The African Social Development Report 2009: placing social integration at the centre of Africa's development agenda

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The African So Development Rep

Placing Social Integration at the centre of Africa's Development Agenda

^ United Nations

^ Economic Commission for Africa

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(£> M ^ '

Economic Commission for Africa

The African Social Develcpment Report

2009

Placing Social Integration at the Centre of

Africa's Development Agenda

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Acronyms and Abbreviations

ADF VI Sixth African Development Forum AIDS Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome AfDB African Development Bank

AGDI African Gender and Development Index ART Anti-retroviral Tlierapy

AMU Arab Maghreb Union

AU African Union

BIG Basic Income Grant

CAR Central African Republic

GBO Community-Based Organization

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

CSO Civil Society Organization

CEMAC Central African Economic and Monetary Community COMESA Common Market for East and Southern Africa

DRC Democratic Republic of Congo

EAC East African Community

ECCAS Economic Community of Central African States

ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States,

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GBV Gender-Based Violence

HIV Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus

HRBA Human Rights-based Approach

ICPD International Conference on Population and Development IDPs Internally Displaced Persons

IDMC International Displaced Monitoring Center IEC Information, Education and Communication

IMR Infant Mortality Rate

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IGAD The Inter-governmental Authority on Development IOM International Organization for Migration

MCH Maternal and Child Health MDGs Millennium Development Goals MMR Maternal Mortality Ratio

NDP National development plan

NEPAD New Partnership for Africa's Development NGO Non-governmental Organization

NYC National Youth Commission

ODA Official Development Assistance OVC Orphans and vulnerable children PLWHA People Living with HIV/AIDS PRSPs Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers PRSs Poverty Reduction Strategies RECs Regional Economic Communities

SADC Southern African Development Community

TB Tuberculosis

UEMOA West African Economic and Monetary

UN United Nations

UNCRPD United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

UDHR Universal Declaration on Human Rights UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

UNICEF United Nations Children Fund

UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees

WHO World Health Organization

WSSD World Summit for Social Development

vi Placing Social Integration at the Centre of Africa's Development Agenda

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Foreword

With only five years to the target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals' (MDGs), concerted efforts are required by all African countries and their development partners to achieve the stated goals.

Indeed, despite impressive economic growth in Africa prior to the global economic and financial crisis, studies undertaken at the Economic Commission for Africa (EGA) reveal that limited progress has been made in meeting social development goals. This is particu

larly so in the case of marginalized and vulnerable groups such as older persons, youth, persons with disabilities, orphans, internally displaced persons, migrants, and refugees.

These groups, in addition to lacking adequate access to education, health, food security, employment opportunities, and political participation, also suffer from social exclusion and most recently have borne the brunt of the economic and financial crisis and on-going deleterious effects of climate change.

African governments and their partners have become increasingly aware of the centrality of social integration to the continent's development agenda. This is shown by their sup

port for the Gopenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development in 1995, in which social integration was made one of the commitments of achieving social development. This collective desire to promote social integration is further underscored by the Windhoek Declaration on Social Development and the Social Policy Framework for Africa, adopted by the African Union Gonference of Ministers responsible for Social Development, in 2008, and sub

sequently endorsed by the African Union Heads of State and Government Summit in January 2009.

The Social Development Ministers also adopted a draft African Gommon Position on Social Integration, which was presented to the 47th UN Commission on Social Develop

ment in February 2009. These documents deal specifically with pro-poor growth, empow

erment, social protection, human rights and other issues important for social integration and building of an all-inclusive African society.

Given the importance of these key mandates, EGAs African Social Development Re

port 2009 on the theme Placing Social Integration at the Gentre of Africa's Development Agenda has been prepared to inform policymakers in the region about the status of so

cial integration and provide a guide to policies and interventions urgently needed in this crucial area. It provides a deep analytical insight on social integration and the status of vulnerable and marginalized groups in Africa; and discusses why social integration is the most relevant concept of social development for the continent that can assist the countries in achieving the MDGs. The report also discusses the policy responses and legislative measures that countries have implemented to promote social integration, and the pending challenges. It ends with a conclusion that provides a summary of concrete recommenda

tions that will help promote social integration for policymakers.

The African Social Develcpment Report 2009

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This report is a valuable source of information to assist member countries in strengthening the formulation of their respective social development policies and implement, in a mean

ingful manner, the commitments and recommendations of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, and the Windhoek Declaration on Social Development and the Social Policy Framework for Africa. I trust that the information and recommendations presented in this report will prove useful in our collective endeavour to promoting and achieving social integration and social development in Africa.

Abdoulie Janneh

United Nations Under-Secretary-General and

Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa

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Acknowledgements

This report was prepared under the dedicated leadership of the, Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of EGA, Abdoulie Janneh and the Deputy Executive Secretary Ms. Lalla Ben Barka. Appreciation goes to Dr. Monique Rakotomalala, Director of the African Gentre for Gender and Social Development whose commitment on Social De

velopment issues was instrumental in the finalization of the report. The Ghief of Human and Social Development Section, Ms. Rose Aderolili, who directed the team, organized the two expert group meetings that reviewed and validated the report, reviewed the whole final draft, and also ensured that the report was fully gender mainstreamed; the Ghief of Poverty Analysis and Monitoring Section, Mr. Kasirim Nwuke who also co-directed the team that produced the report; and the Ghief of Gender and Women in Development Section, Ms. Thokozile Ruzvidzo who initially guided the process.

Research and Writing

The team of EGA experts that collected data, analyzed it and prepared the first drafts of the report include: Mr. SherVerick (Lead); Mr. Adrian Gauci (Go-Lead); Mr. Kasirim Nwuke, Mr. Hassan Yousif, Ms. Rose Aderolili, Ms. Gladys Mutangadura, Mr. Oumar Diallo, Ms.

Sandra Zawedde, Ms. Elizabeth Woldermariam, Mr. Diogo Santos, and Ms. Selamawit Mussie. We also acknowledge the contribution of all other colleagues within the African Genter for Gender and Social Development, and the EGAs Sub-regional offices who also reviewed the first drafts of the report. Special appreciation goes to the EGA Northern Af

rica Sub Regional Office for successfully hosting the expert group meeting that validated the report. The following team members who worked tirelessly to address all the issues raised in the peer reviews and to finalize the report deserve special tribute: Dr. Monique Rakotomalala, Mr. Kasirim Nwuke, Ms. Rose Aderolili, Ms.Gladys Mutangadura, Mr.

Adrian Gauci, Mr. Omar Diallo and Ms. Sandra Zawedde.

The team is indebted to the experts who participated in the external peer review meeting held in Addis Ababa in August 2009 and the validation workshop held in Rabat Morocco in January 2010. These experts include Prof. Bernard Mumpasi Lututala, Prof. Fred Opio, Dr. Akim Mturi, Mr. Ayehualem Tameru, Mr. Messay Teferi, Mr. Robert Ghase, Mr.

George Okutho, Mr. Lawrence Egulu, Ms. Miira Ihalainen, Ms. Ndinaye Gharumbira, Mr. Jacques Van Zuydam, Ms. Semia de Tapia, and Mr. Jack Jones Zulu. Their ideas, comments and observations were instrumental in the preparation of the final version of the report.

Administrative

AGGS administrative staff provided valuable support during the preparation of this re

port. Special thank you goes to: Ms. Tigist Eshetu, Ms. Sofanit Abebe, Ms. Latifa, Guerma and Ms. Zohra Benboubaker from the EGA North Africa Office.

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Communication

Ms. Houda Mejri

Report production

The team would like to thank the staff of the EGA Publications and Conference Manage

ment Section of EGA, which handled the editing, text processing, proof reading, design and printing of the report.

Project Management and Coordination

Dr. Monique Rakotomalala, Ms Rose Aderolili, Mr. Kasirim Nwuke

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Executive Summary

The dominant view for the last couple of decades had been that social development in Africa was sidelined to the imperative of economic growth. It is only through economic growth that social outcomes were forthcoming. This view of late was further strengthened due to Africa's relatively good economic performance not being met by commensurate measures in social outcomes. More recently, social development has regained impetus as a necessary output in its own right, epitomized in the Millennium Declaration, 2000 which was a combination of previous international agreements on social development in particular the World Social Summit on Social Development, 1995. However the glotal financial and economic crisis has exposed the vulnerability of the gains, albeit small, achieved in social development on the continent that need to be strengthened.

Social development is defined as enlarging peoples' choices in a way which enables them to have longer, healthier and fuller lives. This gives rise to two values of social development namely intrinsic and instrumental. Social development has an intrinsic value based on the 'right to development" and the right for all people to participate in the social, economic and political processes of a society. Equally important, social development has an instru

mental value as it allows for a healthier and better educated workforce leads to increased labour productivity and economic growth.

The definitions of social development have been varied and somewhat interchangeable with concepts on social inclusion, social cohesion and social integration. This report pro

vides some clarity in the range of concepts as they relate to the African context. Further

more, this report goes beyond the "residual" role played by social development for a long period of time which has generally restricted its content to the sole delivery of education and health social services.

This report focuses on social integration because progress in Africa will not be achieved if certain groups are not part of the development mainstream. The report proposes social integration as the most relevant concept of social development for the continent for a number of reasons. Firstly, Africa is permeated with vertical and horizontal inequalities caused by differences in income, ethnic background, gender, and age just to name a few.

Although the chronic and persistent poverty levels in Africa are the most evident features of inequality a deeper analysis provided in this report points to a more composite index of deprivation that creates a seamless web of discrimination, exclusion and poverty that social integration can address. Secondly, social integration reflects adherence to international and regional commitments on social development.

This report provides an overview of commitments made on social development and dis

cusses specific commitments on identified excluded groups. The abundance of commit

ments is some form of recognition of the rights of excluded vulnerable groups. African countries have acted on their commitments by: mainstreaming social integration issues into national development plans, PRSPs and sectoral policies; development of policies on vulnerable and marginalized groups; development and implementation of legislative

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measures; establishing institutional structures; implementing social protection measures;

allocating resources; and improved governance and participation of vulnerable groups in development processes. However despite the existence of these regional and global com

mitments, their translation into tangible achievements on social development on the ground has not materialized markedly into achieving social integration. This is partly because of inadequate political will, poorly designed social policies, limited implementa

tion of the policies due to lack of human and financial resources and limited linkages to national development plans and poverty reduction strategies.

Furthermore, the choice of social integration in this report is linked to the World Summit on Social Development definition that shifts from a simple model of deprivation to a holistic model of human poverty, social exclusion and participation which fits into the framework proposed. In addition, its policy relevance to the continent is strengthened as the definition does go beyond the provision of social services.

An analysis and status of the following excluded groups: youth, elderly, persons with dis

ability, migrants. People Living with HIV (PLWHA) and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) which are acknowledged in some countries as vulnerable and therefore policy re

sponses have been adopted are mentioned in the report highlighting the different dimen

sions of their exclusion. The empirical evidence demonstrates that income poverty is just one aspect of their marginalization. Access to productive services and participation in decisions affecting their livelihoods are absent, i.e., 55 to 90 per cent of people with dis

ability, an excluded group investigated in this report, are unemployed and 90 per cent of children with disability do not attend school in Sub-Saharan Africa. The poor status of excluded groups, partly contributes to the slow progress towards the Millennium Develop

ment Goals (MDGs) in Africa. The MDGs aggregate benchmarks do not provide adequate level of disaggregated targets for their statistical capture and monitoring.

Specifically by targeting vulnerable groups, this report points to and concludes on the im

portance of such social protection programmes within coherent policy frameworks which have been designed to tackle particular groups although there seems to be no linkage to national policy frameworks on reducing vulnerability. This has significant repercussions on policy coherence and budgeting processes. The lack of a socially integrated package on excluded groups and its position within a more coherent forum leads to inadequate statis

tical follow-up, and medium term financing.

African governments are signatories to a number of international and national protocols that are designed to promote the integration of excluded groups. However as this report demonstrates, the implementation of these protocols, the mainstream of international strategies have not achieved the desired outcomes. Most of the identified groups in the groups continue to be excluded from social services, political processes, and participation in decision making. As a consequence, progress in the region on social development is very slow.

The report proposes a series of recommendations and identifies actors at various levels from formulation to implementation, monitoring and evaluation of action plans arising from these recommendations.

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The following are key recommendations to improve social integration at the national and regional levels.

National Level

• Governments have the prime responsibility for providing guidance, leadership and an enabling environment for promoting social integration. Besides developing social policies and a supportive legal framework, governments should also ensure adequate finance; promote an enabling environment;

produce sex and gender disaggregated data, build capabilities; and foster partnerships.

• Given the very high rates of unemployment and underemployment, especially among vulnerable groups including women, Governments are urged to consider promoting full employment, decent work and social protection as the key instruments to social and economic inclusion and poverty reduction, with particular attention to socially and economically marginalized groups.

These instruments are key to achieving equity, inclusion, stability and cohesion.

• National governments must raise the level of performance in delivery of social protection services through improvement of accountability and transparency in all government activities, the enforcement of accountability among civil servants, and the encouragement of popular participation in the making of vital decisions. Furthermore the government should strive for efficient and efficacious delivery of transfers that involve end users in the design implementation and monitoring.

• Governments should develop socially inclusive policies and mainstream them into national development and poverty reduction strategies to ensure their feasibility, effectiveness and sustainability. Such policies should be based on respect for diversity. The MDG consistent plans proposed in the Outcome Document of the World Summit of the Review of progress towards the MDGs, 2005 reflect a more pronounced social development aspect of the MDGs, and allows more policy space for introducing excluded vulnerable groups both in the design as well as the budgetary and medium term plans in the development agenda.

• Governments and development stakeholders establish or strengthen monitoring and evaluation frameworks for social inclusion policies, drawing on indicators that measure outcomes and impact, rather than just inputs and outputs. Such indicators must be based on the most recent data and disaggregated by gender. The monitoring and evaluation mechanism must provide timely data on the needs that could be country specific.

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Civil Society Organisations (CSO)

• Mobilize grassroots communities, poor and marginalized peoples to claim their rights.

• Monitor government and donor policies and practices: holding national and multilateral development agencies to account through local knowledge, research, advocacy, and alternative policies. Several case studies have documented the capacity of CSOs to strengthen democratic accountability of governments and donors for policy and programme decisions.

• Deliver services and innovative development programming.

• Build coalitions and networks for greater civil society coordination and impact.

Several case studies, point to the synergy created through informal CSO linkages and networking, draw on the unique contributions and accompaniment.

• Mobilize and leverage Northern financial and human resources in North/

South CSO partnerships. Northern CSOs increasingly play an intermediary role between constituencies in Northern countries and CSOs and constituencies in developing countries. CSOs are thus significant players as unofficial aid donors.

• Facilitate policy dialogue, advocacy and citizen mobilization on issues of economic, gender and social justice.

Private Sector

• Large corporations (both multinational and local) should develop and strengthen the capabilities of local small and medium enterprises and micro enterprises.

• Global financial institutions and emerging local financial institutions should develop innovative approaches and technologies to improve access to credit for the poor and for small and medium enterprises, especially those owned by women who often have less access to credit than men.

• Individual companies, generally multinational corporations but also some large local ones should launch corporate social responsibility programmes to address specific social development needs.

Regional Level

• Regional institutions should strengthen facilitation of the exchange of good policies and practices aimed at achieving equity, inclusion and cohesion.

• Regional institutions should provide guidelines and support to countries on strategies that promote social integration and also enhance the capacity of

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member States to generate and use gender and sex disaggregated data for monitoring social integration.

• Regional institutions in collaboration with national institutions should undertake further research that is crucial to inform policy development.

Possible areas of future research include:

» The extent to which countries have mainstreamed social integration in their NDPs, PRSPs and sectoral policies - highlighting successful experiences and challenges.

» Tracking of public expenditure on social integration, what works and what does not work.

» The impact of social integration policies and programmes on men and women in terms of poverty reduction and gender equality, using a rights-based approach.

Various African Sub-regional institutions, notably, COMESA, EAC, ECCAS, SADC, ECOWAS, UEMOA, CEMAC, and IGAD continue to play an important role in pro

moting social development in Africa through the designing and the implementation of social policy instruments. While progress is slow in some areas, there have been some achievements in other areas of social development.

Given the overlaps in REC-membership, it is important for the various RECs to harmo

nize their activities. This is already happening as at a technical level. RECs have established structures for collaboration. For example, COMESA, EAC and SADC have a tripartite task force while ECOWAS and UEMOA, CEMAC and ECCAS, among others, also have regular exchanges of information. At policy the level, the RECs share information under the auspices of the African Union.

The challenge that remains is that of uniformly and effectively implementing regional instruments in member states. Member states therefore, need to operationalize in their territories the various regional instruments that would greatly contribute to the realization of social policies.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Rationale for and focus of the African Social Development Report

This African Social Development Report is the first in a series which aims at analyzing the social dimensions of African development. The need for this report grows out of the neces

sity to bring deserved and adequate attention to social development, at a time when the relatively recent strong economic growth has not been translated into broader improve

ments in social development. The report will therefore address a niche in the policy agenda by contributing to a deeper understanding of social development challenges in Africa. In so doing, it will complement other existing EGA and UN reports, including the annual Report of Progress towards the Targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa, the annual Economic Report on Africa, the African Women's Report and the UNDP's Human Development Reports.

Besides filling an important gap in the spectrum of policy reports on Africa, the Afri

can Social Development Report will also serve as an advocacy instrument and will pro

vide guidance on future areas of research in social development. This inaugural report of the African Social Development Report focuses on social integration. The reason for this choice is motivated by the fact that progress on the MDGs depends to a large degree on the extension of social services to excluded or hard-to-reach or marginalized groups. Also, fragile social cohesion/integration has provided fertile ground for the civil conflicts and unrests that have erupted in a number of countries in the recent past. Prior to discussing the notion of social exclusion/cohesion, it is important to define what the notion of social development entails and how the notion evolves over time in Africa.

Social development has generally been considered the outcome of development and in particular of economic growth. The axiom that nothing happens without economic growth has been until recently the core principle of the dominant development paradigm.

However, the more recent qualifier that growth is necessary but not sufficient for social development constitutes a departure from that principle. The growing consensus is that achieving and sustaining broader development outcomes rest not only on the pace and the nature of economic growth but also on the progress made in the social sphere. No

where are all these changes in development paradigms well illustrated than on the African continent.

The African development landscape after independence was guided by the basic- needs ap

proach, which informed the allocation of public resources to social sectors and the promo

tion of policies that guarantees free education and health to all. This bold move occurred in the context of growing and prominent role of the state in the economic sphere, with governments taking a command position in important segments of the economic activities and laying the foundation for rapid economic transformation. The combination of these policies resulted in significant improvements in social development indicators in much of

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Africa. However, the advent of structural adjustment programmes at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s severely limited the scope of the social interventions in place.

The focus turned to orthodox growth policy, which argued that economic growth should be the first priority, with the assumption that economic growth benefits would trickle down to all segments of the population.

The recent economic and social developments shed light on the limitations of the orthodox social policy. Africa's economic growth has recently improved, averaging almost five percent over the last decade (EGA 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). This improvement has been driven in part by supportive international economic environment. Yet this strong growth performance has not resulted into commensurate achievements in the social sphere.

Some have attributed this to stubbornly high inequality ((Bourguignon 2004, Bigsten and Shimeles, 2007). Africa is a highly unequal continent, second only to Latin America. The Gini coefficient stood at 0.42 in the 1990s, the level at which it was in the 1960s (Deninger and Squire 1998). Furthermore, the continent is permeated with horizontal inequalities, featured by the exclusion of certain groups from actively participating in the social, eco

nomic and political processes in society. This high initial inequality has rendered the impact of economic growth on social outcomes to be rather meager. In addition to this, the drivers of economic growth rest primarily on relatively capital intensive sectors with little spillover effects on employment creation and the rest of the economy. The vibrant growth of this "en

clave economy" has resulted into the persistent or rising income inequality. In short, Africa was growing with little impact on social development.

The challenge of improving social conditions in a large swathe of countries becomes even more daunting with the current global economic recession. The rapid deterioration of the domestic and international environments poses additional policy challenges, as the conti

nent strives to sustain the economic achievements of the recent years and make headway in social development, particularly in achieving the MDGs. In a way, the current global financial and economic crisis invites more attention on social development. The production and dissemination of the African Social Development Report is part of the efforts aimed at putting social development at the forefront of African development agenda.

To achieve this aim, the report reviews the main concepts relating to social development stressing the importance of placing social integration, at the centre of Africa's development agenda. It highlights the commitments that African countries have made on social develop

ment and the major challenges that they have experienced in implementing them. It analy

ses the social development status of the socially excluded groups in Africa highlighting the importance of mainstreaming the issues of the excluded groups into national development.

The report reviews some of the social protection measures that some countries have adopted in order to foster social integration, highlights the major challenges and gaps and offers a range of practical recommendations that countries and all stakeholders can adopt to improve social integration.

In terms of methodology, the research approach used in preparing the report was a desk review of existing published and grey literature, and analysis of secondary data on social development. The draft report was peer reviewed by experts who made suggestions that were incorporated to improve the draft report.

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Structure of the Report

The report is composed of six chapters. The plethora of definitions of social development and their relevance in the African context is discussed in chapter 2 of this inaugural report.

The exercise is not purely academic but helps assess the policy relevance of the various concepts commonly used. It is also to have a common understanding of the meaning of these major concepts which are often used interchangeably and defined differently by development experts. Among the concepts that are discussed is social integration. Social integration was chosen in part because of its resonance, particularly in the context of the World Summit on Social Development, 1995 and the subsequent Millennium Declara

tion and the MDGs in 2000 further reiterated at the first session of the African Union Conference of Ministers responsible for Social Development, held in Windhoek, Namibia in 2008. In addition, social integration adequately captures the intrinsic and instrumental values of social development.

The report presents in Chapter 3 the international and regional instruments in support of social development and social integration. These range from African Youth Charter to the UN Convention of the rights of Persons with disabilities to the Convention on the Elimi

nation of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), just to name a few. The acknowledgement and ratification of these various instruments constitute recognition of the specific problems of the excluded groups and illustrates the political commitment of national governments to change course. The chapter highlights the actions that African countries have undertaken to promote social integration in line with the commitments that they made. The chapter highlights suggest that implementation and compliance to the instruments themselves is less than satisfactory and identifies the major challenges that African countries experience in translating these commitments into reality.

The fourth chapter identifies some of the excluded groups and highlights the evidence of their marginalization. The groups, such as youth, women, disabled people, people living with HIV/AIDs, internally displaced people, are by no means exhaustive but provide a sense of the magnitude of the problems and the processes that lead to the exclusion of specific groups. The analysis is strengthened by the use of country studies, which provide empirical evidence and contextualized national responses.

The fifth chapter reviews the social protection instruments currently in place across Af

rica. The magnitude and coverage of the social protection instruments in various African countries does indicate a special attention to some excluded groups. The chapter also notes that some of the instruments have had a positive spillover effect on other groups. Old age non-contributory pensions, for instance, have had a positive impact on child nutrition and school attendance in Lesotho, and so has the Basic Income Grant (BIG) program in Namibia.

The last chapter presents conclusions and recommendations to reinforce the integration of excluded groups and the mainstreaming of social protection measures into the national development agenda.

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Chapter 2: Concepts and approaches to social development

Various concepts of social development and its derivates of social inclusion/ exclusion, so

cial cohesion and social integration are used interchangeably which creates some concep

tual problems and unclear policy implications. This chapter reviews different approaches and concepts of social development providing clarity on their relevance, choosing social integration as the most pertinent. This will help develop a clear understanding of social development which is not only based on sound theoretical underpinnings, but is also of practical relevance to African policymakers and implementing agencies. The chapter also examines the various global and regional commitments on social development with particular emphasis on social integration selected as the most conceptually applicable and relevant to the situation in Africa.

Though there is no single consensual general definition, social development can be viewed as the process of social transformation as reflected in terms of the conditions under which people live, study, work, produce, reproduce, and interact with each other. It also refers to the quality of life and the ability of human beings to make appropriate choices (UNDP 2004). Social development subsequently improves the capability of individuals and their families to improve their well-being and lives. Social development can also be considered as a means to creating a more equitable distribution of wealth and assets. Whether this is achieved or not depends on the nature of social policy countries adopt. Social policy is the means by which social development is brought about. It entails the study of the social relations necessary for human wellbeing and the systems by which wellbeing may be pro

moted. In Africa, one of the major reasons why social development indicators are poor is the incapacity of governments to formulate, budget for, implement and assess policies on social development. Given the many social challenges the continent faces, social policy should also include measures that address the rights of all groups in society. In addition, the transformation of the society improves how groups interact with each other and how marginalized groups can participate in political and decision-making processes, and in promoting peace and stability (World Bank 2008).

From this definition, it is clear that the concept of human development is a sub-set of the broader processes of social development which are operationalized when applied to condi

tions of particular groups of people. According to Sen (2000), material wealth is a means to and not the end to strengthening people's four main capabilities of: survival and long healthy lives; knowledge; access to resources necessary for a decent standard of living, and participation in the community. Clearly, social development requires human development since the capacity of individuals is a prerequisite to transforming society.

Additionally, under the prominent perspective of social development, the expansion of these and other capabilities, besides being intrinsic, also entail an instrumental value to enhancing productivity and promoting economic growth (as defended by the human cap

ital formation or human resource development theories). There has been a tendency that

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human capital formation has treated labour as a homogenous group irrespective of the differences that are present such as gender, age and disability.

As mentioned in the text of the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, 1995 (United Nations 1995:30);

"Social development is inseparable from the cultural, ecological, economic, politi

cal and spiritual environment in which it takes place. It cannot be pursued as a sectoral initiative. Social development is also clearly linked to the development of peace, freedom, stability and security, both nationally and internationally".

Social development therefore has two distinct policy outcomes. The provision of essential services such as education and health services; a means of livelihood, such as a job and money; vital but intangible things, such as peace and security and human rights - which serves as a core contingent application of social development and the spill over effects of providing such services which places greater well being and economic development as the underlying rationale in the pursuit of social development. For example, education is an important input into development and the provision of universal primary education is considered a minimum necessary social service. The relevance of social development to Africa is clearly demonstrated in the poor health-related MDGs, the very low coverage of secondary and tertiary school levels, the many countries that are affected by conflicts and wars, persistent gender inequality, and deepening poverty that affects women dis

proportionately. It is obvious that Africa will not meet the MDGs by 2015 unless efforts are scaled up, and new innovative ways and policies are found to address the current and emerging social development challenges. Given the relevance and importance of social development in Africa, it is important that governments adopt rights-based and inclusive policy processes.

The two key concepts of social development in this report include:

i. Social exclusion;

ii. Social cohesion;

2.1 Social exclusion

Within the European Union, poverty and disadvantage is related to 'social exclusion. This concept is credited to Lenoir (1974) who proclaimed that a range of groups were excluded from the French society: persons with disabilities, suicidal people, elderly, abused chil

dren, substance abusers, delinquents, single parents, multi-problem households, marginal, asocial persons and other social "misfits" Since Lenoir (1974), the use of the term "social exclusion" has increased in European policy circles, especially in France, where the concept originated as well as in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The axiom underlying social exclusion as an approach to social development is that citi

zens should have opportunities to participate in a wide range of activities, if they choose to do so. Institutional or 'structural' barriers to participation need to be removed or re-

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duced. There have been debates as to whether social exclusion is relevant to Africa. On one hand, it is argued that the term was coined out of the European experience and has little relevance to Africa. On the other hand, if one defines social exclusion to mean barriers to participation, the term applies to Africa as well. In Africa, gender, culture and poverty play a major role in social exclusion, as will be shown later in the report. The converse of social exclusion is social inclusion and participation. Hence one definition of social exclusion proposed for EU member States is:

" a process whereby certain individuals are pushed to the edge of society and pre

vented from participating fully by virtue of their poverty, or lack of basic compe

tencies and lifelong learning opportunities, or as a result of discrimination. This distances them from jobs, income and education opportunities as well as social and community networks and activities. They have little access to power and decision

making bodies and thus often feeling powerless and unable to take control over the decisions that affect their day to day lives." (Commission of the European Com

munities 2003: 9)

In order to monitor progress in member States, the European Union adopted a set of indi

cators of social exclusion at its 2001 Conference in Laeken, Belgium, known as the Laeken Indicators (See Annex I), which cover the four dimensions of social inclusion referred to above and include such indicators as: the poverty rate (by age, gender, activity, household type, accommodation tenure), inequality of income distribution, regional cohesion mea

sured by the dispersion of regional employment rates, long-term unemployment rate, persons living in jobless households, early school leavers, life expectancy, and self-defined health status (Eurostat 2004).

Though it is clear that the concept of social exclusion is relevant to the situation in Africa, the difficulties lie in its implementation. For policy purposes the term should be defined within the context of social problems affecting the marginalized. By using the concept of social exclusion, policymakers should be able to identify problems and policy responses that cannot be achieved by using other terminology and conceptual frameworks. As noted by Sen (2000), "Even though the European literature on social exclusion has been driven by the European context, it has made an important suggestive contribution to the possibil

ity of analysing poverty in other regions with greater interest in constitutive deprivation associated with exclusions of various types." (Sen 2000: 23).

However, it is important to reflect on the overall economic and social situation in Africa.

In this respect, a large proportion of the population in many sub-Saharan countries re

mains in extreme poverty, which is in contrast to the situation in Europe where the major

ity of the population are above any sort of (relative) poverty line and only a minority are poor in an income and multidimensional sense. In Africa, social exclusion is not necessar

ily physical or economic in nature, rather it is a product of a seamless web of interrelated aspects of income poverty and social and cultural practices.

The relationship between poverty and social exclusion in Africa is indeed complex and in

terrelated. Poverty is both a driver and an outcome of social exclusion, even when one uses a broader concept of poverty such as that which is reflected in the capabilities approach of

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Sen 2000. In the first case, poor people are often excluded from participating in economic, social and political areas of life because they lack the education, health and self-esteem to do so. In addition, people stuck in chronic poverty also suffer from stigmatization and discrimination because of their situation. At the same time, being excluded on the basis of identity or location is a major driver of poverty. In short, social exclusion and chronic poverty are mutually reinforcing in Africa.

In this respect, the employment dimension manifests itself differently in Africa. Rather than unemployment or jobless households, the main barrier to inclusion in terms of the labour market is the lack of decent jobs in the formal economy and the fact that most Africans, particularly those from marginalized groups, eke out a meager living in the in

formal economy. The education and health barriers are major constraints to inclusion that arise in African countries due to inequities in accessing social services, evidence of which is cited in this report. The HIV/AIDS crisis has impacted on this further not only in terms of the direct discrimination faced by people living with the diseases but also by placing a burden on the health sector. Furthermore, financial and economic crises exacerbate the situation of excluded groups in Africa. Their participation in the labour market is limited and the effect of the global crisis could lead to increases in unemployment in the formal market and the possible increment in informal jobs, by definition with low standards and conditions of work.

Finally, it may be important to distinguish between the active fostering of exclusion - whether done by the government or by any other wilful agent - and a passive development of an exclusion that may result from a set of circumstances without such volitional im

mediacy." Examples of the latter include the impact of poor economic conditions and the resulting increase in poverty in rural areas. In this case, the poor economic conditions are not a deliberate act by policymakers, but isolated communities are nonetheless affected, as may be manifested in terms of their access to markets, infrastructure, education, and other important resources for the building a sustainable livelihood. In Africa, for example women and the disabled have been subjected to active fostering of passive exclusion by cultural, historical and social beliefs and practices that have defined roles at the household level and are reflected at the meso and macro policy level.

Social exclusion can be described schematically as the lack of participation in economic, social and political dimensions. This framework, whilst relevant at the descriptive level in Africa, does not provide instruments for policy formulation given the mutually reinforc

ing aspect of poverty and dimensions of exclusion (see table 2.1).

Placing Social integration at the Centre of Africa's Development Agenda

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Table 2.1

Overview of the different dimensions of social exclusion

Dimension of social exclusion Areas of exclusion Examples

Exclusion from full Restricted access from the • Exclusion from land and participation in opportunities to earn income, other natural resources

economic life the (because of scarcity.

labour markets, and from landlessness and lack of legal

factors of entitlement, especially

production such as land and women and poor men)

a wide • Exclusion from agricultural

range of livelihood livelihood (due to lack of opportunities. access to inputs or labour

availability)

• Exclusion from formal and informal employment (due to lack of education, specialized skills, gender, race and ethnic background, disability age)

Exclusion from social Restricted access to • Exclusion from social

participation infrastructure, sen/ices health, education.

amenities, social services housing, water, sanitation (education (due to distance, usage costs, and health), social security and gender, poverty)

protection, community and • Exclusion from physical

family infrastructure (distance, usage

support. costs)

Exclusion from political Restricted access to • Exclusion from organization

and community organization, and representation (due to

participation consultation, decision-making and

the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

patterns of political inclusion)

Source: Adapted from Beall and Piron (2005) and Adato et al. (2005).

2.2 Social cohesion

Although there is no single and clear definition of social cohesion as acknowledged by ECLAC (2007), the concept is very much linked and at times synonymous with social inclusion and social integration, and is related to other concepts like social justice, equity and well-being. ECLAC (2007) argues that social cohesion can be comprehended as the basis for mechanisms that promote integration, legitimacy, participation, well-being and individuals and social groups' sense of membership and belonging to society.

The African Social Dovolcpment Report 2009

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The 2009 United Nation's Secretary-General's Report on Promoting Social integration indicates that the ultimate goal of social integration and policies aiming at the reduction of exclusion and the promotion of inclusion is social cohesion.

"Social cohesion denotes a capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of all its members, minimizing disparities and avoiding polarization and conflict. In a socially cohesive soci

ety, people share values that help to reduce inequalities in wealth and income and human relations, and social bonds are strong. In a socially integrated society, all belong, while in a socially cohesive society there is also a clear consensus on what creates a social compact with acknowledged rights and responsibilities for all citizens. Thus, social cohesion can be understood as the willingness of individuals to cooperate and work together at all levels of society to achieve collective goals" (United Nations 2009).

As seen, the notion of social cohesion is rather convoluted where means and objectives of policy are indistinguishable. Social cohesion is related to social integration, wherein social integration is defined as a process through which individuals and groups share an equal and minimum standard of well-being dependent to the level of development. It is correlated with the concept of social inclusion, based on the notion of social inclusion as a pre-requisite stage towards integration, which requires greater social, economic and civic opportunities for access to integration mechanisms, as well as policy efforts to strengthen

ing the agency of individuals.

However, its policy relevance can be ascertained through the promotion of a more ef

fective and accountable institutional framework for investments and economic growth, based on an environment of instituted rules and trust. As an end, social cohesion is an aim of public policy and interventions in the sense that policies might focus on providing mechanisms for all the members of society having conditions and opportunities to exercise their agency, rights and active citizenship (Cornwall and Gaventa, 2001), finally, boost

ing the sense of belongingness and inclusion within the society (ECLAC, 2007). In Latin America, where the concept of social cohesion is mostly applied, the current policy debate has focused on the concept and practices of modern and active citizenship, based on the existence of new mechanisms for deliberative process and citizen participation, such as social policy observatories.

Overall, social cohesion as an approach, provides three important contributions that are relevant to the discourse on social development in Africa: (a) it expands the definition of poverty, in which being poor is not restricted to the social and economic dimensions, but it also offers a broader concept that also addresses the exercise of rights and citizenship and the denial to participate in development; (b) it reaffirms the need for an integrated set of social policies to overcome the multi-dimensions of poverty, and, finally, (c) it re-empha

sizes the attention for the need of "social policy-based engagement with the citizens" to re-construct and, in some cases, enforce the state-citizens relationship towards a cohesive society (Adesina, 2007:23).

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2.3 Approaches to social development

These include:

i. Social inclusion;

ii. Multi-dimensional poverty and Sens capabilities approach;

iii. The human rights-based approach;

iv. Social integration;

v. Social protection.

2.4 Social inclusion

Social inclusion refers to the action that can be taken to address social exclusion problems.

Today concepts of social inclusion in Africa's current social policy arena might not resonate well with those of the early eras which previously focused on poverty and social inclusion then, was referred to as the anti-poverty and social or community development work. The problem with such a focus on poverty is the effect of setting the bar for future social poli

cies too low. The new school concept of social inclusion is broader and has the advantage of situating individuals in a social and relational context.

Indicators based on social inclusion would assess the extent to which low-paid workers fall behind the rest of the workforce, not only in terms of wages and income, but in a variety of dimensions, including health, education, housing, skills, advancement, and opportunity.

Social inclusion therefore, has considerable potential to improve our understanding of social issues and policies in Africa.

Rather than simply replicating western nations' strategies in reducing poverty, it is critical for Africa to seek solutions that will resonate well given the social and political cultures. Since there is a general understanding of poverty and very little confidence in our governments to eradicate it, we can not use to build public will for policy solutions, but we can seek to increase inclusion. Rather than establishing an unattainable goal it is better to set a lower bar, for example by halving poverty we can increase inclusion.

Establishing poverty-reduction targets and not meeting them would lead to more blaming of individuals and governments. Lofty, but realistic goals should be set if social inclusion is going to be increased.

A social-inclusion goal provides more room than a poverty-reduction goal for consideration of comprehensive policies, including universal health care, paid leave, democratic workplac

es, and portable retirement accounts, that result in an economy that works for all. If policy, research, and funding communities support a social inclusion approach, policy makers, po

litical candidates, and the media would follow. Candidates would adopt proposals such as a National Commission on Social Inclusion, a national social-inclusion goal implemented across multiple programmes and agencies, and state and local offices for social inclusion.

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If the problem continues to be defined as a poverty one, the political will and public sup

port to address it will be limited or non existent but social inclusion might be that new breathe of life that would make it possible for us to accomplish common goals in coun

tries.

2.5 Multi-dimensional poverty and the capabilities approach

Sen's ideas on poverty and disadvantage revolve around the belief that, in order to function effectively in the modern world, people require a fairly wide range of capabilities, and not just an adequate monetary income. If they lack or rate low on several capabilities, then their choices will be severely constrained. They will be 'disadvantaged' and their 'function- ings' will be unsatisfactory This approach is far removed from the traditional concept of poverty as low income and/or low consumption and focuses on multiple dimensions of capability and functioning.

In Sen's conceptualization, a person has no genuine freedom to choose among different ways of living out his/her life - different careers, leisure activities, family arrangements etc - unless he/she has 'capabilities' such as: reasonable levels of education, health, income and social networks. In this view to be poor is to lack freedom, and be impoverished in the context of the society in which you live.

Sen's capabilities approach has had major implications on poverty and the policy responses to deprivation in its different dimensions. Clearly, the capabilities approach is relevant to the development challenges facing Africa. The concept also has many similarities to those discussed above. In this respect, Sen (2000) stresses the need to place social exclusion in the context of his capabilities approach.

"The perspective of social exclusion reinforces — rather than competes with — the under

standing of poverty as capability deprivation. I have argued that if the idea is carefully used, there is much to be gained from using the perspective of social exclusion in analyz

ing the deprivation of basic capabilities and in assessing the policy issues that follow from these diagnoses." (Sen 2000: 46).

2.6 The human rights-based approach

Since the inception of the United Nations, human rights and development have been closely linked as stressed above in light of the various global commitments made on social development. The 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights underscored the notion that all human rights - economic, political, civil, cultural, and social- are universal and of equal importance. More specifically, human rights can be defined as "universal legal guar

antees protecting individuals and groups against actions and omissions that interfere with fundamental freedoms, entitlements and human dignity" (OHCHR 2006).

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The human rights-based approach (HRBA) acknowledges the central role of human rights in the development agenda and is particularly relevant to the concepts of social develop

ment discussed in this chapter. The principles of human rights are critical for an apprecia

tion of how relevant this approach is to the agenda of social integration and inclusion.

These principles (Universality, Indivisibility/Interdependency, Accountability and Partici

pation) and how relevant they are to the subject under discussion are outlined (see box

2.1).

Box 2.1

The Correlation Between Human Rights Principles and Social Inclusion

Universality:

The principle of universality of rights is aimed at securing inclusiveness, especially in favour of traditionally excluded groups. Following on the thrust of human rights instruments such as the UDHR and CEDAW, governments are to promote programmes and policies which reach out to ensure that such groups do not fall through the cracks. Such measures may include affirmative action and social protection geared towards removing the effects of discrimination and vulnerability.

Indivisibility and Interdependency:

This principle endorses the position that all human rights are important, interlinked and therefore of equal importance and that no group of rights can be given priority over the other. Hence the broad range of civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights afforded by human rights treaties and are required for the proper and harmonious development of the individual and therefore must be implemented holistically for their betterment. This also suggests that the eclipsing of the enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights (for example education and health) by political and civil rights is no longer tenable.

Accountability:

As duty bearers governments are accountable to their people in the observance and fulfillment of fundamental human rights prescribed under both international law and national legislation.

Participation:

For purposes of the issues under discussion, participation may be defined as the process by which individuals and groups are provided with the necessary tools to take part in the political, economic, social and cultural affairs of their respective countries and are essential ingredients of social inclusion.

Source: UN Charter on Human Rights

When using the human rights-based approach, government's policies, programmes and plans to promote development are centered on human rights and corresponding obliga

tions under international law (OHCHR 2006). By applying this approach, governments and development partners are not only interested in promoting human rights on a moral basis but also recognize that this approach fosters a more inclusive development process.

In particular, the human rights-based approach addresses the need to promote the rights of the whole population in terms of such rights, as the right to free access education, food and employment and giving them the tools to enforce these rights. Thus, marginalized and excluded groups, as already argued above have a secure basis for claiming and enforcing their economic, social, political, cultural and civil rights. This principle of inalienability of rights is a basic pillar of HRBA (OHCHR 2006).