among other things, the Declaration noted that:
-28-"the political context for promoting healthy human development has been marred, for more than two decades, by instability, war, intolerance, restrictions on the freedom and human rights of individuals and groups as well as overcentralization of power with attendant restrictions on popular participation indecision-making" (U.N. Khartoum
Declaration. 1988 p. 19).
108. Thus in 1990, this recognition of the need to democratise the development process
resulted in an International Conference in Arusha and the adoption of the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation. Giving effect to this declaration will require many changes in the political structures and procedures of many countries. There are signs that the democratization process is gaining momentum with the rise of many human rights groups, the growing protests for the removal of repressive laws, and the establishment of multi-party systems. However,grass-roots democracy is still a long way to come. For meaningful participation of the people in the decision making process, they need both education and information. The control of the media and the press by governments often prevents objective analysis of issues to enable the people to form informed opinions and take responsible decisions. Thus, what is required is not simply the establishment or adoption of democratic structures down to the local or district levels, but the adoption of a democratic culture, and an end to the culture of silence that pervades the scene where repressive regimes rule. A number of governments have formally signalled a return to multiparty, civil, and constitutional rule. Zambia implemented her programme in 1990. Since then Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Zaire, Congo, Mali, and Tanzania, to name a few, have all embarked
on a process for enlarging the democratic domain. Progress in this process has not alwaysbeen smooth. If the process founders, Africa's dreams of economic and social recovery will
remain in limbo.
POLICY AND PROGRAMME IMPLICATIONS