erspectives
Church, State and Africa
By Ambassador Andrew Young
and Bishop T.D. Jakes
-Guest Columnists-
Updated Aug 2, 2005, 11:40 am

We are American Christians of African descent.

We have seen the fight against Apartheid. We participated in Live Aid concerts and hummed to the melody of “We are the World.” We have witnessed plane after plane and ship after ship carrying manna from heaven—abundant amounts of food for the people of Africa.

Together, we share a commitment with millions of missionaries and active socially-minded organizations to “feed the hungry, heal the sick and to get at liberty those who are oppressed.”

Africa is a continent of 53 nations consisting of nearly a billion people on a land mass three times the size of the United States. There is a long history of church involvement on this continent. The missionary movement of the late 19th century included many former slaves who, after being educated in the U.S., returned to Africa as teachers, pastors, preachers, agricultural specialists and health professionals.

So, why is it that there are still so many admonitions to keep caring for Africa? Didn’t those outreaches work? Couldn’t we satisfy the appetite of the people?

In a word: “no.”

Recently, we were invited, along with 20 of our esteemed colleagues, to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in an effort to continue a long and established bi-partisan tradition of church-state cooperation in areas of need and opportunity.

President George Bush, fortunately, has realized the potential network of faith-based leadership in addressing the needs of the people of Africa. The recent signing of the African Growth and Opportunity Act extension is but one example of his appreciation of Africa’s importance to the U.S. as a trading partner and supplier of strategic minerals.

But is it enough? Can we, as a nation, do more?

Last January, the government and citizens of this country admirably coalesced in support of humanitarian aid when tragedy struck Southeast Asia, Indonesia and India. We responded to the devastation of a tsunami that took the lives of more than 170,000 people and has cost every country affected a collective total of more than $7 billion in structure damages, loss of property and insurance claims. It left parts of these countries in irreparable disarray, affected 28,400 companies, economies and markets around the globe. People of this world cared enough to send more than $4.2 billion in international relief.

One catastrophe caused people from 37 countries and other esteemed agencies such as UNICEF, Red Cross, International Monetary Foundation (IMF) and the World Bank to band together to uplift people overwhelmed by unspeakable disaster beyond their control.

While admirable, our response to the tsunami disaster has not created the political synergy Africa so desperately needs. Many Americans mistakenly believe that the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries, when it actually spends well under a quarter of one percent. Africa has been through, and is currently enduring, tumultuous times, and we have witnessed it all from afar.

UNAIDS (The United Nations Assembly for AIDS) research has published a haunting report that concludes more than 80 million people living in Africa could perish by AIDS by 2025, unless concerted actions are taken. Another catastrophe awaits. Why can’t we band together again, now, before so many people die largely as a result of our apathy?

Why, after so much assistance, do so many African children daily fall victim to starvation, disease and economic despair?

Too much grief, not enough care.

In the era of communal globalization, and as a result of the work of the World Trade Organization, international trade has more than tripled; nevertheless, the continent’s shared debt has more than quadrupled. Their share of global exports has declined from nearly five percent in 1980 to fewer than two percent today.

Despite its core of resources and surplus of skilled workers, African exporters remain hindered from participating freely in mutually beneficial international trade relationships. Expanding the continent’s economic potential would boost its capacity to significantly reduce the poverty experienced by its people.

The world is full of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). They are active and available. They pledged more than $6.9 billion only six months ago. They can and should do it again.

It is our hope to inspire corporate America to expand African trade and investment, challenge the private banking community, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, to find ways to relieve Africa of its debt burden as we have done with Russia, Poland and others; and to assist in the expansion of free enterprise to abolish hunger and provide clean drinking water.

Recently, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair met with Pres. Bush to unite on a mission to ease the debt of African countries. Together, they will bring this cause to the G8 summit in Scotland and recommend the debt of Africa be cancelled 100 percent—more than $16 billion.

A greater involvement and sensitivity in the past might have prevented our excessive dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Africa presently supplies close to 20 percent of our energy imports, oil and liquefied natural gas, but with an active political appreciation, it could be an even more fruitful and prosperous partnership.

We agree that this needs to happen. Why worry about what the destitute people of Africa owe and focus on what they want to give—their land, resources and lives. The time is now for them to be given a chance to contribute, an opportunity to overcome.

No great movement for change has occurred in America without the passion and prophetic voice of people of faith. They have provided the vision and commitment that produced our Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, ended slavery and produced the non-violent movement, which led to the recent human rights efforts across the planet.

If we are to put an end to poverty and human suffering at home and abroad, Church and State will require divine inspiration and the cooperation of people of non-Christian faiths and secular idealists alike working together to find multinational, technical and institutional answers to Africa’s most pressing needs.

African Americans and all Americans—it is time to care about Africa.

(Andrew Young is the former U.S. Ambassador to the UN and Chairman of Goodworks International. Bishop T.D. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of the 30,000-member Potter’s House.)



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